OWC
ThunderBay 8
48.0TB Thunderbolt 3 RAID Enterprise Drive Storage Solution
Professional Grade 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 Storage Solution
Like a Data Center on Your Desk
This latest addition to the popular ThunderBay line, introduced in 2014, now offers eight drive bays for either 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch HDDs and/or SSDs in any combination. The OWC ThunderBay 8 is like a high-performance personal data center that offers multiple configuration options to suit ever-expanding storage needs. Photo, film and video editors can take advantage of the largest capacity desktop RAID storage solution we’ve ever offered to handle the voracious drive space appetite of RAW, 4K, large format, and VR workflows.
Conquer High Bandwidth Demands
With Thunderbolt 3 offering real-world transfer rates up to 2586MB/s and the ability to RAID together eight SSDs or HDDs, ThunderBay 8’s rugged, field-tested aluminum design has the under-the-hood horsepower needed to conquer high-bandwidth requirements. You can even configure multiple ThunderBay 8 solutions connected via multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports on your Mac or PC to achieve exponential speed increases. Whatever your set up, when you’re racing against a deadline, ThunderBay 8 puts you in the winner’s circle.
Monstrous Capacity
Need even more capacity? Daisy-chain up to six of these capacity behemoths together for up to a staggering 768TB. Now you can capture vast amounts of footage from multiple cameras or store vast libraries of production work with a unified and reliable storage solution.
Includes SoftRAID: Easy and Complete Drive Management
Now you can quickly access and robustly protect your data with SoftRAID for Mac. SoftRAID makes it a breeze to create RAID volumes by helping you through the entire process. With multiple RAID options, you decide what you’re using your RAID volume for and how much space to allocate to it. It's that simple to create your preference of speed and/or redundancy for your data volume.
Highlights
- Pro-grade transfer speeds: up to 2586MB/s real-world tested speed with Thunderbolt 3 port
- Eight hot-swappable universal drive bays: mix or match 2.5-inch (no adapter needed) and 3.5-inch HDDs and SSDs
- Includes SoftRAID: robust software for creating, monitoring, and managing advanced RAID sets
- See your work: DisplayPort 1.2 for connecting up to a 4K display
- Daisy-chain expansion: second Thunderbolt 3 port for adding up to five additional Thunderbolt devices
- Quick drive swaps: thumb screw release trays
- Plug-and-play ready: no drivers needed and includes Thunderbolt 3 cable
- Thunderbolt certified for Mac and Windows
- OWC ClingOn ready: cable stabilizer prevents work session interruption and possible data loss
SoftRAID highlights:
- Advanced: Create RAID 0, 1, 4, 5, 1+0 (10) volumes (RAID 6, 6+ coming in soon) and get email notifications for drive and RAID volume health with SoftRAID XT (Mac only)
- Verify: volume validation ensures sectors can be read, parity is correct, and any potential volume failure is minimized
- Certified: drives are validated before use to ensure they are safe for data storage
- Vigilant: predictive warnings help protect against unexpected drive failure
- Outperforms: up to 86% faster than AppleRAID
- Thorough: full TRIM support improves internal and external SSD performance in all RAID levels
Swap and Identify Drives Easily
ThunderBay 8 makes it easy to keep large data sets organized for every project thanks to its eight hot swappable drive bays. Whether you’re using 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch HDDs and/or SSDs, the drives mount in alphabetically labeled trays for easy identification and are secured by a thumb screw. If you want the freedom to access an extensive collection of drives quickly, you can create a drive “bullpen” with additional OWC drive trays (sold separately).
Engineered for 24/7 Reliability
This ThunderBay 8 solution utilizes enterprise-class rated hard drives that deliver higher reliability, lower TCO, and better ROI than lower cost desktop drives. These extreme use capable drives can offer heavy duty components, sophisticated anti-vibration technology, and advanced firmware programming to enable ThunderBay 8 to handle 24 x 7 workloads of 550TB/year…up to 10X higher than a storage solution using consumer drives which are typically rated at 50TB/year. Then add in up to a 5X longer MTBF rating and 5-year warranty and this ThunderBay 8 solution delivers a peace of mind ownership that’s priceless.
As Secure as a Bank Vault
With a locking front panel and security slot on the backside, the ThunderBay 8 is like an ironclad vault l for your data. Plus, with front panel LEDs indicating the status of each drive, you’ll know at a glance if your data is secure.
See More, Do More
ThunderBay 8 isn’t just about high-capacity, high-performance storage. It’s about giving you all the options you need to work at your best. Attach a 5K Thunderbolt display or two 4K displays. Place a USB 3.1 device at the end of a daisy chain. With an extra Thunderbolt 3 port, you have the flexibility to add more devices to your workflow and master any task at hand.
Secure Your Workflow with OWC ClingOn
Greatly reduce — if not eliminate — cable strain and accidental disconnects with the
OWC ClingOn. These custom cable stabilizers (sold separately) screw into the ThunderBay 8's housing to secure your Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C connections and prevent work session interruption and possible data loss.
Product Notes
- Sequential read/write performance with 8 x 2.0TB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD in RAID 0 connected to iMac Pro Late 2017 (iMacPro1,1) with 32GB RAM and 3.2GHz processor running AJA System Test (4K-Full resolution, 64GB file size, 10bit RGB codec, single file test).
- Apple Mac models with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt ports can be connected using an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter (sold separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
- ClingOn sold separately. Visit http://go.owc.com/clingon for more information.
Product Specifications:
OWC Part Number
Standard Mechanism
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**
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*1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending upon operating environment (typically 5-10% less).
The actual total capacity will depend on your own defined file settings/preferences.
**OWC reserves the right to replace or upgrade to equivalent or better components.
Mac OS Compatibility
- macOS 10.13 High Sierra
- macOS 10.14 Mojave
- macOS 10.15 Catalina
PC OS Compatibility
- Windows 10 64-bit Edition
- Windows Server 2016
Other Requirements
Ports
- (2) Thunderbolt 3 Ports
- (1) DisplayPort
Number of Bays
Housing Color
Housing Material
Security Slot
Hot Swap Support
Driver Required
Chipset
- Thunderbolt: (1) Intel JHL6540
- SATA Controller: (2) JMicron JMB-585
RAID Support
RAID Levels Supported
- RAID 0
- RAID 1
- RAID 0+1
- RAID 4
- RAID 5
- JBOD
Data Transfer Rate (Max)
- Thunderbolt 3 : 40 Gb/s (or 5000 MB/s)
Bootable
Display Support
- Supports up to two 4K displays @ 60Hz or one 5K display @ 60Hz
- Thunderbolt 3: Up to 5K @ 60Hz via a native Thunderbolt 3 display or 4K @ 60Hz via a Thunderbolt display or a USB-C display adapter
- DisplayPort 1.2: Up to 4K @ 60Hz
Power Button
Power Supply
- Internal UL-listed universal auto-switching power supply
AC Input
- 3.5A At 115V,
- 1.8A At 230V
DC Output
Wattage
Cooling Fan
Certifications
Environment
- Environmental (Operating)
- Temperature 41°F to 95°F (5°C to 35°C)
- Altitude -304.8 m to 3,048.0 m (-1,000 ft to 10,000 ft)
- Shock Varies depending on drive mechanism installed
- Environmental (Non-Operating)
- Temperature -4°F to 140°F (-20°C to 60°C)
- Altitude -304.8 m to 12,192.0 m (-1,000 ft to 40,000 ft)
- Shock Varies depending on drive mechanism installed
Dimensions
- Height: 18.0 cm (7.1 in
- Width: 26.0 cm (10.2 in)
- Length: 24.0 cm (9.4 in)
Weight
Acoustics
- Varies depending on drive mechanism installed
Manufacturer provided specifications for Other World Computing p/n TB38SRE032 UPC#: 810586034548
Mac Pro Rack (Early 2020)
(January 2020)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
3.5GHz 8-Core
Install videos coming soon
Mac Pro Rack (Early 2020)
(January 2020)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
3.3GHz 12-Core
Install videos coming soon
Mac Pro Rack (Early 2020)
(January 2020)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
3.2GHz 16-Core
Install videos coming soon
Mac Pro Rack (Early 2020)
(January 2020)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
2.7GHz 24-Core
Install videos coming soon
Mac Pro Rack (Early 2020)
(January 2020)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
2.5GHz 28-Core
Install videos coming soon
Mac Pro (Late 2019)
(December 2019)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
3.5GHz 8-Core
Mac Pro (Late 2019)
(December 2019)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
3.3GHz 12-Core
Mac Pro (Late 2019)
(December 2019)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
3.2GHz 16-Core
Mac Pro (Late 2019)
(December 2019)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
2.7GHz 24-Core
Mac Pro (Late 2019)
(December 2019)
Model ID: MacPro7,1
2.5GHz 28-Core
Mac mini (Late 2020)
(November, 2020)
Model ID: Macmini9,1
Apple M1
Mac mini (Late 2018)
(November, 2018)
Model ID: Macmini8,1
3.6GHz i3, 3.0GHz i5, 3.2GHz i7
iMac Pro
(27-inch Late 2017)
(December 2017)
Model ID: iMacPro1,1
3.2GHz 8-core, 3.0GHz 10-core, 2.3GHz 14-core, 2.5GHz 18-core
iMac w/Retina 5K display
(27-inch Mid 2020)
(August 2020)
Model ID: iMac20,1; iMac20,2
3.1GHz i5, 3.3GHz i5, 3.8GHz i7, 3.6GHz i9
Detailed specs coming soon
iMac w/Retina 5K display
(27-inch Early 2019)
(March 2019)
Model ID: iMac19,1
3.0GHz i5, 3.1GHz i5, 3.7GHz i5, 3.6GHz i9
iMac w/Retina 4K display
(21.5-inch Early 2019)
(March 2019)
Model ID:iMac19,2
3.6GHz i3, 3.0GHz i5, 3.2GHz i7
iMac w/Retina 5K display
(27-inch Mid 2017)
(June 2017)
Model ID:iMac18,3
3.4GHz i5, 3.5GHz i5, 3.8GHz i5, 4.2GHz i7
iMac w/Retina 4K display
(21.5-inch Mid 2017)
(June 2017)
Model ID:iMac18,2
3.0GHz i5, 3.4GHz i5, 3.6GHz i7
iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2017)
(June 2017)
Model ID:iMac18,1
2.3GHz i5
MacBook Pro (13-inch Touch Late 2020)
(November, 2020)
Model ID: MacBookPro17,1
Apple M1
MacBook Pro (13-inch Touch Mid 2020)
(May, 2020)
Model ID: MacBookPro16,3
1.4GHz i5, 1.7GHz i7
Detailed specs coming soon
Install Videos coming soon
MacBook Pro (13-inch Touch Mid 2020)
(May, 2020)
Model ID: MacBookPro16,2
2.0GHz i5, 2.3GHz i7
Detailed specs coming soon
Install Videos coming soon
MacBook Pro (16-inch Touch Mid 2019)
(November, 2019)
Model ID: MacBookPro16,1
2.6GHz i7, 2.3GHz i9, 2.4GHz i9
Install Videos coming soon
MacBook Pro (15-inch Touch Mid 2019)
(May, 2019)
Model ID: MacBookPro15,1; MacBookPro15,3
2.6GHz i7, 2.3GHz i9, 2.4GHz i9
Install Videos coming soon
MacBook Pro (13-inch Touch Mid 2019)
(July, 2019)
Model ID: MacBookPro15,4
1.4GHz i5, 1.7GHz i7
Install Videos coming soon
MacBook Pro (13-inch Touch Mid 2019)
(May, 2019)
Model ID: MacBookPro15,2
2.4GHz i5, 2.8GHz i7
Install Videos coming soon
MacBook Pro (15-inch Touch Mid 2018)
(July, 2018)
Model ID: MacBookPro15,1
2.2GHz i7, 2.6GHz i7, 2.9GHz i9
Install Videos coming soon
MacBook Pro (13-inch Touch Mid 2018)
(July, 2018)
Model ID: MacBookPro15,2
2.3GHz i5, 2.7GHz i7
Install Videos coming soon
MacBook Pro (15-inch Touch Mid 2017)
(June, 2017)
Model ID: MacBookPro14,3
2.8GHz i7, 2.9GHz i7, 3.1GHz i7
MacBook Pro (13-inch Touch Mid 2017)
(June, 2017)
Model ID: MacBookPro14,2
3.1GHz i5, 3.3GHz i5, 3.5GHz i7
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina display Mid 2017)
(June, 2017)
Model ID: MacBookPro14,1
2.3GHz i5, 2.5GHz i7
MacBook Pro (15-inch Touch Late 2016)
(October, 2016)
Model ID: MacBookPro13,3
2.6GHz, 2.7GHz, 2.9GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Touch Late 2016)
(October, 2016)
Model ID: MacBookPro13,2
2.9GHz, 3.1GHz, 3.3GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina display Late 2016)
(October, 2016)
Model ID: MacBookPro13,1
2.0GHz, 2.4GHz
MacBook Air (13-inch Late 2020)
(November, 2020)
Model ID: MacBookAir10,1
Apple M1
MacBook Air (13-inch Early 2020)
(March 2020)
Model ID: MacBookAir9,1
1.1GHz i3, 1.1GHz i5, 1.2GHz i7
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2019)
(July 2019)
Model ID: MacBookAir8,2
1.6GHz i5
MacBook Air (13-inch Late 2018)
(November 2018)
Model ID: MacBookAir8.1
1.6GHz i5
PC Compatible
Compatible with Intel / AMD based desktop/laptop PCs with built-in Thunderbolt 3 ports.
Mac Pro
(December, 2013)
Model ID: MacPro6,1
2.7GHz 3.0GHz, 3.5GHz, 3.7GHz
iMac w/Retina 5K display
(27-inch Late 2015)
(October 2015)
Model ID:iMac17,1
3.2GHz i5, 3.3GHz i5, 4.0GHz i7
iMac w/ Retina 4K display (21.5-inch Late 2015)
(October 2015)
Model ID:iMac16,2
3.1GHz i5, 3.3GHz i7
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2015)
(October 2015)
Model ID: iMac16,1 or iMac16,2
1.6GHz i5, 2.8GHz i5, 3.1GHz i5, 3.3GHz i7
iMac w/Retina 5K display
(27-inch Mid 2015)
(May 2015)
Model ID: iMac15,1
3.3GHz i5, 3.5GHz i5, 4.0GHz i7
iMac w/Retina 5K display
(27-inch Late 2014)
(October 2014)
Model ID: iMac15,1
3.5GHz i5, 4.0GHz i7
iMac (27-inch Late 2013)
(September 2013)
Model ID: iMac14,2
3.2GHz i5, 3.4GHz i5, 3.5GHz i7
iMac (27-inch Late 2012)
(October 2012)
Model ID: iMac13,2
2.9GHz i5, 3.2GHz i5, 3.4GHz i7
iMac (27-inch Mid 2011)
(May 2011)
Model ID: iMac12,2
2.7GHz i5, 3.1GHz i5, 3.4GHz i7
iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2014)
(June 2014)
Model ID: iMac14,4
1.4GHz i5
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2013)
(September 2013)
Model ID: iMac14,3
2.9GHz i5 or 3.1GHz i7
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2013)
(September 2013)
Model ID: iMac14,1
2.7GHz i5
iMac (21.5-inch Early 2013)
(March 2013)
Model ID: iMac13,1
3.3GHz i3
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2012)
(October 2012)
Model ID: iMac13,1
2.7GHz i5 , 2.9GHz i5, 3.1GHz i7
iMac (21.5-inch Late 2011)
(August 2011)
Model ID: iMac12,1
3.1GHz i3
iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011)
(May 2011)
Model ID: iMac12,1
2.5GHz i5 , 2.7GHz i5, 2.8GHz i7
Mac mini (Late 2014)
(October, 2014)
Model ID: Macmini7,1
1.4GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.8GHz, 3.0GHz
Mac mini (Late 2012)
(October, 2012)
Model ID: Macmini6,1 & Macmini6,2
2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, 2.6GHz
Mac mini (Late 2012 Server)
(October, 2012)
Model ID: Macmini6,2
2.3GHz, 2.6GHz
Mac mini (Mid 2011)
(July, 2011)
Model ID: Macmini5,1 & Macmini5,2
2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, 2.7GHz
Mac mini (Mid 2011 Server)
(July, 2011)
Model ID: Macmini5,3
2.0GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina display Mid 2015)
(May, 2015)
Model ID: MacBookPro11,4; MacBookPro11,5
2.2GHz, 2.5GHz, 2.8GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina display Early 2015)
(March, 2015)
Model ID: MacBookPro12,1
2.7GHz, 2.9GHz, 3.1GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina Display 2013 - 2014)
(October, 2013 - July, 2014)
Model ID: MacBookPro11,1
2.4GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.8GHz, 2.9GHz, 3.0GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Display 2013 - 2014)
(October, 2013 - July, 2014)
Model ID: MacBookPro11,2
2.0GHz, 2.2GHz, 2.5GHz, 2.8GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Display 2013 - 2014)
(October, 2013 - July, 2014)
Model ID: MacBookPro11,3
2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.8GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Display 2013)
(January, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,1
2.4GHz, 2.7GHz, 2.8GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina Display 2013)
(January, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,2
2.5GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.9GHz, 3.0GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina Display 2012-2013)
(October, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,2
2.5GHz, 2.9GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Display 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,1
2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.7GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro9,1
2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.7GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro9,2
2.5GHz, 2.9GHz
MacBook Pro (17-inch 2011)
(October, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,3
2.4GHz, 2.5GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch 2011)
(October, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,2
2.2GHz, 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz
MacBook Pro (13-inch 2011)
(October, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,1
2.4GHz, 2.8GHz
MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2011)
(February, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,3
2.2GHz, 2.3GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011)
(February, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,2
2.0GHz, 2.2GHz, 2.3GHz
MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011)
(February, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookPro8,2
2.0GHz, 2.2GHz, 2.3GHz
MacBook Air (13-inch Early 2015)
(March 2015)
Model ID: MacBookAir7,2
1.6GHz i5, 2.2GHz i7
MacBook Air (11-inch Early 2015)
(March 2015)
Model ID: MacBookAir7,1
1.6GHz i5, 2.2GHz i7
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2013)
(June, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookAir6,2
1.3GHz, 1.7GHz
MacBook Air (11-inch Mid 2013)
(June, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookAir6,1
1.3GHz, 1.7GHz
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookAir5,2
1.8GHz, 2.0GHz
MacBook Air (11-inch Mid 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookAir5,1
1.7GHz, 2.0GHz
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2011)
(July, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookAir4,2
1.7GHz, 1.8GHz
MacBook Air (11-inch Mid 2011)
(July, 2011)
Model ID: MacBookAir4,1
1.6GHz, 1.8GHz
Benchmarks
Click any of the benchmarks below to view the results.
macOS RAID 0 Test Results
macOS RAID 5 Test Results
Windows RAID 0 Test Results
Includes
- (1) ThunderBay 8
- (1) Thunderbolt 3 cable
- (1) Power cable
- (2) Keys for front panel lock
- (1) Quick start guide
- (1) SoftRAID software bundle