OWC SoftRAID 8

Easy-to-use high-performance RAID with predictive health monitoring.

1,010,723.710

TB Managed

New: SoftRAID 8.3 brings incredible performance and stability improvements to earlier versions of macOS. Learn more »

Disclosure for 2019 Mac Pro users on macOS 15. Learn more »

Performance

Supports the latest driver technology for high-performance RAID speeds on macOS and Windows.

RAID Levels

RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) — choose the best fit for your workflow — performance, redundancy, or the best of both worlds.

Reliability

Discover and diagnose potential disk failures months in advance with SoftRAID Monitor.

Worry-Free

Available Standard and Premium tiers provide access and integrity of your data with free upgrades for future OS versions.

Seamless Cross-Platform Sharing

Use Apple-formatted APFS and HFS+ SoftRAID volumes between Mac and Windows at no additional cost.

Save time and protect your data with SoftRAID — the high-performance RAID with predictive health monitoring on Mac and Windows.

Quickly accessing your data with the right safeguards is a difficult balance. Whether you’re enhancing multimedia production workflows, protecting critical business files, or ensuring uninterrupted access to valuable data, OWC’s SoftRAID is the ideal solution to manage your RAID arrays — delivering robust protection coupled with exceptional speed.

Delivering the RAID Tool of Choice for 15+ Years

See how SoftRAID benefits pro workflows across the globe:

Nick Cahill
"I prefer to be behind the camera when working. So, avoiding unnecessary time waiting behind the camera for my files and data is a win. I would say the performance of SoftRAID helps me get back behind the camera."

Nick Cahill / Filmmaker and Photographer

Kimberly Sauer
"SoftRAID gives me a lot of confidence in my workflow, because if I know my drives are good to go and healthy, I know I can continue on with my work — it's one less thing I need to think about."

Kimberly Sauer / DIT & Camera Operator / A24, Nat Geo

Mehran Jabari
"Being able to have complete control of your workflow is of the utmost performance, relying on SoftRAID and OWC Drives has always been my go-to... it's just all thumbs up on my end."

Mehran Jabari / DIT + Colorist - I.A.T.S.E. Local 667

Forest Berkdol Weil
"I don't even think about SoftRAID anymore, because it just works."

Forest Berkdol Weil / Nature and Landscape Photographer

OWC SoftRAID screenshots for Mac and Windows

No-cost Data Access and Integrity

No matter what computer you’re using, interacting with your SoftRAID volumes is effortless. The SoftRAID Standard tier offers unrestricted access, break-neck speeds, upgrades to future versions, and rebuild capability to your SoftRAID volumes on both Mac and Windows — all for free. Better yet, SoftRAID volumes mount on macOS 13.3 and later without requiring SoftRAID to even be installed.

Mac and PC Laptop closeup

Seamless Mac + Windows Sharing

SoftRAID provides cross-platform RAID volume sharing between Mac and Windows machines at no extra cost. Leveraging OWC MacDrive technology, SoftRAID supports Apple HFS+ and APFS file systems in Windows, ensuring consistent read/write performance, crash protection, and reliability across both platforms. This allows for plug-and-play SoftRAID sharing in Mac and Windows backed by robust file system integrity.

High Performance icon

High Performance

SoftRAID implements the latest performance technology to unleash remarkable speeds on your RAID system. Simply connect your drive array, format in your preferred RAID level, and see the incredible speeds first-hand. SoftRAID implements newer technology and support as they become available, meaning your hardware can get even faster or more efficient over time.

Technology

Peak Performance1

PCIe

Up to 26,000 MB/s

Thunderbolt

Up to 2,939 MB/s

USB 3.2

Up to 947 MB/s

SoftRAID 8 now runs up to 4X more efficient on macOS, with up to 50% more speed on PCIe storage attached to Apple silicon. In addition, Windows machines can now experience up to 175% faster speeds with RAID 5 in SoftRAID 8.4 Finally, USB4 support is added to SoftRAID macOS and Windows, future-proofing your RAID management for the next generation of USB arrays.

More Efficient on macOS

SoftRAID 8 resource usage
SoftRAID 7.6 resource usage (baseline)

up to 4x more efficient

Write Speeds on Apple Silicon Computers

SoftRAID 8 write speed
SoftRAID 7.6 write speed (baseline)

up to 50% faster writes

Faster RAID 5 on Windows

SoftRAID 8 RAID 5 speed
SoftRAID 7.6 RAID speed (baseline)

up to 175% faster RAID 5
High Performance icon

Choose your RAID

SoftRAID offers multiple RAID levels to keep your data safe.

RAID 0

Fastest read and write speeds with no failure protection.

RAID 1

Up to 2x read, write speed unaffected. Data survives loss of half of RAID array disks.

RAID 1+0 (10)

Up to 4x read, 2x write speed. Data survives loss of at least one disk.

RAID 4

New for Windows! 3x read, up to 3x write. Data survives loss of one disk.

RAID 5

3x read, up to 3x write. Data survives loss of one disk.

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Measure Your RAID

RAID 0
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RAID 1
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RAID 1+0
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Requires at least 4 disks
RAID 4
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RAID 5
{0} TB storage
{0} TB protection
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Your Data Overwatch

SoftRAID Monitor employs an innovative health monitoring algorithm that keeps tabs on your disk health, SMART data, and disk usage to notify you of potential failure months in advance.

NEW! SoftRAID 8 now supports rich email notifications to provide RAID status updates when away from your computer, and quick access to OWC Support.

NEW! SSD and NVMe Health Monitoring – SoftRAID Monitor now includes proactive and reactive health monitoring for SSDs and NVMe drives, including total drive wear, overheating, and hardware failures. Better yet, OWC will replace OWC-branded and sold NVMe blades under warranty from hardware failures shown in SoftRAID Monitor.

Example SoftRAID email notification
Example SoftRAID drive status notification
Multiple RAID Levels

Multiple RAID Levels

Create advanced RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) volumes for higher performance and/or redundancy.

Drive Health

Drive Health

OWC SoftRAID protects your data by alerting you to issues before anything happens, ensuring you’re protected all the time.

Flexible, Upgradeable

Flexible, Upgradeable

With OWC SoftRAID you’re not locked into a solution. SoftRAID’s unique approach is hardware independent.

Validate

Validate

Volume validation ensures sectors can be read, parity is correct, and any potential volume failure is minimized.2

Easy License Management

Easy License Management

Enables quick activation or deactivation so your license can move moved between computers.

Certify

Certify

Check your disks before use to ensure they are safe before you write your first file.

Compatible

Compatible

Works with macOS 10.14 or later, Windows 10 or later, and Windows Server 2019/2022.

Dark Mode

Dark Mode

OWC SoftRAID is easy-on-the-eyes with dark mode for great viewing experience in low-light environments.

Data Access and Integrity Made Simple

SoftRAID is offered in two tiers to ensure that the access and integrity of your RAID arrays are maintained as you upgrade your computer, operating system, or even if you’re using a temporary onsite machine.

Compare SoftRAID Tiers

Standard

Premium Access

Price

Free

$149.99 Year 1
$79.99 Year 2+

Free for 3 Years with
OWC Enclosures

Data Access Read/write to your SoftRAID volumes at full speed4

Data Integrity Rebuild and swap drives in your SoftRAID volumes in case of array failure

OS Updates Get the latest version of SoftRAID compatible with your computer’s OS

Create Volumes Create high-performance RAID volumes

SoftRAID Monitor Predictive drive and volume status notifications delivered on your computer and remote

OWC Support Access to OWC’s personalized support backed by 35 years of pro workflow expertise

Try FREE

Buy Now

“SoftRAID monitor is a great tool because we got early signs of wear and tear on the drives, seeing exactly which drive it is based on serial number, so we didn't have to open the enclosure to know which one it is.”

Sebastian Plamadeala / CTO, Avan Post

“SoftRAID and OWC ThunderBlade have been a great combo. Super easy setup. We've been using it for our backups and it's been flawless.”

Renan OzturK / Director, Expedition Studios
Lineup of OWC storage solutions that come with OWC SoftRAID included

Bundled with the Best

OWC Enclosures come with 3 Years of SoftRAID Premium access, providing ultra-fast speeds, proactive health monitoring, and OWC Pro Support out of the box.

FAQ

How does SoftRAID Work?

SoftRAID enables you to create high-performance RAID volumes on macOS and Windows. SoftRAID leverages the capable processors in modern computers to manage the creation and ongoing maintenance of your volumes — resulting in faster speeds than you’d see from typical hardware RAID solutions. In addition, SoftRAID continuously monitors the health of your volumes and disks to notify of potential issues before they arise.

How will my data be accessible and safe on SoftRAID volumes?

SoftRAID makes managing your data a breeze, even without our SoftRAID Premium subscription. SoftRAID Standard is available for free to access/use the data on your volumes, rebuilding volumes, and is updated to stay compatible with your most recent operating system. SoftRAID Volumes can also be accessed on macOS 13.3 or later, even without SoftRAID installed.

Is SoftRAID a subscription?

SoftRAID is offered in two tiers: SoftRAID Standard and SoftRAID Premium. SoftRAID Standard is free to use and allows you to access/use the data on your volumes, rebuilding volumes, and is updated to stay compatible with your most recent operating system.

SoftRAID Premium is an annual subscription that allows you to create high-performance SoftRAID volumes, access to SoftRAID Monitor for proactive notifications on potential volume issues, and access to OWC Pro Support. The first year of SoftRAID Premium costs $149.99. Year 2 and onward is $79.99 per year. SoftRAID Premium users are switched to SoftRAID Standard if a subscription is not renewed.

Can I add seats?

Yes! SoftRAID Premium users can add seats for $39.99 per year.

Is SoftRAID available for enterprise deployments?

Yes! Contact us for Enterprise pricing and deployment information.

  1. Performance benchmarks are measured using macOS SoftRAID RAID 0 with the following hardware: PCIe - OWC Accelsior 8M2, Thunderbolt 3 - OWC ThunderBlade X8, USB 3.2 — OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad.
  2. SMART over USB on Windows only.
  3. SoftRAID volumes can be accessed on macOS 13.3+ without SoftRAID installed.
  4. macOS performance improvements available on macOS 14.4+ and macOS 13.2 or earlier with SoftRAID 8.3+. Windows tests performed with OWC Accelsior 8M2, formatted with SoftRAID 8 as RAID 5 NTFS with maximum stripe unit size. Tested with AJA System Test, 5120x2700 5K RED, 64GB, 16bit RGBa, single file, disk cache disabled.