WiebeTech RTX220-QR Enclosure

When you have multiple gigabytes of images to store, bigger may be better, but safer is best. These days there is no reason to lose data on your computer, not with hardware like the WiebeTech RTX220-QR enclosure with built-in hardware RAID controller (available for Mac and Windows).

The RTX220-QR in its simplest form is a portable enclosure ready to accept two hard drives. Within the enclosure is hardware that will allow you to configure the drives once you install them in either RAID 0 for speed; or RAID 1 for secure storage.

The back of the unit has two FireWire 800 connectors along with one USB 2.0 and one SATA connector. Cables are supplied for each of these, including a FireWire 400 to FireWire 800 cable. There is also a fan, power switch and power cable connector.

But the front of the RTX220-QR is where the interest is. The two doors cover what WiebeTech calls “TrayFreeTM” drive bays. These allow you to simply slide any SATA hard drive into the bay and close the door to lock it in place. The drive bays are all metal with shock-mount protection. WiebeTech says the interface connectors are rated for 20,000+ drive insertions. Each bay has a lock for security to prevent anyone from removing a drive.

Drives can be hot-swapped in and out of the bays without shutting down the computer system. This means you can always have a backup if you have the RTX220-QR configured as RAID 1. Whenever appropriate simply dismount the RTX220-QR, remove one of the drives, which becomes your backup, and replace it with another. When you restart the RTX220-QR it automatically “restores” your data on the inserted drive, while the drive you removed has all of the data stored on it up to the time you removed it.

On the front of the enclosure there is also a set of buttons that move you through some basic options that are displayed on the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) next to them. The buttons are also used to choose RAID 0 or RAID 1 operation.
There is also downloadable Configurator software for Mac or Windows that opens up additional options. These include the ability to configure at what temperatures the warning LEDs turn on, fans spin up and audible alarms sound.

The RTX220-QR arrived with two 2TB drives installed. I connected it to my Windows XP computer using a FireWire 800 to 400 cable and, while the computer could see the drives, I couldn’t access them. Tech support quickly and accurately determined that the drives had been formatted on a Windows 7 machine with an updated NTSF format that XP couldn’t read. The tech walked me through reformatting the drives and setting up RAID 1 and I was on my way. He assured me that this doesn’t happen if you buy an enclosure with hard drives installed directly from WiebeTech because they would ask you exactly what operating system you were using it on and format the drives appropriately.

I was interested in doing a speed comparison between RAID 1 and RAID 0 so I copied 5.5GB of data to the RTX220-Q configured in RAID 1. It took four minutes.

Then I switched over to RAID 0 using the buttons on the enclosure, and again my XP wouldn’t see the RTX220-Q. Another call to tech support and I was reminded that XP can only see 2.2TB max on one hard drive and I was trying to make it see 4TB.

So I started over again with a laptop running Windows 32-bit Vista. I didn’t have the right cable to connect using FireWire, so I was stuck with using the USB 2.0 connection. With this interface it took 9 minutes and 23 seconds to transfer 6.66GB of image data in RAID 1.

Following the instructions in the user’s manual, it was a simple task to reconfigure the RTX220-QR to RAID 0. Configuring the Windows OS to see the reconfigured drive is another matter. You must go into Disk Management and run through the steps there to assign a drive letter, perform a quick format and populate the drive.

If this sounds like I’m speaking in tongues, be prepared to call a friend or WiebeTech tech support for help. The RTX220-QR isn’t unique in needing this in order to be set up properly. Any RAID system on a Windows computer will require a similar procedure.

Once I had the RTX220-QR configured for RAID 0, I transferred the same 6.66GB folder over the same USB 2.0 connection. It took 4.5 seconds longer in RAID 0. Checking with tech support, it turns out that you would only see a significant speed difference with large files (>50GB) and FireWire 800 or SATA connections.

If you need the speed of RAID 0 for video editing and have the appropriate interface connection or the security of RAID 1 for any type of imaging, you should consider the RTX220-QR enclosure. The carrying handle is an added bonus if you need to take this unit to on-location assignments. If you are ordering it populated with hard drives, just be sure that you let WiebeTech know what operating system you will be using it for.

MSRP of the WiebeTech RTX220-QR enclosure without drives is $499.95. Configured as I received it, the MSRP is $863. Additional information on this unit or the hard drive options for it is available at www.wiebetech.com.

Specifications
Host Interfaces: Single eSATA, Dual FireWire 800/FireWire 400 (via included converter cable), Single USB 2.0
Data Interface Speeds: eSATA 3.0GHz (up to 300MB/sec)
FireWire 800, up to 800 Mbps
FireWire 400, up to 400 Mbps
USB 2.0, up to 480 Mbps
Drive Types Supported: 3.5-in. SATA hard drives
RAID Levels Supported: RAID 0 (striped) or RAID 1  (mirrored)
Bridge/RAID Chipset: Oxford 936DS
TrayFree™ Technology: Yes
Large, rugged integrated handle: Yes
Shock Absorbing Bays: Yes
Lockable Bays: Yes
Operating System Requirements: Windows 7, XP, Server 2003, Vista Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later, Linux distributions using kernel version 2.4 or above
Operating Humidity: 5% to 95%, noncondensing
Power Switch: 2 position: On / Off
Internal Power Supply: 120 Watt
Cooling Fan: 6cm Magnetic Levitation Bearing Fan
Certification: RoHS, CE, FCC, C-Tick
Chassis Material: Steel
Shipping Weights: 8.5 lbs. without drives 11.5 lbs. with drives
Dimensions: 278mm (L) x 174mm (W) x 160mm (H)
Warranty: 1-year limited warranty. See warranty statement for details and limitations. WiebeTech offers free phone support for 90 days after purchase (1-866-744-8722). After 90 days, email support is available at [email protected].

Stan Sholik is a commercial/advertising photographer in Santa Ana, CA, specializing in still life and macro photography. His latest book, Professional Filter Techniques for Digital Photographers, covering both on-camera analog and post-production digital filters is published by Amherst Media.