Press

OWC®; a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company and one of the world’s most respected manufacturers of hard drives, SSDs, Mac & PC docking solutions and performance upgrade kits, today announced two new massively powerful additions to its industry-leading ThunderBay product family – the ThunderBay 8 and the all-new ThunderBay FLEX 8.

ThunderBay 8

The ThunderBay 8 is a professional-grade 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 storage solution for pros who refuse to compromise. Think of it like a high-performance personal data center offering a multitude of configuration possibilities and almost limitless storage capacity for filmmakers, video production gurus, photographers, graphic designers and small business workgroups. With 8 hot swappable drive bays, OWC ThunderBay 8 offers massive professional-grade storage capacity in a Thunderbolt 3 desktop-sized design. Mix 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch HDDs and/or SSDs in any combination up to 112TB of capacity and use them independently or match drives and combine them in a speed and/or redundant RAID with the included SoftRAID setup and management software.

Monstrous Capacity, Monstrous Bandwidth

Need even more capacity? Daisy-chain up to 6 of these storage behemoths together for up to a staggering 672TB to create your own custom, one-of-a-kind data center. With real-world tested speed up to 2586MB/s via Thunderbolt 3 and the ability to SoftRAID together 8 SSDs or HDDs, ThunderBay 8’s rugged, field-tested aluminum design has the under-the-hood horsepower needed to conquer high bandwidth requirements. You can even connect multiple ThunderBay 8 solutions to multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports on your Mac or PC to achieve exponential speed increases.

Highlights

• Pro-grade transfer speeds – up to 2586MB/s of real-world tested speed via with Thunderbolt 3 port (Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt backward compatible)
• Massive capacity – store up to 112TB of critical footage, images, and files
• Create a data center – daisy chain 6 units together for up to 672TB of storage capacity
• 8 hot-swappable universal drive bays – mix or match 2.5-inch (no adaptor needed) and 3.5-inch HDDs and SSDs
• SoftRAID – robust software for creating, monitoring, and managing advanced RAID sets
• See your work: DisplayPort 1.2 for connecting up to 4K monitor
• Daisy-chain expansion: Second Thunderbolt 3 port for adding up to 5 additional Thunderbolt devices
• Deployment ready – pre-configured solutions undergo rigorous multi-hour drive burn-in
• Hardware Plug-and-Play – no drivers needed; includes Thunderbolt 3 cable
• OWC ClingOn-ready: cable stabilizer prevents work session interruption and possible data loss
• Worry-free – up to 5-Year OWC Limited Warranty with 1-Year Level 1 data recovery

Pricing & Availability

The OWC ThunderBay 8 will be available in Q1 in capacities from 0GB (add your own drives), or from 16TB to 112TB with pricing starting at $1,228.99.

ThunderBay FLEX 8 – The Future Standard of Storage – Available Today

Whether you call it a workflow workhorse, a productivity platform, or a configurable command center, one description of the ThunderBay FLEX 8 says it best. The ThunderBay Flex 8 was designed as the solution for the most advanced, demanding workflow needs. It’s a groundbreaking, industry-first 3-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 storage, docking, and PCIe expansion solution from the world’s leading Thunderbolt accessory manufacturer.

The ThunderBay FLEX 8 offers 8 drive bays that support a mix of SATA/SAS/U.2 NVMe drives for up to 128TB of storage capacity. Next, there are a plethora of ports including (2) Thunderbolt 3, (1) USB-C and (2) USB-A ports for device docking and charging. See your work with greater clarity by adding an up to 8K display via the built-in DisplayPort 1.4 connection. Ingest hi-res images and video via front-side SD 4.0 and CF-Express card readers. When you want to expand your desktop capabilities, there’s a PCIe x16 slot waiting for your specific project needs.

ThunderBay FLEX 8 was built from the ground up to address the storage standards of today and tomorrow. All 8 bays can utilize legacy SATA 6Gb/s 2.5-inch SSDs or 3.5-inch HDDs. To take advantage of the direct connection PCIe technology offers to achieve transfer rates up to 40Gb/s, the top four bays are NVMe U.2 SSD ready. With these super-fast SSDs emerging as the preferred drive form factor of media and entertainment industry professionals, ThunderBay FLEX 8 is ready to meet the future storage needs of content creators and video production pros.

Highlights

• Eight FLEXible drive bays with up to 2750MB/s real-world tested speed:
  • Four top bays: install your choice of U.2 NVMe SSDs (one bay PCIe 3.0 x4, three bays PCIe 3.0 x1), 2.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s SSDs, or 3.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s HDDs.
  • Four bottom bays: install your choice of 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s drives.
• Massive capacity: store up to 128TB of critical footage, images, and files
• Connect up to five additional Thunderbolt devices in a daisy-chain
• Includes SoftRAID: robust software for creating, monitoring, and managing advanced RAID sets
• Deployment ready: pre-configured solutions undergo rigorous multi-hour drive burn-in
• Connect and charge your devices: (1) USB-C and (2) USB-A ports for audio or video mixers, digital cameras, peripherals, and mobile devices
• See your work: DisplayPort 1.4 for connecting up to two 4K displays or one 8K display
• Fast and easy camera uploads: up to 985MB/s with frontside SD 4.0 and CFexpress card readers
• Play your card: (1) PCIe (x16) slot for half-length, full-height, single-width audio and video capture cards, high-speed networking card, SSD storage card, hardware RAID card, and even I/O cards like FireWire, Fiber Channel, or USB 3.2.
• Power to spare: 500W handles drives, expansion cards, and charging up accessories

Pricing & Availability

The ThunderBay FLEX 8 integrated storage, docking and PCIe expansion solution will be available in Q1 as a 0GB enclosure (add your own drives) or from 16TB to 128TB solutions.