When set up in RAID 0, the My Book Thunderbolt showed its top performance scoring some 168MBps when moving data over from the Pegasus R6, which is the fastest Thunderbolt storage device on the market to date.
I used a 2011 MacBook Pro running OS X Lion, on a SATA 3 (6Gbps) SSD, as the test machine. For this reason, it'd make more sense to test a Thunderbolt storage device against the other fastest possible storage solution, which currently is an internal drive, especially SSD, connected directly to a computer's motherboard. The reason for the first set of tests is the fact that Thunderbolt has a ceiling speed of 10Gbps, whereas the fastest internal drive caps at just 6Gbps of the SATA 3 standard. The drive was tested both in RAID 0 and RAID 1 configurations. In the second, it was tested the way any other none-Thunderbolt external storage devices are tested: against the test machine's internal drive. In the first set, it was stacked up against other Thunderbolt drives as well as internal drives, including solid-state drives (SSDs). I tested the My Book in two sets of tests. RAID 1 (mirror) is the opposite you get just half of the total storage and slower performance, but your data safety is doubled.
RAID 0 (strip) offers top capacity and performance, but if one of the hard drives crashes, you'll lose data on both. The options are RAID 0 (default), RAID 1, and two separate volumes. The drive comes with WD Drive Utilities, which helps monitor the status of the drive and change the internal hard drive's configurations. Out of the box, the drive is configured in RAID 0 and preformatted using HFS+ it works immediately once plugged to a Thunderbolt-enabled Mac running OS X 10.6.8 or later.
There's nothing to setting up the My Book Thunderbolt Duo. I haven't tried, but WD says that although other SATA hard drives physically fit in the slots, they are not tested to work with the chassis. Users can replace these two hard drives with another one, as long as they use WD's Green drive.
The trade-off is that they also tend to have slightly slower performance. They are called green because they're designed to use less energy than other drives of the same capacities. The internal hard drives used for the new My Book belong to WD's SATA Green drive family. The top of the drive can be opened with a push to reveal the internal drives inside. The My Book Thunderbolt doesn't have a power switch since it shares the power status of the computer it's connected to. The only differences are the new tiny power/status light on the front (the previous model has a large vertical one) and the two Thunderbolt ports on the back (instead of USB, FireWire, and eSATA connection options). The WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo shares the same design as the My Book Studio Edition II it looks like a closed book that's standing up.
WD Security allows you to set password protection and hardware encryption for your drive to protect your files from unauthorized use or access. Can be reformatted for Windows operating systems.īack up your files quickly and easily with Apple Time Machine.
Works right out of the box with Mac OS X 10.5 or later operating systems.
Use Apple Time Machine to quickly and easily back up your important files and precious memories.
Transfer a 2-hour HD movie in just 3 minutes instead of 13 minutes.īack up and protect your files with Apple Time Machine When connected to a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port this drive lets you access and save files up to 3 times faster than USB 2.0. With this single drive you get compatibility with your USB 2.0 devices today and the ultra-fast speed of USB 3.0 when you're ready to step up to the next generation. Use WD Security to set password protection and hardware encryption and protect your files from unauthorized use or access. And it's compatible with Apple Time Machine to back up and help protect your files. This sleek drive is designed to work with your Mac right out of the box. When connected to a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port, this drive lets you transfer a full-length HD movie in about 3 minutes, instead of 13 minutes with USB 2.0. Password protection with hardware encryption ensure your files are protected from unauthorized access. This Mac-ready drive is compatible with Apple Time Machine for quick and easy backups.
My Book for Mac features the ultra-fast transfer speed of USB 3.0 and plenty of capacity for the creative life of graphics professionals.