WiebeTech RTX220-QR: A Hard Drive Enclosure for Video & Photo Pros

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Product: WiebeTech RTX220-QR – Quad interface External RAID
Price: $499.99 for the base system (no drives), though you can find it for as low as $400 online. MSRP as configured (with a 2TB RAID 1 setup) is $723.00.
What It’s Good For: Power users (like myself, who get skittish about data backup) will appreciate that this unit uses a pure RAID implementation. That’s useful not only for reading other RAID drives I have lying around, but means that if I need to mount a RAID 1 drive from the RTX220 in another RAID enclosure, I can, no problem.

Who It’s Good For: Photographers and videographers who need a RAID solution and a fast, effective backup procedure. It’s also good for small businesses that need to keep their data mirrored or quickly accessible.
Limitations: The two-bay configuration might be limiting for users who manage multiple machines — the quad-bay RTX400-QR is the better choice here. Even without drives (the RTX220 takes any standard SATA 1 or SATA 2 3.5″ hard drive), the unit is expensive when compared to some other RAID solutions.
Bottom Line: The RTX220-QR is a well-built solution for professionals looking at a robust RAID solution, without having to deal with proprietary drive systems or expensive enclosures. It’s expensive, but if your business relies on data security and having fast access to lots of content, it might be worth it.
A Look at the WiebeTech RTX220-QR

WiebeTech’s RTX220-QR is a two-bay RAID system that supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 configurations. It connects to a Mac or PC using USB, FireWire 400/800 and eSATA. We tested the Mac OS X configuration with both an iMac and a MacBook Pro, both using FireWire 800. It’s designed as a fast, proprietary-free solution for users who cycle through lots and lots of drives and want a fast way to create backup disks.
It can also be used as a Time Machine backup for Mac OS X, with the advantage of creating a second backup (for offsite storage) for important data. It also makes replicating backups onto another disk if one of the disks was showing signs of failure super fast.
I was surprised at how fast the RAID performed, even in the RAID 1 (mirror) configuration. The speeds I was getting over FireWire 800 were much faster than what I typically get with other enclosures and with my networked RAID setup on my FreeNAS box. While not a necessity, having a gigabit Ethernet port on the device would be useful, especially in a multi-machine environment. We hope future versions support Thunderbolt, thus providing Mac users with a way past the FireWire 800 bottleneck. Also, be warned: While idle, the unit is quiet, but when the fans kick in, it’s loud.
Videographers who want to create a RAID 0 scratch-disk for Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere will feel at home with the unit. It configures itself quickly and in my tests, was noticeably faster both with transfers and with rebuilding than using an older Drobo unit.
The front LED on the unit displays alerts, drive temperature and access speeds, plus any alarms or drive warnings. The trayless drive bays are fantastic — just open the door, pull out the drive, slide a new drive in and close the door. No screws, no mounts, no special drive bays. This is really handy for users who cycle through lots of drives and don’t want to have to worry about constantly attaching sleds or proprietary trays.


Front View





WiebeTech RTX220-QR is built like a tank. It weighs 11.5 pounds with two drives, but it has a nice handle at the top that makes the system surprisingly portable.


Rear View





The unit comes with four different interface options:

• eSATA 3.0GHz
• FireWire 800
• FireWire 400, via an included adaptor cable
• USB 2.0

The unit also has a built-in fan for ventilation and a standard three-prong AC power adaptor.


Trayless Bay System





Inserting drives into the RTX220-QR is a cinch. Simply push the drive door open and remove the drive. Insert a new drive in its place by pushing it in and closing the door.
No proprietary drive caddies or sleds are needed and this makes it very easy to load up archived drives either to access content or to create new backups on the fly.


Powered On





The LCD display shows drive status, drive temperatures and any alerts or alarms. The output can be configured using the included software, so that fans come on at a certain temperature or alarms go off when certain drive behavior is encountered.
Series Supported by Energizer®

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The Gadget of the Day Series is supported by the Energizer® Inductive Charger, which brings you the next generation of charging with Qi technology. Qi is the new universal standard for wireless charging. Energizer® has always been designed with performance and responsibility in mind … now that’s positivenergy™.
More About: backup solutions, Gadget of the Day Series, raid, RAID 1, reviews, WiebeTech RTX220-QR
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