Short Review of the Toaster TT400U3 Hard Disks Docking Station

[digitalartist]

If you are looking for a neat solution to adding more external HDD storage, consider the Toaster 4 Bay USB3 External HDD enclosure. Forget about the Drobo. The 4 bay USB 3 Toaster TT400U3 at around RM430, is only 10% of the cost of a Drobo, but you will have to buy your own HDDs. It has 4 bays of docking receptacles which can support upto 4x3TB HDDs and it connects to your PC by a fast USB 3 port which is 10x faster than the usual USB2.

BTW, each standard 3 Tb HDD is around RM500 to RM600. I've been using the Toaster for a while now, and frequently changing HDDs with absolutely no problems. It takes about 5 seconds to change HDDs, although you should eject the HDD first, switch off the unit, and then install or remove HDDs. Its completely plug and Play on a Widows 7 OS. And the advantage for me is that I need only 1 USB3 point through which I can connect upto 12 Tb of HDD space, compared to one USB port for each of the single free standing Western Digital 2 and 3 Tb My Book essential HDD external enclosures that I've been using. As I have 2 USB3 ports on my PC, I can have upto 24 TB of HDD space (3Tb x 4x2)connected externally at any one time through two fast USB3 ports. Over time I have been upgrading the 6 internal HDDs I have to the newer 3 Tb ones. So with the internal HDD space already maxed out at 6 x 3 Tb = 18 Tb, I can now have at least 18+24 = 42 TB HDD space live at any one time, quite enough (for the moment) for my 600,000 RAW picture files, and at least one set of backups, performed automatically and periodically by Norton 360. Norton 360 automatically adds newer files into my back up sets to a set routine.

Here are some pictures of my Toaster Hard Disk solution. Bought from Computer War in SS2. Mention my name and you might get a discount, or at least I'll get a bigger discount when I buy my next 3Tb HDD.

Toaster_2067.jpg

Toaster_2073.jpg

If you need an External Hard Disk Solution, take a look at the Toaster TT400U3 HDD docking station.

[calvincychin]

does it support RAID 1 and/or RAID 5 and/or RAID 6?

[Adrian_Loo]

what happens if a hard disk dies?
Will it backup like a drobo?

[digitalartist]

does it support RAID 1 and/or RAID 5 and/or RAID 6?

The toaster is simply a hard disk docking station for unto 4 HDDs It doesn't support RAID.

[jetfynn]

I think i'll check this one out.....

[chinks]

I bought my 4 bay Drobo for RM1700, so the Toaster is a quarter the price, not 10%. It takes up to 4Tb HDDs, so you can have 16Tb in HDDs, although because of its RAID nature the amount of TB you actually get to use will be less. However, you CAN just pull out and insert HDDs any time. The Drobo will take a while to re-distribute data and recover what's lost in the HDD you pulled out and you're back in business. It's connected to my Mac via Firewire and it appears as one BIG HDD, not multiple HDDs.

Certainly an option to the Toaster if you prefer some kind of RAID / back up for your files. There's also a 5 bay NAS Drobo but I think that's nearly double the price.

[khoking]

I bought my 4 bay Drobo for RM1700, so the Toaster is a quarter the price, not 10%. It takes up to 4Tb HDDs, so you can have 16Tb in HDDs, although because of its RAID nature the amount of TB you actually get to use will be less. However, you CAN just pull out and insert HDDs any time. The Drobo will take a while to re-distribute data and recover what's lost in the HDD you pulled out and you're back in business. It's connected to my Mac via Firewire and it appears as one BIG HDD, not multiple HDDs.

Certainly an option to the Toaster if you prefer some kind of RAID / back up for your files. There's also a 5 bay NAS Drobo but I think that's nearly double the price.

4 Bay Drobo is now less than RM1600, so more value for money now.

[calvincychin]

Let me share some of my backup strategy.
During nornal usage, i am afraid of hardware failure and i don't want to do backup when i add or delete files. So i will prefer to have raid 1. Raid 1 read performance and not dependent on specified raid card. As long as from the same manufacturer u should be good. I am ok with multiple drive as i don have too much disk.

Periodically i do backup on my mac. This backup is used for system recovery. I don want to resetup and restore file... I want a one step recovery of system and data. So i used time machine. U can use similar tool for windows. I store this backup harddisk in a secure place. Just in case someone break into my house.

Raid and backup is essential. Just storing it in a harddisk or multiple harddisk is too risky.

Dlink nas is not a bad start. http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=509

Sorry da, a bit off topic

[digitalartist]

I'm talking about double backing up of 16 Tb of data in 600,000 files = 48Tb of space needed, excluding working space. For me, the Toaster with manual backing up of incremental files is the most cost effective solution. You simply add additional HDDs as and when you need more space.l

Question to Chinks. If the Drobo is seen as one big 16 Tb disk, why would you want to hot pull out any disk? What data is in the disk you pulled out? I don't think you want to hot pull out any HDD in the Drobo or in a toaster.

[tytons]

@digitalartist though you have a whole 16TB of data, lets say you have 4 drives of 4TB la..example..with drobo technology you will have 1 failover drive..or 2 depending on your setting, with that you will have slightly less than 16TB but it will take a certain % as a backup so you can just pull out a drive.

why would anyone wanna pull out a drive? I worked in a visual effects company and hardisk die all the time, we use WD black and still it dies after a while, so pulling out and replacing a drive is easy and we just do it with no worry. Also you do not need to worry where the data is..cos the software/firmware will manage your data for you..all you need to worry is your hardware health. just fyi...we dont use drobo but a more expensive product which has similar feature.

[nel]

... well, as far as I personally come to understand all this "mombo-jombo" stuff this far -- if you attached multiple disks into a single volume, it would be wise to put yourself on any Raid architecture that allow you to have 1 or 2 disk to fail. If you don't -- if one of the disk fail the rest will fail as a single volume ... ...

[chuan]

just got the Toaster and loaded with a WD2TB hdd. Now on trial for 24hrs just to see if its stable. IT Mall. Quite a good deal at rm340(special discount) plus rm250 for the 2TB hdd.

If you are looking for a neat solution to adding more external HDD storage, consider the Toaster 4 Bay USB3 External HDD enclosure. Forget about the Drobo. The 4 bay USB 3 Toaster TT400U3 at around RM430, is only 10% of the cost of a Drobo, but you will have to buy your own HDDs. It has 4 bays of docking receptacles which can support upto 4x3TB HDDs and it connects to your PC by a fast USB 3 port which is 10x faster than the usual USB2.

BTW, each standard 3 Tb HDD is around RM500 to RM600. I've been using the Toaster for a while now, and frequently changing HDDs with absolutely no problems. It takes about 5 seconds to change HDDs, although you should eject the HDD first, switch off the unit, and then install or remove HDDs. Its completely plug and Play on a Widows 7 OS. And the advantage for me is that I need only 1 USB3 point through which I can connect upto 12 Tb of HDD space, compared to one USB port for each of the single free standing Western Digital 2 and 3 Tb My Book essential HDD external enclosures that I've been using. As I have 2 USB3 ports on my PC, I can have upto 24 TB of HDD space (3Tb x 4x2)connected externally at any one time through two fast USB3 ports. Over time I have been upgrading the 6 internal HDDs I have to the newer 3 Tb ones. So with the internal HDD space already maxed out at 6 x 3 Tb = 18 Tb, I can now have at least 18+24 = 42 TB HDD space live at any one time, quite enough (for the moment) for my 600,000 RAW picture files, and at least one set of backups, performed automatically and periodically by Norton 360. Norton 360 automatically adds newer files into my back up sets to a set routine.

Here are some pictures of my Toaster Hard Disk solution. Bought from Computer War in SS2. Mention my name and you might get a discount, or at least I'll get a bigger discount when I buy my next 3Tb HDD.

Toaster_2067.jpg

Toaster_2073.jpg

BTW, the 600,000 pics in my stash are mostly RAW files shot over the last 12 years of global wandering in a 4x4 all terrain Landcruiser. I like to have all of my pictures instantly accessible as I catalog and keyword them in Lightroom a few hundred at a time whenever I have some free time. My Lightroom catalog is 7 Gigs in size and even with 600,000 pics I do not have serious speed issues during search and develop. I can pull out any picture almost instantly as I have painstakingly classified pictures according to dates shot.
Here's a sample of three pictures in my HDDs. The originals are all at least 21 MP each, and that's why I need so much space. The first was shot while crossing the Libyan Sahara at dusk, the second was in the Serengeti of Africa when these two Rhinos casually strolled out of the bushes by the track side. The third are a couple of Zebras crossing my track in the Ngorongoro Crater of Tanzania. I've also got pictures of elephants, leopards, Lions, buffalo, impalas, etc. crossing my track. The best way to enjoy shooting the animals of Africa is to actually drive your own vehicle across the great Game Reserves of Africa. One day when I no longer have the capacity to drive and travel, I'll sit down and do something with my pictures. Right now, I'm in the process of doing two books for the sponsors of my recent drive across Africa from Cape Town to Cairo.

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So if you need an External Hard Disk Solution, take a look at the Toaster TT400U3 HDD docking station.

[lightning]

got a question, does it auto shutdown or auto wake up if your PC is turn off/on? or you have to manually switch the external unit off/on?

[Iskandar Taib]

I was stuck at The Curve during the rain just now, so I checked out stuff at the Digital Mall upstairs. The Toaster here was RM500, more or less. There's another brand, very similar, about the same price. Then there was a 2 drive Buffalo unit, except this one was a network drive rather than USB3, for (IIRC) about RM200. And there's some sort of stackable Toaster-like thing - each drive unit costs RM145, just buy as many as needed. Also USB3. Hmmmmm.... I'm leaning towards the Buffalo at this point, I've got three ports on my ethernet router not doing anything. Aside from storage for my home activities, the drives should be available on the network as well. The idea would be to replace the HD on my Inspiron Zino (little shoebox PC) with a SSD, then mount the current internal drive (and some drives from my old Dell box) externally. Don't know if the Zino does USB3, though I'm sure it's got eSATA.

Iskandar

[beyond]

I only wish I can find a 4 bays HDD docking with Firewire.

[chinks]

I only wish I can find a 4 bays HDD docking with Firewire.

My Drobo basic has 4 bays and has Firewire800.

[beyond]

Drobo expensive la.

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

[Iskandar Taib]

My Drobo basic has 4 bays and has Firewire800.

USB 3.0 is a lot faster than Firewire 800.

One wonders what this costs:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=610

Iskandar

[Maniac]

ehm should have gotten myself the 4bays, now I am using the 2 bay versions of this toaster on usb3 work flawlessly.

[digitalartist]

Just bought another toaster with 4 bays, and populated 2 bays of the new Toaster with 2 x 3 TB green WDs. Now busy manually reorganizing my back up strategy. Presently not so systematic with double and triple backups spread across 20 live HDDs in 2 Toasters, and an assortment of 12 WD My Book and other External drives, connected to the PC by all the available USB3, USB2 and Firewire ports, including 6 sata sockets on the mobo. I also have about 25 older <300 Gb HDDs which also contain old back up data and pics. I'm running out of alphabets for associating with HDDs. Wonder what will happen after I connect beyond the 26th Drive Z.