OWC

We're sorry, but this item is no longer for sale. However, there may be more External Drives & Enclosures items available.

We recommend (*) OWC Mercury Elite Pro Qx2 Four-Bay eSATA + FireWire 800 + USB 3.0 External Storage Enclosure (Mfr P/N: M3QX2KIT0GB) from OWC for $228.75 as a suitable alternative.

OWC


Mfr P/N: MEQX2KIT0GB OWC SKU: OWCMEQX2KIT0GB

Highlights

  • 1 Year OWC Limited Warranty
availability

    Drive Bays

    • 4 bays supporting: 3.5-inch SATA drives
    • Drives must be identical

    Hot Swap Support

    • Yes

    Storage Interface

    • SATA

    RAID Capable

    • Yes

    RAID Levels Supported

    • RAID 0
    • RAID 1
    • RAID 5
    • RAID 10
    • SPAN
    • JBOD

    RAID Features

    • Hardware RAID

    Device Ports

    • (1) USB 2.0 Port
    • (1) eSATA 3 Gb/s Port (supports port multiplier)
    • (2) FireWire 800 Ports
    • (1) FireWire 400 Port

    Data Transfer Rate (Maximum)

    • USB 2.0 : Up to 480Mb/s (or 60MB/s)
    • USB 1.1 : Up to 12Mb/s (or 1.5MB/s)
    • eSATA Rev 2.x : Up to 3Gb/s (or 375MB/s)
    • eSATA Rev 1.x : Up to 1.5Gb/s (or 187.5MB/s)
    • FireWire 800 : Up to 800Mb/s (or 100MB/s)
    • FireWire 400 : Up to 400Mb/s (or 50MB/s)

    Chipset / Controller

    • Oxford 936

    MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)

    • Varies depending on drive mechanism installed

    Contact Start Stops

    • Varies depending on drive mechanism installed

    Mac OS Compatibility

    • Mac OS 8.6
    • Mac OS 9.0
    • Mac OS 9.1
    • Mac OS 9.2
    • Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah
    • Mac OS X 10.1 Puma
    • Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar
    • Mac OS X 10.3 Panther
    • Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
    • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
    • Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
    • Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
    • Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
    • OS X 10.9 Mavericks
    • OS X 10.10 Yosemite
    • OS X 10.11 El Capitan
    • macOS 10.12 Sierra

    PC OS Compatibility

    • Windows XP
    • Windows XP 64-bit Edition
    • Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
    • Windows Vista
    • Windows 7 32-bit Edition
    • Windows 7 64-bit Edition
    • Windows 8 32-bit Edition
    • Windows 8 64-bit Edition
    • Windows 8.1 32-bit Edition
    • Windows 8.1 64-bit Edition
    • Windows 10 32-bit Edition
    • Windows 10 64-bit Edition
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Windows Server 2022
    • Windows 11

    Other OS Compatibility

    • Linux

    External Power Adapter

    • No

    Power Supply

    • Internal UL-listed universal auto-switching power supply

    AC Input

    • 100-240V, 50-60Hz

    Cooling

    • (1) cooling fan

    Security Slot

    • Yes

    Power Button

    • Yes

    Power/Activity LED

    • Yes

    Housing Color

    • Aluminum

    Housing Material

    • Aluminum

    Dimensions

    • Height: 17.7 cm (7.0 in)
    • Length: 24.5 cm (9.7 in)
    • Width: 13.5 cm (5.3 in)

    Weight

    • 3.9 kg (8.60 lbs)

    Reach Certification

    • Yes

    Ambient Temperature

    • Operating: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed
    • Non-Operating: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed

    Altitude

    • Operating: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed
    • Non-Operating: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed

    Humidity

    • Operating: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed
    • Non-Operating: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed

    Shock

    • Operating: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed
    • Non-Operating: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed

    Noise

    • Varies depending on drive mechanism installed

    Compatibility & Installation VideosCompatibility & Installation Videos

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    More Info
    4.74 out of 5

    55 out of 58 (94%) reviewers would recommend this product

    Write a Review
    2 star
    1 star
    78%
    19%
    3%
    0%
    0%

    Loved it, while it lasted

    Bought this back in 2010 for film and video editing. Configured it as a RAID-5, through a eSATA-to-Thunderbolt adapter, to my iMac. I kept it on essentially 24 hours a day during that time, never had a drive failure. About once a year I'd take time to blow the dust out to make sure airflow was always good. Worked flawlessly for about 7 years. In the 7th year, I started getting strange behavior. Beep codes randomly which couldn't be identified in the manual. Randomly wouldn't mount after booting some times, and in the final days it would take dozens of power-ups to get it up. As soon as I started having these problems, I checked my purchase and of course I was just a few months over my warranty. Ugh, oh well. I LOVED this little hardware RAID box. 7 years was a great run, but I'd be lying if said I wasn't a little disappointed in the longevity. The point of having a RAID box is for data reliability. I expected to lose a drive, but I never did. However, I never expected the hardware itself to fail.

    I would recommend this product to a friend!

    Verified Purchase
    Verified PurchaseVerified Purchase.
    CineWebb, 
    • Reviewer:CineWebb
    • From:Louisville, CO
    • Age:45-54
    • Experience:Power User
    • Owned Product:over 6 months

    Mercury Elite Pro SATA Desktop RAID Enclosure

    My Mercury Elite Pro SATA Desktop RAID Enclosure is a great low end RAID box. It is missing the ability to alert you if one of the drives fail so it should be used in a home or an environment where someone can see the front end of the box everyday. It is fast and with 6TB HDDis kicks butt and takes names. It is my fault I did not research this product better and I bought two of them so I guess I better love them as most devices from OWC run 6 to 7 years before I pitch them to buy the newer stuff.

    I would recommend this product to a friend!

    Verified Purchase
    Verified PurchaseVerified Purchase.
    NorCalTechSupport, 
    • Reviewer:NorCalTechSupport
    • From:CA
    • Age:55-65
    • Experience:IT Professional
    • Owned Product:over 6 months
    Response from OWC, Call Center

    Thank you very much for the feedback on the Elite Pro QX2! With the hardware controller for the RAID, there's not a good way to get software involved and notify of a hard drive issue. We did just come out with the Elite Pro Quad, which now uses SoftRAID to control the RAID. This allows the ability for email alerts and monitoring for all drives on your system. You can find more information here: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-mercury-elite-pro-quad/raid-5


    Great Product!

    Easy to set up and configure and works like a charm. I put 4, 2tb, WD pro hard drives from a failed Drobo and only wish I had never bought the Drobo... It is a great value too. I highly recommend this approach if you need big hard drive storage.

    I would recommend this product to a friend!

    Verified Purchase
    Verified PurchaseVerified Purchase.
    Honest996, 
    • Reviewer:Honest996
    • From:Charlotte, NC
    • Age:Over 65
    • Experience:Power User
    • Owned Product:3-4 months

    View More Reviews