[srb]

It looks like it has three 40mm fans, guessing it will be loud

Just as in loudspeakers, there's no getting around the physics.  A smaller fan has to turn faster to produce equivalent airflow to a larger fan and therefore makes more noise.  In the case of the OWC, they determined a fully populated 4 X 7200 rpm drive enclosure would require the airflow of 3 X 40mm fans.
 

Drobo are doing a deal today for their enclosures today for 180 Euro (The Drobo).
I saw one at a show and it was quiet.

If you can let your sense of aesthetics allow a larger cube like the Drobo instead of a 1U slimline rackmount enclosure, you get a larger fan (92mm).  Unfortunately, browsing the forums reveals a mix of people who say the Drobo is quiet and those that say it is noisy!  A number of the those disatisfied with the noise level replaced the fan with a quieter Noctua, but of course that invalidates the warranty as well as requiring a bit of DIY and modification of the fan wiring harness.
 
If you are populating an enclosure with separately purchased drives, a previous suggestion to use lower power "green" drives is a good one, as most of the fan implementations vary the speed according to temperature and you have a better chance of whichever enclosure you choose being quieter.  There really isn't much of a need for fast 7200 rpm drives for audio data playback.
 
Steve

[SHV]

"If you can let your sense of aesthetics allow a larger cube like the Drobo instead of a 1U slimline rackmount enclosure,...."
******
I have a raid box that is similar in configuration to the Drobo, since the BDE is a non-started I looked for something that has aesthetics similar to the BDP-1.  From the pictures, the 1U slimline was the best that I could find.

"There really isn't much of a need for fast 7200 rpm drives for audio data playback."
********
That is my feeling, based on zero data.  If the "stock" fan configuration has too much noise, I will mod the fans.

 The box should be here tomorrow, it should be quickly apparent whether the OWC has acceptable aesthetics and noise to be an after market alternative to a BDE-1.


Steve
 
 

[srb]

The box should be here tomorrow, it should be quickly apparent whether the OWC has acceptable aesthetics and noise to be an after market alternative to a BDE-1.

Sometimes multiple fans can do the job quietly, it just depends on the fan and its speed.  I was shocked when I took delivery of my Panasonic plasma TV and realized it had five fans, but it is the quietest of any of my fan cooled components.
 
I notice that the OWC fans are actually constant speed and are denoted as "whisper quiet".  Since many components call themselves "whisper quiet" and some are not, there is only one way to know.
 
It would be nice if all manufacturers would give a noise level spec for their components (like the fan manufacturers do), but on the other hand, I guess that is no guarantee.  I have a Synology NAS that seems quite a bit louder than its 19.9dB(A) spec would indicate.
 
Steve

[skunark]

Drobos get loud quick when you have most of the bays full.    I have one of the older ones and I leave it off most of the time because it's too loud to be next to my computer.    One thing about fans, they get louder as they age and of course less reliable. 

Ideally you want a 1U enclosure with the drives mounted to either the chassis or with additional heat sinks so you can avoid any fans.   If you can have an acoustically sealed enclosure that also will help assuming thermal dissipation is adequate.    Also you won't have to worry about designing a 1U cabinet where they are stacked like in an IT rack, but more or less stacked like audio gear with a good 1/2" between components.

[SHV]

"acoustically sealed enclosure that also will help assuming thermal dissipation is adequate. ."
*********
What is an acceptable upper temperature inside a drive enclosure?

Steve

[skunark]

It all varies by the HDD you select, but most have a maximum ambient temperature of 60°C.  A good goal would be to stay under 30 degrees for the HDD itself, the internal temp could be higher or lower based on how the heat is dissipated.   

[Anonamemouse]

For the Europeans amongst us:
http://www.ikbenstil.nl/Media-Center+TV-PC/IKBENSTIL-Roundcube-serie/IKBENSTIL-Roundcube-Storage:::294_470_404.html

Not the cheapest, but probably the best solution here.

[Alpha10]

For the Europeans amongst us:
http://www.ikbenstil.nl/Media-Center+TV-PC/IKBENSTIL-Roundcube-serie/IKBENSTIL-Roundcube-Storage:::294_470_404.html

Not the cheapest, but probably the best solution here.

Thanks, that looks interesting.

Cheers

[SHV]

OWC box arrived.  The construction appears to be quite good, for example, the front panel is 5.3mm thick.  I haven't had time to set it up but will show a few picture for aesthetic evaluaton.




Steve

[srb]

I can see from the photo that the blue LEDs are overly bright (like the blue LEDs on your iPad charger).  But the great thing is that because the panel flips down, a piece of tape can easily be put on the inside to dim, and if a colored tape is used, more accurately color match the LEDs on the Bryston.
 
I would expect it to function great, we'll wait for your fan and noise evaluation.
 
Steve

[terrycym]

Hey Steve,

What size did you buy and mode will you run it in (RAID5 for example)

[SHV]

Hey Steve,

What size did you buy and mode will you run it in (RAID5 for example)

I bought the 2 T configuration (the smallest); my digital library is only ~250 GB so this will last awhile.  The box comes set up as RAID5, formatted HFS+.  I don't have the expertise to know which RAID option is best for this particular application so I left it as RAID5.  I reformatted the discs to FAT32 and loaded my database via Firewire from my laptop.

First impressions:

1) Aesthetics: 
   
    a) Size and front plate color are a good match for the BDP-1 except for the lack of Bryston logo.
 
     b)Blue light are bright and when the drives are working, there are additional flashing pink LEDs.             
        I haven't  decided if this is a problem but as srb pointed out, it can be easily modified.

2)Function: 
 
    a) easy set up and seems to do what it is supposed to do
 
    b)Fan noise:  It has three small fans that are not thermally controlled and are on when the drives are in
      operation and there is some sound emitting from the case.  (I'm old so my hearing isn't as good as it   
      once was, so the noise "factor" is very subjective.  For example, if the HVAC isn't running and I focus in
      on the RAID box, I can hear the fans.  (At ~9'/3m).  The sound level is equivalent to the slight hum   
      from the 600w track light transformer that is located about 5m behind me and the noise from the 
      pilot light of the gas logs in the fireplace ~5m to the left/rear.  So the fan "noise" sort of fits into 
      ambient sounds.  When the HVAC is running then fan noise is irrelevant.  I suspect that during the
      "break in" period, my psycho-acoustics will get broken in to reject the fan noise.

       Steve

[terrycym]

Thanks for time to give us your feedback Steve, much appreciated.

You say you bought the 2T version so is it right to say it comes with four 500G drives?

How much of the 2T space do you get free?
The RAID will take up some of the available space for its stripping etc.

I'd leave it running in RAID5. That allows for a drive to go down and still be save and it's pretty quick too. You can actually physically remove a drive while it's working and it should carry on working regardless.

I noticed that it has one of those rare features....
A power switch!!!!!!!!

[SHV]

Thanks for time to give us your feedback Steve, much appreciated.

You say you bought the 2T version so is it right to say it comes with four 500G drives?

How much of the 2T space do you get free?
The RAID will take up some of the available space for its stripping etc.

I'd leave it running in RAID5. That allows for a drive to go down and still be save and it's pretty quick too. You can actually physically remove a drive while it's working and it should carry on working regardless.

I noticed that it has one of those rare features....
A power switch!!!!!!!!

500 GB drives......RAID5 "overhead" on 210 GB of data is 138 GB    1 T drives are probably the better choice for moderate sized digital music collections; that would add ~$140 USD to the total cost.

So far the OWC seems to meet my needs: provides a cat proof home for my drives that are attached to the BDP-1, provides data protection/ backup and looks good doing it!!!

Steve

[skunark]

500 GB drives......RAID5 "overhead" on 210 GB of data is 138 GB    1 T drives are probably the better choice for moderate sized digital music collections; that would add ~$140 USD to the total cost.

So far the OWC seems to meet my needs: provides a cat proof home for my drives that are attached to the BDP-1, provides data protection/ backup and looks good doing it!!!

Steve

If it's connected up to the BDP it's not providing a backup and really not even providing data protection.  It will detect that a file is corrupted and it may or may not be able to recover that.    For it to be a true backup you would have to have second location to store the files as a backup.    Stripping with RAID can only increase the reliability of the hardware.  (RAID0 actually decreases reliability)     I would suggest you read the wikipedia page for more details.

[SHV]

"For it to be a true backup you would have to have second location to store the files as a backup."
**********
I have two Seagate HDs that I periodically update as back up.  They are not kept off site but if the house burns down, music files are trivial in the big picture.

Steve

[terrycym]

If it's connected up to the BDP it's not providing a backup and really not even providing data protection.  It will detect that a file is corrupted and it may or may not be able to recover that.

but it will provide protection against drive failure.

[skunark]

but it will provide protection against drive failure.

Stripping with RAID can only increase the reliability of the hardware. 

[SHV]

But the important thing is that it looks a lot better than loose drives sitting on the shelf next to the BDP. :>)

Steve

[Alpha10]

But the important thing is that it looks a lot better than loose drives sitting on the shelf next to the BDP. :>)

Steve

Much better and even more importantly away from small fingers 

Cheers