Oyen Digital 100TB Fortis 5C 5-Bay USB-C External Drive Array

As a video editor, I'm always looking for additional storage. This is a compact 5-bay enclosure for 3.5" HDDs. It uses a 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface. It is relatively quiet, and the performance is good. I populated it with five 16TB Seagate Exos 7200 rpm drives (80TB total) in RAID-0 using AppleRAID, also SoftRAID Pro 7.5. I tested both 64KB and 128KB stripe sizes. Test machines were an M1 Ultra Mac Studio, M1 Max MacBook Pro 16, M2 Pro Mac Mini, and 2017 i7 iMac 27. Performance was similar on all of them, about 900 MB/sec write, and 700 MB/sec read on the Blackmagic test. See attached ATTO disk test for performance at various I/O sizes. Some may wonder why use rotating drives; aren't SSDs the way to go? Look up how much 80 terabytes of SSD storage costs and compare that to this unit populated with 7200 rpm HDDs. Mechanical drives in the proper RAID configuration are still very fast and much cheaper than SSDs. With the correct adapter, you can also put 2.5" SATA-type SSDs in this enclosure. MacOS has RAID-0 and RAID-1 software support built in. For higher RAID formats you would need SoftRAID. Windows 11 Pro has RAID-5 in software. I also have four OWC Thunderbay 4 Thunderbolt enclosures with similar HDDs. Compared to the Fortis 5C they are generally louder and slower at most I/O sizes, but those are 4 x 12TB Seagate Exos drives vs. the 5 x 16TB drives in the Fortis 5C. The question may arise about the performance and utility of the Fortis 5C USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface vs. Thunderbolt 3. I previously preferred only Thunderbolt storage on my Macs because of the performance and ability to daisy-chain drives. However, USB 3.2 Gen 2 has no performance penalty vs. Thunderbolt 3 when using five 16TB 7200 rpm drives. The USB 3.2 interface is compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and 4 ports. As a result, I never felt constrained by the point-to-point USB 3.2 cabling. The Fortis 5C has a fan switch that allows it to run either continuously or intermittently at a lower speed, based on a 35C internal chassis thermostat. I preferred the intermittent operation as it was quieter overall. Unlike my other RAID enclosures with air intakes on the front, the Fortis 5C has a good-sized bottom-mounted air intake. Provided you don't set it on a carpet, the supply of cool air should be no problem. I have done rigorous multi-day stress testing with dedicated I/O tools, and where the enclosure is fully populated with always-on 7200 rpm drives. So far, I've never seen any sign of thermal issues, even with the fan set to intermittent. I found myself using the handle on the top more often than expected. The rubber case might seem superfluous but prevents knocks and scrapes when moving the unit. This is a good cost-effective drive enclosure that is relatively quiet and compact.

Es un gabinete para uso de múltiples unidades de almacenamiento. Soporta hasta 100TB de almacenamiento. No incluye soporte RAID en HARDWARE, pero con SOFTWARE es sencilla y rápida la configuración en RAID. La única desventaja es que SOFTWARE RAID suele requerir múltiples licencias para múltiples equipos. Sin embargo, el producto en si es funcional, de excelente diseño visual, buena calidad de materiales, de uso fácil y rápido. Es una excelente alternativa para almacenar una cantidad ingente de datos sin desembolsar una cantidad monstruosa de $. 100% recomendable para profesionales y consumidores que necesiten almacenar datos.

The Oyen Digital Fortis 5C is a high-capacity, 5-bay storage enclosure designed for professionals and enthusiasts who need a massive amount of "cold" or "warm" storage without the complexity of a network-attached system. It uses a modern USB-C interface and is built with a focus on ruggedness and heat management. ​Core Design & Connectivity ​5-Bay Versatility: The enclosure features five trays that support both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch SATA hard drives or SSDs. This allows for a mix of high-capacity mechanical drives for archives and fast SSDs for active projects. ​USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2): It utilizes a 10Gbps interface. While mechanical hard drives won't saturate this speed individually, the high bandwidth ensures that the interface isn't a bottleneck when accessing multiple drives simultaneously. ​Rugged Aluminum Build: The housing is made of thick, high-quality aluminum. This isn't just for durability; the metal acts as a massive heat sink to draw warmth away from the drives during long data transfers. ​Individual Drive Control: Each bay has its own power switch. This is a standout feature for power management, allowing you to keep specific drives "offline" to save energy and reduce wear and tear when they aren't needed. ​Performance Review ​The Good ​Independent Operation (JBOD): By default, the system sees each drive as an individual disk. This is ideal if you want to keep different categories of data—such as historical research, financial records, or media—on separate physical platters. ​Superior Cooling: It features a large, rear-mounted cooling fan and an open-ventilation design. Users report that even with five high-RPM drives spinning, temperatures remain well within safe limits. ​Ease of Access: The trays are designed for quick swaps. While it’s intended for permanent storage, the tool-less (or near tool-less) nature of the bays makes it easy to upgrade capacity as your storage needs grow. ​The Not-So-Good ​Software RAID Only: This is a "dumb" enclosure, meaning it does not have a built-in hardware RAID controller. If you want to mirror your drives for safety (RAID 1) or combine them for speed (RAID 0), you must use your computer's operating system (like Disk Management in Windows or Disk Utility on Mac) to manage it. ​Fan Noise: While the cooling is effective, the fan is audible in a quiet room. If you are using this in a bedroom or a very quiet office, you may notice the constant "hum" of the airflow. ​Physical Footprint: Because it houses five drives and a dedicated internal power supply, it is a substantial piece of hardware. It requires significant desk space and a dedicated power outlet. ​The Verdict ​The Fortis 5C is a "workhorse" enclosure. It is built much more solidly than many of its plastic competitors and offers the rare benefit of individual power switches for each bay. It is an excellent choice for organizing large datasets or maintaining a comprehensive backup of all your personal and professional files. ​If you are planning to store high volumes of research or manage your digital life during a move, this enclosure provides a centralized, secure location for your data. Its rugged build also makes it more suitable for transport than more fragile consumer-grade desktop drives.

This would probably have been ok if usable. It looks robust. However delivered to uk with a foreign power cable. Unusable. Amazon website gave no possibility of communicating this to them.

Extremely stable hard drive array for surveillance recording.