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Toolkit helps you easily configure the RAID level and formatting for compatible drives.
| Supported devices | Product support page | User manual |
|---|---|---|
| LaCie 2big Dock | Product | Documentation |
| LaCie 2big RAID | Product | Documentation |
| LaCie Rugged RAID Pro | Product | Documentation |
| LaCie Rugged RAID Shuttle | Product | Documentation |
RAID stands for redundant array of independent disks. RAID contains the word array, and the two terms are often used interchangably. An array is a combination of two or more physical disks that are presented to the operating system as a single volume.
Disks are combined into different RAID configurations known as RAID levels. The RAID level you choose depends on which storage attributes are most important to you:
| Capacity | The total amount of data you can store |
| Performance | The speed at which data is copied |
| Protection | The number of disks that can fail before data is lost |
Toolkit RAID helps you configure compatible LaCie and Seagate RAID storage devices with two drives. Available RAID levels are RAID 0 and RAID 1:
RAID 0—Data is not duplicated on both drives. This results in faster transfers and more storage, since the full capacity of both drives can be used to store unique data. However, RAID 0 lacks data protection. If a single drive fails, all data in the array is lost.
RAID 1—Data is duplicated on each disk in the array. If a drive fails, the data remains available on the other drive. However, this comes at a cost—since the same data is written to each drive, copying data takes longer and overall storage capacity is reduced by 50%. RAID 1 is a good choice when protecting your data is more important than performance or overall storage space.
The array can also be removed by configuring the drives as JBOD:
JBOD—”JBOD” stands for “Just a Bunch of Disks”, meaning that your two drives have not been configured as an array and operate as two independent disks. JBOD configuration is only available for 2-bay devices: LaCie 2big Dock and LaCie 2big RAID.
To summarize the advantages of the different RAID levels:
| RAID level | Capacity | Performance | Protection | Factory default |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAID 0 | 100% | Excellent | None | Yes |
| RAID 1 | 50% | Good | Excellent | No |
| JBOD | 100% | Varies | None | No |
While RAID 1 can protect data in case of a single drive failure, it cannot guarantee complete data protection for all cases of hardware failure or data corruption. To help prevent data loss due to any extreme event, it’s recommended that you maintain copies of your files on more than one device—for example, keep one copy on your RAID device and another copy on one of the following:
Any loss, corruption or destruction of data while using a Seagate or LaCie hard drive or hard drive system is the sole responsibility of the user. Under no circumstances will Seagate or LaCie be held liable for the recovery or restoration of data.
| RAID 0 | Configures the device as RAID 0. Full storage capacity is available for your files and your data transfers are faster. However, RAID 0 lacks an important feature: data protection. If a hard drive fails, all data in the array is lost. |
| RAID 1 | Configures the device as RAID 1. Each file is stored on both drives in the array, which means your data is still available if a single drive fails. However, storage space is cut by 50% and data transfers are not as fast as RAID 0. |
| Mac users | |
|---|---|
| Windows and macOS Compatibility | Formats the drive in exFAT. Your device can be used with both macOS and Windows. However, transfer rates are not optimized for either operating system. |
| macOS Performance | Formats the drive in HFS+. Your device is optimized for macOS, resulting in better transfer rates. However, compatibility with Windows would require a third-party utility. |
| Windows users | |
|---|---|
| Windows and macOS Compatibility | Formats the drive in exFAT. Your device can be used with both macOS and Windows. However, transfer rates are not optimized for either operating system. |
| Windows Performance | Formats the drive in NTFS. Your device is optimized for Windows, resulting in better transfer rates. However, compatibility with macOS would require a third-party utility. |