Name: (*) OWC ThunderBay 4 mini Four-Bay Thunderbolt External Storage Enclosure for 2.5-inch SATA Drives
Brand: OWC
SKU: OWCTB3QMJB000O
Rating: 4.44 (43 reviews)

OWC ThunderBay 4 mini

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The Perfect Combination of Speed, Size, and Convenience for Permanent Access to Your Data

Four hot-swappable 2.5-inch drive bays: mix or match 2.5-inch HDDs and SSDs
Up to 765MB/s peak performance and 1556MB/s SSD peak performance (RAID 0)
Daisy-chain up to five additional Thunderbolt devices
Thunderbolt certified for Mac and Windows
1 Year OWC Limited Warranty

Reviews (44)

Overview
Includes
Specs
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Big RAID System Performance in a Compact Design

The ThunderBay 4 mini is a compact data storage enclosure that you can populate with new or existing 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs. It's big on performance and flexibility, yet ThunderBay 4 mini is about the length of a pencil and can weigh as little as 3.1 pounds with drives.

The rugged heat-dissipating aluminum enclosure features two Thunderbolt 3 (Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt backward compatible¹) ports for up to 1556MB/s speeds, so you have more than enough bandwidth to handle personal and business backups – all the way up to today's highest resolution audio, photo, and video formats. If you are seeking big RAID performance that's small enough to fit on a desk, in a rack, or on a DIT cart, your wish is now a reality.

Speed, size, and convenience – the OWC ThunderBay 4 mini provides everything a demanding workflow requires.

A New World of Drive Use Flexibility

With four drive bays, you can mix or match different brand and capacity 2.5-inch SSDs and HDDs. Use mixed drives independently or combine drives as a RAID (requires RAID setup and management software, such as OWC SoftRAID). You can populate this empty enclosure with your own drives, or choose a pre-configured capacity solution to achieve your desired balance of storage, performance, and data redundancy.

Expand production capabilities in industry-leading creative platforms like Final Cut X, Avid Pro Tools, Apple Pro Logic, and Adobe Lightroom, edit large images, manage massive photo and audio libraries, store drone videos, use it as a transport drive…whatever the day or project demands, the ThunderBay 4 mini is the perfect workflow solution.

Install or Swap in Minutes

Want to access a drive or expand your storage capacity? Simply open the front panel security lock to access the four individual bays. Drives mount to a tray that slides back in and automatically plugs into a drive connector so you can get back to work in minutes.

Store More, Go Faster

With the ability to daisy-chain you can add up to five additional ThunderBay 4 mini solutions to create massive storage capacities. Merge them with RAID management software for even more flexibility, capacity, and capability. Or if speed is what you're after, connect multiple ThunderBay 4 mini solutions to multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports on your Mac or PC to achieve exponential speed capabilities.

Professional Grade = Ready to Work

We understand having confidence in gear reliability is paramount to creative professionals. That's why every ThunderBay 4 mini enclosure undergoes a multi-step performance certification prior to shipping. This ensures your ThunderBay 4 mini enclosure arrives ready for demanding use.

More Powerful With SoftRAID

Need more power and protection? Choose a solution that includes OWC's powerful SoftRAID RAID software.

SoftRAID is the most powerful, intuitive software RAID utility on the market. Multiple RAID levels let you select the RAID level that fits you or your project’s needs best. If you need maximum volume capacity, optimum drive performance, data protection, or a combination of attributes, SoftRAID has you covered.

Packed with features like drive validation, verification and failure prediction—SoftRAID includes features you simply don’t get with hardware RAID. It’s like having a datacenter on your desktop! From home users looking to protect photos and documents to professionals needing to protect and quickly access projects, SoftRAID is the perfect solution.

Dive deeper into the benefits of OWC SoftRAID »

Try SoftRAID COMPLETELY FREE for 14 Days

Start protecting yourself and your data today! Get all of SoftRAID's great disk checking and monitoring features, plus the fastest and most efficient software RAID there is.

Download and try OWC SoftRAID for FREE »

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 4 mini's housing to secure your Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C connections and prevent work session interruption and possible data loss.

Support You Can Trust

Like all OWC products, the ThunderBay 4 mini enclosure is fully backed by OWC's award-winning support team and OWC Limited Warranty.

Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt compatibility requires a certified Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (not included). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
Advanced RAID features require RAID management software (such as OWC SoftRAID, available separately).

Includes

(1) OWC ThunderBay 4 mini External Storage Enclosure
(1) 0.7M (28") Thunderbolt Cable
(1) External Power Supply
(1) US Power Cable
(2) Security Keys for Front Panel Lock
(1) Quick Start Guide for OWC ThunderBay 4 mini with Thunderbolt 3
(1) Assembly Manual & User Guide for OWC ThunderBay 4 mini with Thunderbolt 3
1 Year OWC Limited Warranty

Specs

Drive Bays

4 bays supporting: 2.5-inch SATA drives

Boot Support

Independent volumes bootable in macOS. Boot Camp is not supported.

Storage Interface

SATA

RAID Capable

RAID Levels Supported

JBOD

RAID Features

Software RAID Capable

Device Ports

(1) Host Port - Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) up to 40Gb/s (5000MB/s)
(1) Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) Port

Power Delivery

Thunderbolt 3 host port provides up to 15W of power to the host computer.¹
Thunderbolt 3 device port (for external drives and other devices) provides 15W of power.

Data Transfer Rate (Maximum)

Thunderbolt 3 : Up to 40Gb/s (or 5000MB/s)

Chipset / Controller

Thunderbolt: Intel JHL6540
SATA Controller: ASMedia ASM-1062

Host Interface Requirements

Thunderbolt (USB-C) port (backward compatible with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt¹)

Mac OS Compatibility

macOS 10.13 High Sierra
macOS 10.14 Mojave
macOS 10.15 Catalina
macOS 11.x Big Sur
macOS 12.x Monterey
macOS 13.x Ventura
macOS 14.x Sonoma
macOS 15.x Sequoia

PC OS Compatibility

Windows 10 64-bit Edition
Windows Server 2022
Windows 11

Driver Required

Other Requirements

SoftRAID works with macOS 10.14 or later and Windows 10 or later. SoftRAID is licensed per computer. The SoftRAID serial number will work with both Mac and Windows but can only be active on one computer at a time. Additional seats can be purchased. RAID 4/1+0 (10) are currently Mac only at this time.

External Power Adapter

Power Supply

External UL-listed universal auto-switching power supply
Need an additional power supply? Secondary/replacement power supplies are also available.

AC Input

100-240V, 50-60Hz, 2.0A

DC Output

+12V, 6A

Wattage

Cooling

(1) 60mm cooling fan

Security Slot

Power/Activity LED

Housing Color

Black

Housing Material

Aluminum

Dimensions

Height: 11.7 cm (4.6 in)
Length: 19.1 cm (7.5 in)
Width: 9.6 cm (3.8 in)

Weight

1.1 kg (2.51 lbs)

Certifications

CE
FCC
VCCI
RCM
BSMI

Reach Certification

Country of Origin

Taiwan

TAA Compliance

Ambient Temperature

Operating: 41°F to 95°F (5°C to 35°C)
Non-Operating: -4°F to 140°F (-20°C to 60°C)

Altitude

Operating: -304.8 m to 3,048.0 m (-1,000 ft to 10,000 ft)
Non-Operating: -304.8 m to 12,192.0 m (-1,000 ft to 40,000 ft)

Humidity

Operating: 8% to 90% non-condensing
Non-Operating: 5% to 95% non-condensing

Noise

Varies depending on drive mechanism installed

Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt compatibility requires a certified Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (not included). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.

Videos

Hard Drive / SSD Install Video

How to Install Drives in the OWC ThunderBay 4 mini

Learn More

Introducing the OWC Thunderbay 4 mini

Customer Reviews

4.43 out of 5

Write a Review

64%

23%

Works well with a refurbished Mac Pro ("trashcan") I bought from OWC

Works well with a refurbished Mac Pro ("trashcan") I bought from OWC. I bought one of these quite a while before they ran out of them. Eventually needed to expand my photo/video storage (internal Mac Pro SSD seems limited to 2TB). Populated this unit with four reliable 2.5" SSDs (wait for a sale?). A cost effective solution. Using MacOS native software RAID as a mirror/stripe set (i.e. no 3rd party software involved). Just use the shortest Thunderbolt 2 cable to connect [and make sure it's alone on it's own Thunderbolt 2 bus for best performance -- Mac Pro ("trashcan") has 3]. No issues and it's fast. Continued lifespan for my Mac Pro ("trashcan"), which, itself was a great deal (and was fully configured and tested by OWC).

I would recommend this product to a friend!

Verified Purchase.

autoxtl2,

Dec, 11 2024

review of: 4.0TB OWC ThunderBay 4 mini Four-Drive SSD Thunderbolt External Storage Solution with SoftRAID

Reviewer:autoxtl2

Response from OWC, Support

Thank you so much for your fantastic review! We're thrilled to hear that your refurbished Mac Pro is working seamlessly with your new storage solution! It’s great to know you found a cost-effective way to expand your storage using reliable SSDs. The setup sounds perfect, and using macOS native software RAID is a smart choice! We appreciate your tip about using the shortest Thunderbolt 2 cable too. Happy editing and storing!

Excellent Product

The four OWC 4TB SSD drives run very well with out any issue as separate units, no raid on my M2 Pro Mac Mini. Could it be even better, yes! The fan has some very low level noise, there is no on/off switch and the logo light is on all the time as others have said. To that extent, I keep my unit under the table so the noise and logo light is not a problem. Note: I also have their MiniStack STX and their Gemini storage units which both have a permanent logo light and no on/off switch. The units are on the desk and the logo light is completely unnecessary and sometimes annoying. Wish OWC would stop using such a bright logo light and perhaps a simple tiny blue LED dot (next to the green/amber drive indicator lights) to that can also be dimmed and turned off via settings. Its kind of useless advertising, three bright blue logos reminding me that I bought it from them.