Newer Technology Guardian MAXimus Mini Portable RAID Review

In today’s mobile environment, everything that users can do to move data easily and effectively is a welcome tool.

Newer Technology has come up with a novel solution for users looking for large capacity data on-the-go with the Guardian MAXimus Mini.

The intent of the MAXimus Mini is to provide the best of both worlds, large capacity and ‘on the go’ portability.  Lets take a closer look at the performance of this great device.

INTRODUCTION

The concept of the MAXimus Mini is rather simple, data security and portability in one small easy to move package.

First, data security. This enclosure has RAID 1 functionality which is essentially a carbon copy of the users’ data that is spread over two hard drives, be it SSD or HDD. In the event of a drive failure, the enclosure will automatically copy over the data upon insertion of a new drive. This type of functionality gives the user some peace of mind that their data is protected if there is an issue with a HDD or SSD.

RAID 1 does provide ultimate data security, but at a cost of capacity. There is a carbon copy of all data, so the capacity of the useable volume is only going to be the total space of one disk, provided that the disks are of matching capacity. The user also loses the ability of the performance scaling that is can be accomplished with multiple drives. Utilizing two devices can create double the performance in some configurations.

Our next stop is at RAID 0 which allows the user to use both volumes with data striped across them. This results in double the speed of one drive, and the doubling of capacity as well. The user does sacrifice data redundancy in this scenario.

There are drawbacks to each type of usage, but also benefits. The great thing about this device is that the user is allowed to configure it in either RAID o for ultimate performance, or RAID 1 for maximum data protection.

Features:

  • “Quad Interface” FireWire 800/400, USB 2.0, and eSATA for flexible connectivity
  • Pre-set for MAXProtect RAID 1 mode…selectable MAXPerform RAID 0 mode via front panel menu
  • Supports bus powering via any interface*
  • Data transfer speeds up to 300MB/s
  • Daisy chain multiple FireWire 800 devices
  • Drive speeds of up to 7200RPM or Solid State
  • Perfect for A/V, Digital Photography, Professional Music, Graphics, General Data, and Time Machine ready.
  • Solutions includes all connecting cables needed for the device
  • Lightweight (1.24 lbs with SSDs) and ultra compact 5.2″(D) x 3.5″(W) x 2.1″(H) for portable use
  • Brushed aluminum, impact resistant, heat dissipating, super quiet fanless enclosure

Transfer Rates:

  • FireWire 800: up to 800Mbps (100MB/s)
  • USB 2.0: up to 480Mbps (60MB/s)
  • eSATA: up to 3.0GB/s (300MB/s)

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