Swift Data 200 expansion advice

I am considering the "Swift Data 200" internal expansion kit for my 2.5 dual G-5.
[www.transintl.com]

I'm looking at 3 additional Hatchi 500 gb 7200 rpm 16mg cache Drives ( I already have 2) 250 gig Apple SATA drives installed internally and 1) 500 gig G-Raid FW 800 external drives).

The expansion kit is the 3 drive assembly which is also bootable.

I would set the new 3 internal drives as a Raid.

My questions are:
Does anyone have experience with this kit?
Opinions as to what I am doing.. and
WiebTech make a similar expansion kit but that's mounted on the metal door (http://www.wiebetech.com/products/G5Jam.php) while the Swift Data is mounted vertically attached to the base. (https://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=2490)

Feed back is most appreciated.
Thanks,
A.F.

That setup is what I am planning on when I finally get a G5.

I have been to Transintl in Anaheim and have dealt with them in the past, and they are very helpful. The big question I have is how I am going to supply power for 4 Seagate 500 GB drives as the tech people say the internal power supply wont work with Seagate drives. Talk to the Mike about the power issues.

I believe that the Transintl folks have done a good job of design and implementation of this setup and I don't think you will be disappointed.

I am also planning on the Sonnet 4x4 card which is NOT bootable instead of the Firmtek card which is. That is not to say there is any problem with Firmtek because I have two of their SATA cards in a G4 and they are great.

THe 4x4 just gives you more ports - 4 internal and 4 external. If you can, get the 3 MB/sec SATA drives instead of the 1.5 Gb/sec drives as their may be a slight spped advantage over the faster SATA bus.

All that aside, the G5Jam+ kit is also a very good design and can add 4 drives on the plate. It is just a matter of cost.

You can use the Apple Disk Utility to RAID those SATA drives when you get them installed and if you'd like more control you can invest in SoftRAID drivers.

I have the swiftdata in my g5
Got a refurbed g52.0 with one internal 160gig

Got the Sonnet 4x4 with 4 250gig Hatachis and RAIDed them together with disk utility's Raid option.

It has worked flawlessly.

Went with the Sonnet so I could expand to external SATAs when the time comes. Went with the 250gigs cuz that was the most cost effective at the time. Went with the hatachis cuz there's a problem powering seagate drives at startup.

Installation is smooth and went well. Had one questions about the power supply and they answered quickly. If I can install it, it can't be that bad. Just be sure and get your RAM the way you like before you install.

I say go for it. It worked well for my and was really cool to click the RAID open in finder and see "933gigs available" at the bottom of the window.

Stevieb1972

Thanks for your input ...
I'm going for it....

Only one person said there MIGHT be a heat issue, but the 3.5" drives (Hitachi) run very cool and the fan still stays in the system pulling air around the drives.
My system has great airflow as the front i and the back are not obstructed by anything the back is completely open and away from walls or other surfuces, air passes in the front and goes out the back freely.
I think it's a pretty safe bet.

Any comments?
thanks
A.F.

As far as any heat issue goes in a G5, use common sense to place your tower wisely. Do not set it on the floor if you can help it (less dust gathers in the unit). Hang it from under your desk or put it on top. Do not jam the back up against a wall...it's all about the air flow

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.