Photographers, videographers, and musicians understand the curse of having too much digital content and not enough storage space. It gets even more difficult when you have to find an external storage drive that you actually trust. That’s why we were so excited to try out the LaCie 2big RAID.
This is LaCie’s latest dual-hard drive desktop storage system. In this post, we review its key features, specs, pros, and cons. But first…
What’s a RAID Drive?
RAID stands for “Redundant Array of Independent Disks.” Much like Transformers, a RAID drive combines multiple separate drives together to create a larger, faster, more versatile solution. Except, of course, LaCie is combining hard drives, not aliens. In total, the 2big RAID contains two stacked, interchangeable drives.
A big pro for RAID drives is that you can format them in very specific ways to fit your needs. That said, the software that comes with the LaCie 2big RAID only lets you format this model three ways:
- RAID 0: the two drives function as one. This offers the fastest speeds and largest possible capacity.
- RAID 1: the two drives mirror each other. So, when you copy data onto the 2big it’s automatically backed up onto both disks simultaneously. This results in a slower transfer process but it’s great if you’re paranoid about losing your data.
- JABOD (just a bunch of drives): the two drives function independently inside one enclosure.
Key Features | LaCie 2big RAID
Storage
The LaCie 2big RAID comes in 4 TB, 8 TB, and 16 TB iterations. To be clear, that storage is for both drives combined. For example, if you get the 4 TB model it will be split into two 2 TB IronWolf Pro drives.
Connectivity
This particular model has a very straightforward USB-C connection. This is convenient for two main reasons. First, it’s fast—it offers transfer speeds of up to 440 MB/s. Second, USB-C is increasingly becoming the standard form of connectivity for major electronics brands. So, you’ll get some decent mileage out of this model in the coming years.
If you want additional built-in connectivity, we suggest you check out the LaCie 2big Dock Thunderbolt 3. It has dual Thunderbolt 3 ports as well as SD and CompactFlash slots.
Interchangeable Hard Drives
As mentioned above, this model contains two IronWolf Pro enterprise-class hard drives which have a 7200-RPM/64MB cache. In addition to being incredibly fast, the drives can also be hot-swapped.
Now, let’s talk about “hot-swappable chassis.” First of all, this sounds like a phrase my grandmother would yell in place of a curse word (i.e. “hot-swappable chassis, this pan is scalding”). In reality, it has usability implications for the LaCie 2big RAID.
This term indicates that the device’s interchangeable drives can be switched out while the 2big RAID is still on. The biggest benefit here is convenience; you don’t have to waste time turning the device on and off to switch out hard drives.
Summary
The LaCie 2big RAID drive is a reliable, versatile solution for creatives interested in expanding their storage space. It’s incredibly convenient to use thanks to its hot-swappable chassis and drive formatting options.
