Other World Computing announced today the availability of two new versions of SoftRAID, the revolutionary software RAID solution. SoftRAID Lite is a streamlined software RAID solution supporting RAID 0 and RAID 1 and includes powerful drive health monitoring. OWC also announced that SoftRAID 5.1, an enhanced version of the full-featured SoftRAID 5 solution, will now be included with the ThunderBay 4 RAID 5 Edition.
SoftRAID Lite
Until the release of Apple OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), Mac users who wanted to create a software RAID had been able to do so by using the Disk Utility application included with OS X. However, El Capitan removes that functionality from Disk Utility. Unless they have SoftRAID Lite, El Capitan users will now need to create and manage software RAIDs by using Terminal commands, a more tedious process than what was possible through Disk Utility.
SoftRAID Lite brings back RAID creation and management in an easy-to-use utility, and it serves as a professional utility for establishing and managing RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays. SoftRAID Lite provides these key features:
- Create and manage software RAID 0 and 1 arrays
- Enterprise-class drive health monitoring
- Predictive disk-failure analysis
- Certification of drives prior to setting up a new array
- Desktop notifications of drive health and status.
SoftRAID Lite users will also have access to the SoftRAID Forum, a new knowledge base that will be the primary source of technical support for SoftRAID Lite.
SoftRAID Version 5.1
More advanced functionality, including the creation and management of RAID modes 4, 5, and 1+0, and e-mail status alerts, is available in the latest version of SoftRAID 5, version 5.1. SoftRAID 5.1 combines advanced RAID modes, high performance, enterprise-class monitoring, e-mail notifications, and fast rebuild capabilities that only a software RAID can deliver.
OWC ThunderBay 4 + SoftRAID = Otherworldly Performance
OWC ThunderBay 4 RAID and ThunderBay 4 mini RAID, OWC’s flagship production four-bay drive RAIDs, are powered by the revolutionary SoftRAID 5 engine and utilize Thunderbolt 2 technology for extreme capacity and performance that enables workflows without limitations. The ThunderBay 4 is optimized for HDDs with up to 32TB, while the ThunderBay 4 mini is optimized for SSDs with up to 8TB. (Note: SoftRAID for ThunderBay, the special version of SoftRAID included with the OWC ThunderBay 4 RAID edition, is designed only to support the ThunderBay 4 enclosures.)
“We’re constantly evolving, always working to give our customers the most advanced solutions,” said Larry O’Connor, OWC Founder and CEO. “SoftRAID Lite and SoftRAID 5.1 build on an already amazing product to further enhance the revolutionary SoftRAID engine, and combined with the OWC ThunderBay 4 line, our customers will experience outstanding performance, reliability, and flexibility.”
Availability
SoftRAID Lite is available at eshop.macsales.com/item/SoftRAID/SOFTRAIDLDVD/.
SoftRAID version 5.1 is available now for same day shipping from eshop.macsales.com/item/SoftRAID/SOFTRAID5RTL/. SoftRAID version 5.1 is an update, and is available to all registered users of SoftRAID 5.x at no charge. (Note: The free update to SoftRAID 5.1 for ThunderBay enforces support only for OWC ThunderBay 4 RAID Edition. Drive monitoring capability is unaffected, though RAID volume creation and management on non-ThunderBay 4 devices is no longer supported. If you purchased the full retail version of SoftRAID separately, you will retain full functionality regardless of your storage device.)
SoftRAID version 5.1 is included with ThunderBay 4 RAID and ThunderBay 4 mini RAID. The products are available now for same day shipping from OWC.
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