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- OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 Eight-Bay Thunderbolt Storage, Docking & PCIe Expansion Enclosure OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 Eight-Bay Thunderbolt Storage, Docking & PCIe Expansion Enclosure
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Professional grade 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 media workflow solution with high-performance storage, docking, and PCIe expansion. SoftRAID included.
The Industry's First Thunderbolt 3 All-In-Wonder
- Eight drive bays: use a mix of SATA/SAS and U.2/M.2 NVMe drives for virtually limitless capacity and real world speeds up to 2750MB/s
- Future-ready: top four bays can use U.2 SSDs…the emerging M&E industry storage standard
- Powerfully easy RAID: create, manage, and monitor advanced RAID sets with SoftRAID
- Do more: second Thunderbolt 3 port for daisy chaining devices or additional display(s)
- See more: DisplayPort 1.4 for connecting up to an 8K display
- Fast media ingest: front-side SD 4.0 and CFexpress card readers with up to 985MB/s speed
- Play your card: (1) PCIe slot for audio/video capture, networking, SSD storage, hardware RAID card, or I/O card
FLEXible Storage
Eight drive bays: use a mix of SATA/SAS1 and U.2/M.22 NVMe drives for for virtually limitless capacity and real world speeds up to 2750MB/s
Future ready: top four bays can use U.2 SSDs…the emerging M&E industry storage standard
Powerfully easy RAID: create, manage, and monitor advanced RAID sets with SoftRAID
Docking FLEXibility
Do more: second Thunderbolt 3 port3 for daisy chaining devices or additional display(s)
Connect more: (1) USB-C and (2) USB-A 10Gb/s ports for peripherals and mobile devices
See more: DisplayPort 1.4 for connecting up to an 8K display4
Fast media ingest: front-side SD 4.0 and CFexpress card readers with up to 985MB/s speed
FLEXpandable for Unique Needs
Play your card: (1) PCIe slot for audio/video capture, networking, SSD storage, hardware RAID card, or I/O card
Flex Your Way Through Every Workflow
Whether you call it a workflow workhorse, a productivity platform, or a configurable command center, one description of the ThunderBay Flex 8 says it best. It is a groundbreaking workflow solution for digital imaging, VFX, video production, and video editing professionals from the world’s leading Thunderbolt accessory manufacturer.
ThunderBay Flex 8 offers eight drive bays that support a mix of SATA/SAS1 and U.2/M.22 NVMe drives for virtually limitless storage capacity. Next, there’s a plethora of ports including two Thunderbolt 33, one USB-C, and two USB-A for device docking and charging.
See your work in greater detail by adding up to an 8K display4 via a built-in DisplayPort 1.4 connection. Ingest hi-res images and video via front-side SD 4.0 and CFexpress card readers. And when you want to expand your desktop capabilities, there’s a PCIe slot waiting for your specific project needs.
ThunderBay Flex 8 is the one Thunderbolt 3 desktop device that rules them all. With an irresistible economy of scale, this consolidated solution is ideal for anyone waiting for the right moment to invest in Thunderbolt technology.
NVMe. PCIe. What’s It Mean to Me?
At the heart of the ThunderBay Flex 8 capabilities are two cutting-edge technology standards: NVMe and PCIe. Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) optimizes the performance of modern flash technology over the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) standard. It enables significantly faster SSD performance with a more direct and optimized path to a computer’s processor.
Tying both of these technologies together is the Thunderbolt 3 interface which uses the PCIe bus. This interface offers the fastest data transfers possible on a single cable between computers and peripherals like storage solutions, docks, and expansion devices while also supplying 85W of power to keep your laptop ready to go at a moment’s notice.
The Future Standard of Storage Available Today
Right out of the packaging, all eight bays can utilize SATA 6Gb/s 2.5-inch SSDs or 3.5-inch HDDs. To take advantage of 40Gb/s PCIe technology, the top four bays are NVMe U.2 SSD ready. These emerging super-fast SSDs enable ThunderBay Flex 8 to meet the future storage needs of content creators and video production pros.
Muscle-FLEXing Data Performance
Are you a video pro working with 4K/8K and even Phantom high-speed files? The ThunderBay Flex 8 offers a variety of drive configurations that deliver real-world read/write speeds of 2750MB/s that saturate the Thunderbolt 3 speed threshold. Try any of these options:
A single U.2 NVMe SSD in Bay A
Multiple U.2 SSDs installed in top four bays (A-D) in RAID 0
Six or more SATA SSDs in any bays in RAID 0
Swap out the built-in SATA drive controller card with a SATA/SAS hardware RAID card and configure 8 x SATA/SAS drives in hardware RAID 0
Done with the drives but need the docking connectivity?
Eject the ThunderBay Flex 8 drives and any external drives in a single click with the free OWC Dock Ejector app. It ensures all data has been written before any drive is unmounted to protect against data loss. It will even warn you from accidentally ejecting an in-use drive.
Docking FLEXibility
A virtual buffet of productivity-enhancing possibilities awaits you with the docking connections built into ThunderBay Flex 8. Power your notebook with up to 85W power delivery while capturing multi-stream hi-res footage at full frame rate. Connect audio and video mixers, digital camera, keyboards, and other peripherals and charge mobile devices via one USB-C and two USB-A 10Gb/s ports. Ingest and work with 4/8K RAW video and RAW photo files immediately at speeds up to 985MB/s with frontside SD 4.0 and CFexpress card readers. Add more viewing space with up to an 8K monitor via the DisplayPort 1.4 interface. And if all that’s not enough to satisfy your project needs, daisy-chain up to five additional Thunderbolt 3 devices!
FLEXpandable for Unique Needs
By removing the enclosure’s side panel, you can expand your capabilities by installing a half-length, full-height, single-width expansion card in the PCIe x16 connector/x4 lanes slot. Add a 4K video capture card for direct ingest of multi-stream high-res footage. Record high-quality tracks with an audio card and then edit and archive tracks.
Create a powerful file server with a high-speed networking card. By replacing the built-in SATA drive controller with a SATA or SAS RAID card, you can turn ThunderBay Flex 8 into a hardware RAID storage solution while keeping a PCIe slot open for other cards.
A FLEXtraordinary Platform
ThunderBay Flex 8 is a user-configurable platform that you can use to launch into projects with a new realm of time and money-saving results. To get you started, we suggest three sample configurations that make the most of the extraordinary highlights that have made OWC solutions the choice of performance enthusiasts and cinematographers around the world:
Sample Configurations
FLEX Empty Enclosure: An empty enclosure that lets you add your choice of drives and PCIe cards. You can remove the SATA drive controller card to add a RAID or SAS drive controller card.
FLEX Bottom Four: The bottom four bays populated with SATA drives and top four bays left empty for use with U.2 NVMe drives, M.2 NVMe drives with adapter, or SATA/SAS drives.
FLEX Full: Achieve maximum capacity and performance with all the bays filled with SATA drives. One drive left as cold spare. The other seven preconfigured in RAID 0 or RAID 5 with SoftRAID.
SoftRAID: RAID Made Easy
Harness the full capability of your OWC drive array with the included SoftRAID XT, the most powerful, intuitive RAID management software on the market for macOS and Windows. SoftRAID’s RAID creation and management technology has been finely tuned to perfection with over 20 years of development to provide rock solid protection of your data and optimize drive performance.
SoftRAID XT provides an unbeatable combination of speed, protection, and compatibility:
Advanced: Create RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) arrays
Protected: SoftRAID Monitor constantly watches your disks and alerts you if problems are detected
Validated: Volume validation ensures sectors can be read and parity is correct
Certified: Checks disks before use to ensure they are safe for data storage
Vigilant: Error prediction helps protect against unexpected failure
Universal: Move SoftRAID arrays seamlessly between Mac and PC2 with built-in OWC MacDrive technology
Beyond Hardware RAID
SoftRAID provides a level of storage performance that you simply can’t get with hardware RAID. SoftRAID gives you increased power and control over your RAID drives and disks that hardware RAID can’t deliver and doesn’t lock you into technology that you can’t upgrade or expand.
A Protective, Economical Post-Production Solution
Sending a drive from set to post-production typically entails tedious and time-consuming drive enclosure disassembly to access the storage drive or costly shipping of the entire enclosure to the post lab. But ThunderBay Flex 8 offers yet another option.
By installing an OWC U.2 NVMe Interchange System carrier tray (sold separately) with a built-in U.2 connector into a ThunderBay Flex 8 drive tray, you can protect the U.2 SSD drive’s connector from repeated install/removal wear for improved drive longevity and investment. When done with your shoot, just ship the lightweight protective carrier and drive to the lab where the carrier can be installed into an OWC Helios 3S equipped with the OWC Interchange System. It’s a complete solution to safeguard your data while lowering shipping costs.
End-To-End Workflow Possibilities
FLEX On-Set
+ OWC Interchange System Carrier Tray with SSD
+ OWC ThunderBay Flex 8
Protects U.2 SSD drive connectors from install/ removal wear to improve drive longevity and extend your drive ROI.
Transit to Post
+ OWC Interchange System Carrier Tray with SSD
+ Small and economical. Ship only what you need.
Lightweight protective carrier safeguards data while lowering shipping costs vs shipping the entire enclosure.
Post-Production Lab
+ OWC Interchange System Carrier Tray with SSD
+ OWC Helios 3S ( sold separately)
+ OWC Interchange System ( sold separately)
Desktop U.2 NVMe SSD swappable storage for fast processing of footage.
OWC Thunderbolt Cable Included
OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 comes with a certified 0.7 meter OWC Thunderbolt cable, with other lengths from 0.5 meter to 2.0 meters available separately.
Notes:
SAS drives are supported with SAS drive controller card (available separately).
Up to four U.2 drives are supported. M.2 drives are also supported with M.2 to U.2 adapter (available separately).
Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt compatibility requires a certified Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (available separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
Full DisplayPort 1.4 capabilities depends on host computer support of DisplayPort 1.4 specification through its Thunderbolt 3 connection, host computer GPU capabilities, and connecting cable capabilities.
RAID 4/1+0 (10) are Mac only at this time.
SoftRAID XT works with macOS 10.12 or later and Windows 10 or later. M1 Macs require macOS 11.3 or later. SoftRAID is licensed per computer.
Includes
- (1) OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 External Storage Enclosure
- (1) 0.7M Thunderbolt Cable
- (1) External Power Cable
- (2) Security Keys for Front Panel Lock
- (1) Hex Key
- (1) Quick Start Guide for OWC ThunderBay Flex 8
- (1) Quick Start Guide for OWC ThunderBay Flex 8
- (1) Assembly Manual & User Guide for OWC ThunderBay Flex 8
- (1) OWC SoftRAID XT Software Bundle
- (1) Quick Start Guide for OWC SoftRAID XT
- (1) Manual & User Guide for OWC SoftRAID XT
- (1) Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (1 Year Subscription)
- 3-Year OWC Limited Warranty
- Number of Bays: 8
-
Mechanisms Supported:
- 3.5 inch SATA drives
- 2.5 inch SATA drives
- 2.5 inch U.2 drives (top 4 bays only)
- NVMe M.2 drives (via U.2 adapter)
- 2.5 inch SAS drives (requires SAS card, not included)
- 3.5 inch SAS drives (requires SAS card, not included)
- Hot Swap Support: Yes
- Hot Plug Support: Yes
- Boot Support: Dependent upon configuration. Independent Mac volumes should boot in most scenarios. Boot Camp is not supported.
- RAID Capable: Yes
-
RAID Levels Supported:
- RAID 0
- RAID 1
- RAID 0+1
- RAID 4
- RAID 5
- JBOD
- RAID Features: Software RAID
- Expansion Slots: (1) PCIe 3.0 x16 physical, x4 electrical, full-height, half-length, single-width
-
Memory Card Slots:
- (1) CFexpress 2.0 Type B
- (1) SD
- Power Delivery: Thunderbolt 3 host port provides up to 85W of power to the host computer. Thunderbolt 3 device port (for external drives and other devices) provides 15W of power.
-
Device Ports:
- (1) Host Port - Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) up to 40 Gb/s (5000 MB/s)
- (1) Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) Port
- (1) USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Port up to 10Gb/s (1250MB/s) - USB 2.0/3.0 backwards compatible
- (2) USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A Ports up to 10Gb/s (1250MB/s) - USB 2.0/3.0 backwards compatible
- (1) DisplayPort Port
-
Display Support by Port:
- DisplayPort 1.4: Up to 8K @ 60Hz or 4K @ 120Hz
- Thunderbolt 3: Up to 5K @ 60Hz via a native Thunderbolt 3 display or 4K @ 60Hz via a Thunderbolt display or a USB-C display adapter
- Data Rate: Thunderbolt 3: 40Gb/s (or 5000MB/s)
- Data Transfer Rate (Maximum): Thunderbolt 3 : Up to 40 Gb/s (or 5000 MB/s)
-
Chipset / Controller:
- Thunderbolt: Intel JHL7440
- PCIe Switch: ASMedia ASM-2824
- USB Controller: Genesys Logic GL-3590
- Contact Start Stops: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed
- Host Interface Requirements: Thunderbolt (USB-C) port (backward compatible with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt1)
- Driver Required: SoftRAID Only. The SoftRAID driver is installed within the SoftRAID application. For PCIe cards that require a driver, please check the manufacturer web site. Drivers for PCIe cards must be Thunderbolt-aware to function.
- Supported PCIe Cards: Supports one full-height, half-length, single-width card (driverless or with Thunderbolt-aware driver). GPUs not supported.
- Other Requirements: macOS 10.15.1 or later required.
- External Power Adapter: No
- Power Supply: Internal UL-listed universal auto-switching power supply
- AC Input: 100-240V, 50-60Hz, 3.5A-7.0A
- DC Output: +12V, 37A
- Wattage: 450W
- Cooling: (1) 120mm 1,600RPM cooling fan
- Security Slot: Yes
- Power Button: Yes
- Power/Activity LED: Yes
- Housing Color: Black
- Housing Material: Aluminum
-
Dimensions:
- Height: 34.9 cm (13.7 in)
- Length: 39.0 cm (15.4 in)
- Width: 14.9 cm (5.9 in)
- Weight: 9.2 kg (20.26 lbs)
-
Certifications:
- BSMI
- CE
- FCC
- RCM
- VCCI
-
Ambient Temperature:
- Operating: 50°F to 95°F (10°C to 35°C)
- Non-Operating: -40°F to 149°F (-40°C to 65°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
- Shock: Varies depending on drive mechanism installed
- 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 (available separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
- SoftRAID: Works with macOS 10.14 or later and Windows 10 or later. M1 Macs require macOS 11.3 or later. SoftRAID is licensed per computer.
- GPU Support: GPUs are not supported.
- RAID/SAS Card Setup: While we do not bundle or recommend specific RAID/SAS card setups at this time, we do provide an unofficial guide as a courtesy, to customers who wish to attempt this workflow.
- Firmware Update: A firmware update is required to use OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 with OWC Innergize software. Please consult the "Innergize for PC: Firmware Update" or "Innergize for Mac: Firmware Update" guide for download and installation instructions.
- SAS Drives: SAS drives are supported with SAS drive controller card (available separately).
- U.2 Drives: Up to four U.2 drives are supported. M.2 drives are also supported with M.2 to U.2 adapter (available separately).
- Apple Thunderbolt Compatibility: Apple Mac models with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt ports can be connected using an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter (sold separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
- DisplayPort 1.4: Full DisplayPort 1.4 capabilities depend on host computer support of DisplayPort 1.4 specification through its Thunderbolt 3 connection, host computer GPU capabilities, and connecting cable capabilities.
- LED Function: The LED function of this product will be disabled and not function if used with a 4TB and/or 8TB OWC U2 Shuttle (OWCU2SHUTTLE04), (OWCU2SHUTTLE08).
- Host Interface Requirements: Thunderbolt (USB-C) port (backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt1)
-
Mac OS Compatibility:
- macOS 10.15 Catalina
- macOS 11.x Big Sur
- macOS 12.x Monterey
- macOS 13.x Ventura
- macOS 14.x Sonoma
- PC OS Compatibility: Not compatible with Windows PCs
- Driver Required: SoftRAID Only. The SoftRAID driver is installed within the SoftRAID application. For PCIe cards that require a driver, please check the manufacturer web site. Drivers for PCIe cards must be Thunderbolt-aware to function.
- Supported PCIe Cards: Supports one full-height, half-length, single-width card (driverless or with Thunderbolt-aware driver). GPUs not supported.
- Other Requirements: macOS 10.15.1 or later required
-
iMac Models:
- iMac | 2017 iMac18,1 - A1418 - EMC3068
- iMac | 2017 iMac18,2 - A1418 - EMC3069
- iMac | 2017 iMac18,3 - A1419 - EMC3070
- iMac | 2019 iMac19,1 - A2115 - EMC3194
- iMac | 2019 iMac19,2 - A2116 - EMC3195
- iMac | 2020 iMac20,1 - A2115 - EMC3442
- iMac | 2020 iMac20,2 - A2115 - EMC3442
- iMac | 2021 iMac21,1 - A2438 - EMC3663 - M1
- iMac | 2021 iMac21,2 - A2439 - EMC3664 - M1
- iMacPro | 2017 iMacPro1,1 - A1862 - EMC3144
-
MacBook Air Models:
- MacBookAir | 2018 MacBookAir8,1 - A1932 - EMC3184
- MacBookAir | 2019 MacBookAir8,2 - A1932 - EMC3184
- MacBookAir | 2020 MacBookAir9,1 - A2179 - EMC3302
- MacBookAir | 2020 MacBookAir10,1 - A2337 - EMC3598 - M1
- MacBookAir | 2022 Mac14,2 - A2681 - EMC4074 - M2
-
MacBook Pro Models:
- MacBookPro | 2016 MacBookPro13,1 - A1708 - EMC2978
- MacBookPro | 2016 MacBookPro13,2 - A1706 - EMC3071
- MacBookPro | 2017 MacBookPro13,3 - A1707 - EMC3072
- MacBookPro | 2017 MacBookPro14,1 - A1708 - EMC3164
- MacBookPro | 2017 MacBookPro14,2 - A1706 - EMC3163
- MacBookPro | 2017 MacBookPro14,3 - A1707 - EMC3162
- MacBookPro | 2018 MacBookPro15,1 - A1990 - EMC3215
- MacBookPro | 2018 MacBookPro15,2 - A1989 - EMC3214
- MacBookPro | 2018 MacBookPro15,3 - A1990 - EMC3215
- MacBookPro | 2019 MacBookPro15,1 - A1990 - EMC3359
- MacBookPro | 2019 MacBookPro15,2 - A1989 - EMC3358
- MacBookPro | 2019 MacBookPro15,3 - A1990 - EMC3359
- MacBookPro | 2019 MacBookPro15,4 - A2159 - EMC3301
- MacBookPro | 2019 MacBookPro16,1 - A2141 - EMC3347
- MacBookPro | 2020 MacBookPro16,2 - A2251 - EMC3348
- MacBookPro | 2020 MacBookPro16,3 - A2289 - EMC3456
- MacBookPro | 2020 MacBookPro17,1 - A2338 - EMC3578 - M1
- MacBookPro | 2021 MacBookPro18,1 - A2485 - EMC3651 - M1 Pro
- MacBookPro | 2021 MacBookPro18,2 - A2485 - EMC3651 - M1 MAX
- MacBookPro | 2021 MacBookPro18,3 - A2442 - EMC3650 - M1 Pro
- MacBookPro | 2021 MacBookPro18,4 - A2442 - EMC3650 - M1 Max
- MacBookPro | 2022 Mac14,7 - A2338 - EMC8162 - M2
- MacBookPro | 2023 Mac14,10 - M2 Pro
- MacBookPro | 2023 Mac14,5 - M2 Max
- MacBookPro | 2023 Mac14,6 - M2 Max
- MacBookPro | 2023 Mac14,9 - M2 Pro
-
Mac Pro Models:
- Mac Pro | 2019 MacPro7,1 - A1991 - EMC3203
-
Mac Pro Rack Models:
- Mac Pro Rack | 2019 MacPro7,1 - A2304 - EMC3413
-
Mac Studio Models:
- Mac Studio | 2022 Mac13,1 - A2615 - EMC3988 - M1 Max
- Mac Studio | 2022 Mac13,2 - A2615 - EMC3988 - M1 Ultra
-
Mac Mini Models:
- Macmini | 2018 Macmini8,1 - A1993 - EMC3213
- Macmini | 2020 Macmini9,1 - A2348 - EMC3569 - M1
- Macmini | 2023 Mac14,3 - A2686 - EMC8003 - M2
- Macmini | 2023 Mac14,12 - A2816 - EMC8180 - M2 Pro
