Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Product Description:The LaCie 301254U 2big Triple 1 TB FireWire800/FireWire400/USB 2.0 2-Disk RAID system is an extremely rugged drive with an edgy, industrial design by internationally renowned designer Neal Poulton. Featuring three fast and popular interfaces, including fast FireWire 800, this 2-disk RAID storage system is ideal for creative professionals who require plenty of speed, minimal space and the latest security.
 | The 2big Triple (2-disk RAID) offers: - 1 TB of additional disk space.
- USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800 interfaces for universal connectivity.
- RAID support for options in reliability and speed.
- Elegant design by Neil Poulton.
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The 2big Triple supports four RAID configurations for reliability and speed. View larger. |
Hard disks are easily hot-swappable for security and upgradeability. View larger. |
High-Performance Professional Storage and Security The 2big Triple is the ultimate storage solution for the audio/video and creative professional who needs swift, reliable, and secure performance. This easy-to-use two-disk device incorporates three universal interfaces: two FireWire 800 ports, one FireWire 400 port and one high-speed USB 2.0 port for PC or Mac users. The FireWire 800 interface delivers rapid transfer rates of up to 90 MB per second in the fast RAID 0 configuration.
In addition to RAID 0, you can also choose from three additional RAID levels depending on your needs: RAID 1 for maximum security with 100-percent data redundancy on each hot-swappable disk (data is automatically duplicated to each drive); BIG (concatenation) for maximum capacity; or JBOD (to use the disks separately). A mechanical switch on the back of the unit lets you select your RAID level quickly and easily. So with the slightest effort, you can switch between RAID levels, giving you full redundancy, maximum disk space, two independent drives, and so on. In other words, the 2big Triple gives you have complete control as to how to protect and access your data.
The 2big Triple is ideal for storing office data and archiving image banks, but it's also ideal for audio/video projects, including DV and SD video playback and 2D/3D imaging projects. Offering up to 1 TB of storage space (in BIG mode), the 2big Triple can store up to four hours of uncompressed HD video, 72 hours of HD video, 84 hours of DV or 25,000 RAW photos. (The disks can be removed and upgraded for larger storage options.)
The 2big Triple has two 500 GB Hitachi Deskstar drives running at 7200 rpm. The drives are SATA with a 3.0GB/s internal data transfer rate, and have 16 MB cache each.
For ensuring complete data security and availability, the drives are hot-swappable. Included with the 2big Triple is EMC Retrospect Express software for advanced backup management and data restoration for both Windows and Mac. This user-friendly software simplifies backup and restores data using a step-by-step wizard. You can also schedule automatic backups of selected files or folders to further protect your data.
The stylish aluminum design by Neil Poulton fits in with the rest of your office equipment. View larger. |
Design by Neal Poulton Designed by internationally acclaimed designer Neil Poulton, the 2big Triple features an attractive, compact and versatile design. The cooling, heat sink metal design naturally draws heat away from the hard disk's internal components. Along with a thermoregulated progressive smart fan, the 2big Triple is designed to stay cool for long-term reliability and quiet operation.
With its compact footprint--the 2big Triple measures 7.8 x 3.5 x 6.7 inches (HxWxD) and weighs 5.73 pounds--the disk won't take much space up on your workstation. And if you are tight on space, its design offers several versatile configurations. The 2big Triple has a sturdy metal body with a screw-mounted metal foot plate, giving it good stability in an upright, solo configuration, and it's also stackable and rack-mountable with a special rack system from LaCie (sold separately).
The 2big Triple offers triple power management: "Auto" for energy efficiency; "On" for instant access; or "Off" for data protection. The glowing blue programmable smart button on the front functions as a Shortcut Button that can launch EMC Retrospect advanced backup software or any other application of your choosing.
The 2big Triple is backed by a LaCie 3-year warranty.
What's in the Box
LaCie 2big Triple, FireWire 800 to FireWire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable, FireWire 400 to FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable, high-speed USB 2.0 cable (USB 1.1 compatible), external power supply, and LaCie Utilities CD.
Product Description:
The 2big Triple comes with FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces for PC or Mac users. This easy-to-use 2-disk RAID is ideal for storing office data, archiving image banks or audio/video editing. FireWire 800 delivers fast burst transfer rates of up to 90MB/s in RAID 0. Other advanced features include two lockable drives, a heat sink metal design for natural cooling, On/Auto/Off triple power management, and rackmount configuration. EMC Retrospect Express advanced backup management and data restoration software is included for Windows & Mac, which can be launched by the LaCie Shortcut Button.
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
Almost perfect, June 25, 2008
By
Charles Jahnke (Boston, MA USA)
When looking to purchase a backup solution I had a pretty good idea what I wanted (reliable RAID1 with swappable drives) and I have had good experiences with LaCie in the past. I ordered the LaCie 2Big Triple and got just what I asked for, no surprises good or bad. Just switch the dial, plug it in, do a quick format and your data is safe. I do, however, have some notes for those who don't like to read spec sheets.
Notes to Customers:
1) This drive is rather large - think big Kleenex box
2) That blue light is huge! It's a little distracting in a dark room, but I put the drive on the floor and stuck a post-it on it.
3) 1TB = 2 500 GB drives. You could just by a 1 TB drive these days and have it be a third the (physical) size.
3) RAID 1 = 500 GB mirror: you only get half the space.
4) "triple" means USB, firewire 400, firewire 800.
I have several "quadra" drives from LaCie that include eSATA and I love it. Firewire 800 is pretty quick though, daisy chainable too.
Notes to LaCie:
1) The "swappable" drives are not easily swappable. While they do come out, I struggled with it for a while
2) Make that light smaller. Please.
3) eSATA?
4) The mode dial is unclear. Why not use a real switch?
I realize this review sounds a little critical, but they are really just notes. I love this drive and it is very comforting to put aside the worry of hard drive failure and if I ever need the space I have an extra 500GB just a turn of a dial away.
FYI: Mean time of failure for hard drives is ~2 years, now just think about how old your computer is...
Lacie 2 Big Triple - Big, Fast and Stylish, June 17, 2008
By
KeriJane (Chicago IL USA)
I've been using the 1TB 2 Big Triple for a few weeks now with my Mac Pro.
Here are my initial impressions:
The drive is very solidly constructed and comes with quality cables, a tool to remove the stand, a screwdriver to set the RAID mode switch, software disks and a power brick.
It works well with Time Machine.
In its default RAID 0 mode, it's fast. Using Firewire 800 it seems about the same speed as an internal drive to me.
The removable drive trays were quite stuck at first, but after getting them out, they slide in and out OK. The finger slots don't give one good leverage to pull out the drive(s), so watch out for owies.
Mine contains 2 Seagate 7200.10 500 GB hard drives that seem to run pretty warm and occasionally make loud clicking (seek) noises, even when idle. I have an older 7200.9 (in a generic enclosure) that does exactly the same things so it's probably not a cause for concern.
Because the drives get very warm, the temperature-controlled fan comes on and stays on after about 20 minutes. I think maybe installing some cooler-running drives would reduce this tendency to run warm.
The tiny, recessed RAID mode switch requires the use of a small screwdriver (included) to turn. This is a good thing because moving the switch from one mode to another will destroy your data!
The "ON-AUTO-OFF" switch has been known to hiccup once or twice. It seems that "OFF" is not a "Hard" OFF, and sometimes acts like the "AUTO" position. Turning it "ON" then "OFF" seems to reset it OK.
It's not perfect, but it's still my 2nd best external drive, the best one being my smaller and slower Lacie d2 Quadra 320.
Have Fun,
Keri
If you are looking for reliability, look elsewhere. This product isn't it., April 24, 2008
By
Lucas Scott (Minnesota, USA)
I purchased this drive with the thought that I would have a guaranteed backup of my data, especially since I had this device configured in a "mirror" type RAID configuration.
First, in a "mirror" type RAID, the storage is only 500 GB, not 1 TB as advertised. This isn't a problem, so long as you know what you are buying.
Second, the switch to configure the RAID configuration requires a small tool to use, and is prone to breaking. In my case, the switch doesn't just have a few positions, but rather it spins all the way around to positions that aren't even a labeled setting. In short, this feature could cause people to think they have it set right, when in reality it isn't set to work at all.
Finally, the device I purchased had errors on several partitions about two weeks after purchase. I contacted Lacie technical support, explained my problem, and their recommendation was to buy another drive, copy all my data off, and just reformat it. I'm not sure about you, but I can't afford to buy two $300+ drives when I only expected to have to purchase one that worked correctly from the start. Plus, if it's a RAID array, shouldn't at least ONE drive still work? Nope, it must have been the controller or something else, because even when I did try to reformat it, I kept getting the same errors after just a few hours of use.
The drive is also loud, the "automatic" switch setting where it is supposed to turn on with your computer never worked, and the blue light on the front could be used to guide airplanes into your city, it's that bright. When you have an error, the error is clear since the light blinks blue and red so fast you are likely to have a seizure from the strobe effect. This is not a well designed product.
The bottom line, I wouldn't buy this product again. In fact, I'd probably stay away from any Lacie products now that I know how their technical support works. I asked for warranty service numerous times and was flat out refused.
