LaCie 2Big RAID Desktop Storage Review
By Adam Noyes
As NAB rolls on this week, LaCie is set to show off its updated storage solutions. Included in this is an updated RAID solution we had sent over late last week, the 2Big RAID.
The 2Big RAID slots in just under the 2Big Dock, a unit we reviewed in 2017. The new 2Big offers the blacked-out aesthetic from the d2 Professional while keeping the iconic Poulton design. This is a two-bay solution, full aluminum enclosure with metal trays, the metal trays do support 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives. That said this is a turnkey solution with 4,8 and 16TB solutions available. Connectivity is handled with Gen 2 USB 3.1 using the Type-C connector and cooling is handled by a Noctua A6x25 FLX. Marketing performance offers 440 MB/s read and write taking advantage of the IronWolf Pro 7200RPM drives. Compatibility of the 2Big RAID extends to Windows and macOS. MSRP comes in at $739.99 with a five-year warranty.
Packaging still offers that clean aesthetic, white box with an image of the device centered. The top right offers capacity and performance information.
The side offers features and compatibility along with specifications at the bottom.
Included with the 2Big we have a USB-C cable and A to C cable. To the left we have the power adapter and reading materials.
The front of the unit offers that iconic double stack design all 2Big units have given us. Obviously, this unit follows the blacked out design mentioned above with blue orb that doubles as the power indicator.
The backside gives us a cooling fan at the top with the power button and power input to the left and USB-C the right. This unit does have a Kensington lock slot for those that need to secure the unit.
As mentioned above the 2Big uses metal drive trays, plastic fronts to match the enclosure. Our unit had a pair of 8TB IronWolf Pro drives.
The 2Big takes advantage of LaCie RAID manager, this aides in naming and registering your device as seen above.
The manager also lets you setup email notifications, offering updates if anything happens to the unit.
The updates tab is the auto-update feature, that keeps your devices and system recent.
The array manager shows health at the bottom right while up above we have array information. Clicking modify will bring up the option in the corner allowing for RAID 0,1 and JBOD setup.
Starting with RAID 0, we ran through DST and reached 451 MB/s read, and 439 MB/s write.
Moving to our next bench, we saw 475 MB/s read and 463 MB/s write.
Slipping the unit into RAID 1, we went through testing again, this time reaching 228MB/s read and 226 MB/s write.
In our second bench, we have 242 MB/s read, and 234 MB/s write. After testing, I used this last weekend to transition my data from several portable HDDs to this 2Big RAID. While it was a cumbersome process, plugging and unplugging drives followed by moving data, the setup of the 2Big was effortless, and in just a few clicks you can have the unit set in any RAID mode needed. Adding to this real-world data transfer performance was as expected, peaking at 450 MB/s when in RAID 0 and 230 MB/s in RAID 1. Synthetic performance reaches marketing numbers with ease and in my testing actually surpasses by a good margin. With DST I found a peak of 450 MB/s while CDM offered 475MB/s both in RAID 0. RAID 1 peaked at 228 MB/s in DST and 242 MB/s in CDM. Build quality is quite good with a full aluminum enclosure, metal trays and drives included certainly adds weight. The Neil Poulton design shines through even with a blacked-out aesthetic fitted for those of you using the new iMac Pro or Space Grey MacBook. LaCie RAID manager eases the pain of having to manually setup RAID in macOS with a GUI that offers additional features like notifications, drive health and auto update. Pricing on the LaCie 2Big RAID 16TB @ $739.99 can seem quite expensive just looking at numbers but putting it against its competition like the OWC Mercury Elite Dual which at 16TB is priced at $829.99 or G-Technology GRAID which at 16TB is $899.99, this unit seems more and more like a bargain. Adding in the five-year warranty and value-added recovery services from Seagate and this solution should definitely be on your short list.