Model: OWCTB3F1U1S020
from $4,049.99
Color: 3 x 4TB HDDs + 4 x 2TB SSDs
19 configurations available
The 20TB Flex 1U4 4-Bay Thunderbolt 3 Storage Array from OWC / Other World Computing is a flexible storage, docking, and PCIe expansion solution for rackmount use. Compatible with macOS 10.15, 11.x, and 12.x, the Flex 1U4 features a storage capacity of 20TB, which is split between three 4TB 7200 rpm SATA 3.5" hard drives and four 2TB NVMe M.2 SSDs, with the SSDs being housed in an OWC U2 ShuttleOne, which is a 2.5" U.2 NVMe enclosure. Connectivity to your host system is established using a 40 Gb/s Thunderbolt 3 port, which supports data transfers of up to 5000 MB/s. Daisy-chain five additional devices or add a second display to a second Thunderbolt 3 port, while two 10 Gb/s USB-C ports, three 10 Gb/s USB-A ports, and one DisplayPort 1.4 port provide additional connectivity options. Further expansion methods, such as audio/video capture cards, 10Gb Ethernet, SSD storage, a hardware RAID, or other I/O card, can be used via the PCIe 3.0 x16/x4 slot.
Form factor and generation interface dictate compatibility and speed. Prioritize drives with DRAM caches for OS boot drives, as DRAM-less drives can slow down significantly during heavy multitasking. Available from $4,049.99.
Solid State Drives (SSDs) have no ongoing costs and consume minimal power. Their cost of ownership is entirely the upfront price per gigabyte.
Common Failure Modes
SSDs have no moving parts, making them immune to physical shock. Failures occur through flash memory wear-out from writing massive amounts of data or sudden controller death.
Form factor and generation interface dictate compatibility and speed. Prioritize drives with DRAM caches for OS boot drives, as DRAM-less drives can slow down significantly during heavy multitasking.
SSDs have a finite number of write cycles, usually measured in Terabytes Written (TBW). For average consumers, this limit takes many years to reach.
The OWC 20TB Flex 1U4 4-Bay Thunderbolt 3 Storage Array (3 x 4TB HDDs + 4 x 2TB SSDs) is available at bhphoto, starting at $4,049.99.
Solid State Drives (SSDs) have no ongoing costs and consume minimal power. Their cost of ownership is entirely the upfront price per gigabyte.
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