Again, if the 4 terabyte enclosure does not offer RAID 1 or JBOD options take a pass and buy a pair of 2 terabyte rugged drives in their own enclosures instead. Thing is, the selling point from the manufacturers is capacity, not redundancy. Two 2 terabyte drives in a single enclosure that offers either RAID 1 or JBOD is a very good and prudent option. It’s as safe as individual drive and not as protected as the RAID 1 version. This is the same amount of storage as if two individual 2 terabyte drives were plugged into the computer. JBOD - Just a Bunch Of DrivesĪnother option on the so-called 4 terabyte drives (it’s marketing, after all, is said and done) is JBOD or Just a Bunch Of Drives where the 4 terabyte drive displays as two 2 terabyte volumes.

Set up for RAID 1, the drive is now a single 2 terabyte volume. RAID 1 mirrors the data on one drive to the other, creating automatic protection against the failure of either drive. Some of these 4 terabyte enclosures offer a RAID 1 option. If either of them fails, all of the data stored on the drive is lost. The risk of failure in these drives doubles. RAID 0 is designed for speed, not for protection.

(The largest single 2.5″ internal drive is 2 terabytes.) They are set up for RAID 0. Ruggedized drives over 2 terabytes have two hard drives in them. Each of these features a single hard drive that appears as a 1 or 2 terabyte volume on the computer. The ruggedized drives from manufacturers like Lacie and G-Tech in the 1 to 2 terabyte size are rugged as advertised, affordable and very portable. The problem is with the thicker 4 terabyte offerings. I am all for them - they are more durable than plastic encased small form factor drives. Ruggedized hard drives are all the rage for photographers working in the field.

2 terabyte internal hard drive