ThunderBay 4
Performance and Capacity Perfection for Individual to Studio Content Creators
- Work faster: up to 1527MB/s real-world speed to easily handle video editing, audio production, and photo editing, and other bandwidth demanding needs.
- Work bigger: access, backup, and archive up to 80TB of irreplaceable footage, images, and files.
- Built for RAID: bundled with OWC SoftRAID; the fastest and most flexible RAID 0/1/4/5/10 tool. Also supports Apple RAID and Microsoft Disk Manager.
- Expansive: daisy-chain up to five additional ThunderBay 4 or other Thunderbolt storage devices via the second Thunderbolt port.
- Worry-free: 5 Year (solution) or 1 Year (enclosure) OWC Limited Warranty
"When it comes to making sure years of content is easily accessible in a speedy manner, the ThunderBay provides that and much more."
“I use Thunderbay for storing all the data I took over the years. I take huge risk in taking the best possible images. I do not want to loose them at any price."
Perfect in All, for All
Speed, capacity, and configuration flexibility in a compact desktop footprint. ThunderBay 4 is perfection for a myriad of content creators and the reason it’s been one of the best-selling RAID storage solutions for the past decade.
Handle it all from everyday file storage and backup to running multi-stream compressed 4K video. Choose a preconfigured solution to start working immediately or add your own HDDs or SSDs to a DIY kit. Configure ThunderBay 4 with SoftRAID or your own RAID software to achieve your optimum level of performance and data redundancy. Add additional ThunderBay 4 or other Thunderbolt storage devices to the second Thunderbolt port and flex bigger capacity muscle. In every imaginable way, ThunderBay 4 is perfect in all, for all.
How Much Content You Can Store
| RAID 0 (80TB) | RAID 5 (60TB) | |
|---|---|---|
|
Video: XAVCS/H.265 4K |
1,778 hours |
1,333 hours |
|
Video: ProRes 422 HQ 4K |
202 hours |
152 hours |
|
Video: BRAW 6K DCI |
125 hours |
94 hours |
|
Audio: WAV 32bit 48Khz |
57,971 hours |
43,478 hours |
|
Photo: 45 Megapixel RAW |
1.6 million images |
1.2 million images |
Speed to Create
Up to 1527MB/s real-world speed to easily handle video editing, audio production, and photo editing, and other bandwidth demanding needs.
Built for RAID
Bundled with OWC SoftRAID; the fastest and most flexible RAID 0/1/4/5/10 tool. Also supports Apple RAID and Microsoft Disk Manager.1
Capacity to Dream
Access, backup, and push your creativity beyond your dreams with up to 80TB of either HDD or SSD storage.
Powerfully Expansive
Daisy-chain up to five additional ThunderBay 4 or other Thunderbolt storage devices via the second Thunderbolt port.
The Difference-Maker for Creators Just Like You
Whether you want to blaze through viewing a huge Lightroom catalog, import and edit massive files faster, level up your editing capabilities, or want to unleash greater audio production capabilities, ThunderBay 4 is the difference maker for:
- Individual content creators and filmmakers
- Audio editors, musicians, producers, music studios
- Wedding, sports and high-volume photographers
- Small production companies and photography studios
- DIT setups with large data needs
- Anyone seeking consolidation of multiple external drives
Gone is the time-consuming frustration of dealing with your content spread across multiple different external drives. Just connect ThunderBay 4’s Thunderbolt cable to your notebook to access your files faster while simultaneously charging your notebook. And with SoftRAID equipped models, you’ll work more confidently knowing the health status of your drives.
“Using the ThunderBay 4 has been fantastic. I now have plenty of breathing room when it comes to storage, and the speed increase has had a noticeable effect on both my photo editing in Lightroom and editing in Final Cut Pro.”
"I’ve used it for ingesting footage and editing directly on the drives and it has worked flawlessly, absolutely brilliantly.”
Mac-Ready Across the Board
ThunderBay 4 checks all the functional boxes to make you a more efficient content creator: fast data access, enormous storage capacity, centralized (and hassle-free!) file location, and it works with Macs (Intel-based plus the latest Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3 machines) and Windows PCs. What makes ThunderBay 4 the best 4 bay storage solution available is its time-proven reputation of providing peace of mind your data will be safely protected today and tomorrow. Gone is the fear of a costly slow down or — gulp — losing irreplaceable data because you didn’t select the right RAID solution
We Never Rest.
Our Good is Better.
Our Better is Best.
What’s most important to you in a storage solution is likely entirely different than another content creator. That why we don’t rest on our laurels and continue to make sure ThunderBay 4 doesn’t make you compromise. Merge four drives in a RAID 0 for huge performance and capacity gains over using a single external drive. Combine the capacity of three drives and use the fourth for RAID 5 data protection that keeps you working even if one of the drives fails. Or choose a DIY kit and add your own SATA SSDs for ultimate speed. With ThunderBay 4, you’re in charge of what’s good, better, or best for your needs:
| RAID Level / Drive Type | RAID 5 HDD | RAID 0 HDD | RAID 0 SSD |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Configuration Attributes |
Best Safety / |
Best Capacity / |
Best Speed / |
|
Maximum Capacity |
60TB |
80TB |
16TB |
|
Maximum Speed |
Up to 770MB/s2 |
Over 1000MB/s3 |
Up to 1527MB/s4 |
The Most Powerful RAID Tool on the Planet.
SoftRAID is the world’s fastest and most flexible application to configure, maintain, and protect your RAID volumes on Mac and PC. OWC enclosures include 3 Years of SoftRAID Premium.
- High-Performance RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) volumes
- Predictive Health Monitoring proactively notifies of Volume and Disk issues well before failure — provided on your computer and remotely
- Seamless Cross-Platform Sharing with support for Apple-formatted APFS and HFS+ SoftRAID volumes between Mac and Windows at no additional cost
- 35+ Years of Experience of Pro Support to provide peace-of-mind with setup help, ongoing questions, or urgent disk issues
- And many more unique features.
- Learn more about SoftRAID
M1 Macs require macOS 11.3 or later. SoftRAID is licensed per computer.
The Cool Quiet Type
External drives for content production need to offer more than just speed and capacity for massive files. They also need to offer quiet and secure reliability. You’ll work confidently and free of distraction with ThunderBay 4’s unique design. Its heat dissipating aluminum housing utilizes “flow-thru” venting, a low-turbulence fan, and a drive-isolating design coupled with vibration-absorbing feet that reduces sonic resonance. And you’ll always keep your data safe and secure with the locking faceplate and backside security slot.
Daisy-Chain Possibilities
ThunderBay 4 goes beyond offering the perfect balance of performance and capacity. With an extra Thunderbolt port, you have an unlimited world of workflow options. Attach a 5K Thunderbolt display or two 4K displays. Place a USB-C device at the end of a daisy chain. With an extra Thunderbolt port, you have the flexibility to add to your daisy-chain and master any task at hand.
Pre-Tested = Ready to Work
We understand having confidence in gear reliability is paramount to creative professionals. That’s why every ThunderBay 4 undergoes OWC's multi-hour "burn-in" performance certification prior to shipping. This ensures your ThunderBay 4 arrives operating properly and immediately ready for demanding use.
OWC Thunderbolt Cable Included
OWC ThunderBay 4 comes with a certified 0.7M OWC Thunderbolt (USB-C) Cable. But if your workflow demands a different length to make the connection, OWC Thunderbolt (USB-C) Cables are the perfect choice.
Work with Ultimate Confidence
Active workspaces expose gear to unexpected bumps and shoves. OWC ClingOn custom cable stabilizers (available separately) screw into the OWC Dock or OWC Drive housing to reduce – if not completely eliminate – cable strain on Thunderbolt and USB-C connections so you can work with ultimate confidence even in the highest foot traffic environments.
OWC ThunderBay Family
Meet the members of the OWC ThunderBay Family. Which one is just right for you?
The industry's first Thunderbolt 3 storage, docking, and PCIe expansion media workflow solution. Perfect for digital imaging, VFX, and video editing.
- Dual Thunderbolt Ports + DisplayPort 1.4
- Up to 2750MB/s
- Up to 8 x 2.5" or 3.5" Drives
- Compatible with OWC U2 Shuttle
- Includes SoftRAID
- RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) or JBOD
- USB 3.2 (10Gb/s) Type-C
- 3 x USB 3.2 (10Gb/s) Type-A
- DisplayPort 1.4
- SD Card Reader
- CFexpress Card Reader
- 85W Power Delivery
- Display support up to 8K
- Includes Thunderbolt cable
- For Mac
With up to 160TB at up to 2,586MB/s speeds, the ThunderBay 8 is like a personal data center for content creators and small business workgroups.
- Dual Thunderbolt Ports
- Up to 2586MB/s
- Up to 8 x 2.5" or 3.5" Drives
- Options with SoftRAID
- RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) or JBOD
- Includes Thunderbolt cable
- For Mac and PC
We made the OWC ThunderBay 4 even better with all improved internals, performance, reliability, and flexibility.
- Dual Thunderbolt Ports
- Up to 1527MB/s
- Up to 4 x 2.5" or 3.5" Drives
- Options with SoftRAID
- RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) or JBOD
- Includes Thunderbolt cable
- For Mac and PC
With four 2.5-inch drive bays, ThunderBay 4 mini transforms SSDs and HDDs into a pro-grade, Thunderbolt 2 storage solution in a compact design.
- Dual Thunderbolt 2 Ports
- Up to 1346MB/s
- Up to 4 x 2.5" Drives
- Options with SoftRAID
- RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) or JBOD
- Includes Thunderbolt 2 cable
- For Mac and PC
- RAID 1+0 (10) coming soon to Windows.
- Up to 770MB/s real world peak performance in AJA System 4K Test with 4 x 20TB HDDs in RAID 5 connected to either a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019, MacBookPro16,1) with 2.4GHz processor and 64GB RAM or a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021, MacBookPro18,1) with Apple M1 Pro processor and 16GB RAM.
- Over 1000MB/s read/write real world peak performance in AJA System 4K Test and Blackmagic Disk Speed Test with 4 x 20TB HDDs in RAID 0 connected to a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019, MacBookPro16,1) with 2.4GHz processor and 64GB RAM.
- Up to 1527MB/s sequential read/write real world performance in AJA System Test (4K-Full resolution, 64GB file size, 10bit RGB codec, single file test) with 4 x 4.0TB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSDs in RAID 0 connected to iMac Pro Late 2017 (iMacPro1,1) with 32GB RAM and 3.2GHz processor.
- Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt compatibility requires a certified Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (available separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.