Why TerraMaster’s 128TB Hybrid RAID Setup Surpasses Expectations for Massive Storage Needs

Professionals and hobbyists who deal with a boatload of data should check out the new TerraMaster D8 Hybrid, an eight-bay drive enclosure that combines HDD capacity with SSD speed. It looks impressive, and you can save $100 on your pre-order during TerraMaster’s crowdfunding campaign.

TerraMaster debuted its first hybrid drive enclosure, the D5 Hybrid , earlier this year. It was an “industry first,” utilizing a pair of HDDs and three M.2 NVMe SSDs for a fast and flexible mix of “hot and cold “ storage. Files that you frequently access are kept on the SSDs, while the HDDs are used for backups or rarely-needed files.

The new D8 Hybrid enclosure takes things a bit further. It can accommodate four HDDs and four SSDs for a maximum 128TB of storage. Note that this is a drive enclosure, not a NAS device—it connects directly to your computer over USB 3.2 Gen 2 for blazing-fast file transfer up to 10Gbps. Alternatively, you can use the D8 Hybrid to expand a NAS device’s storage. It only has one USB port, though, so it can only connect to a single computer or NAS—not both.

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Anyone who needs this much storage probably wants some data redundancy. The D8 Hybrid always leaves its M.2 SSDs in Single Disk mode, meaning that they’re treated as a large, ultra-fast storage pool. If you set the slower HDDs to RAID 1, they’ll mirror the contents of your SSDs and serve as a backup in case of a drive failure. Those who prefer to maximize both storage capacity and speed can choose between RAID 0, Single Disk, or JBOD modes.

The D8 Hybrid also includes a unique 2+6 RAID mode. In this configuration, two of your HDDs serve as RAID backups while your remaining drives operate in Single Disk fashion. This gives you a nice mix of redundancy and storage, and it provides some wiggle room when selecting drive capacities.

As for how you interact with the D8 Hybrid—well, you treat it like a massive external drive. TerraMaster also offers its TPC Backupper software for Windows users, but Linux or macOS users who want automated backups need to use a different application, such as rsync or Time Machine .

While I love TerraMaster’s hybrid approach to hot and cold data storage, the D8 Hybrid is overkill for most people. Some professionals and hobbyists may be better off with the smaller D5 Hybrid , and those who don’t need RAID redundancy or a massive amount of storage can simply buy a drive enclosure or pre-assembled external drive .

TerraMaster is now accepting D8 Hybrid pre-orders on Kickstarter. Early customers can secure their pre-order for $199, which is $100 off MSRP. Note that this is just the price of the enclosure; you need to buy the drives separately.

Source: TerraMaster

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