An external hard drive enclosure is great for computers that have limited room for storage. External enclosures can also be great for adding a RAID for performance. Axus has a line of small enclosures that all have built-in hardware RAID.
Features
- Up to 6TB of Disk Capacity & Higher
- Multiple RAID Level
- USB and eSATA computer interface
- SMART and Noise-Free Fan module
- Compact design
- Windows /Linux / Mac OS ( OS independent and transparent )
The Axus FiT 300 has 3 drivebays, and by using 2TB disks (the largest available at the time of writing) the Axus FiT 300 can have a maximum of 6TB of storage.
The capacity of the Axus FiT 300 is also dependent on what RAID level you choose. If you are unfamiliar with RAID you may want to check out this page. The FiT 300 supports RAID Level 0, 1, 3, 5 , PM, Large, and Clone.
The Axus FiT 300 may not have quite as many interfaces as other enclosures, but it does have the most important. With 2 different interfaces (USB and eSATA), the Axus FiT 300 picked the best, USB because it is universal, and eSATA because it is the fastest.
The fan that the Axus FiT 300 uses is actually a small removable module. I don’t know why they would make it removable, but in case you don’t want a fan it could probably be removed.
The Axus FiT 300 uses a very compact design that is so small it does not even have room for a power supply. So the Axus FiT 300 uses an external power supply.
Because the Axus FiT 300 uses hardware RAID it is OS independent. As long as your computer has the proper connectors you can use this enclosure.
Design
The design of the Axus FiT 300 is centered around being as compact as possible. If you compare it to other enclosures with the same number of bays you will see that it is considerably smaller. They accomplish this by using both an external power supply and cooling fan. A lot of wasted space is created by trying to stick these two items into a small box and still allow room for circulation.
The front of the Axus FiT 300 is very simple, it has 3 drive bays and a few lights. Each tray that goes into the drive bays is very simple. Putting a hard drive into the tray is very easy and only takes a few seconds.
Front |
Drive Tray |
The back of the Axus FiT 300 has quite a bit more than the front. There is a big open spot for the fan module on the left, and the two connectors on the right. Below that are a power and RAID switch. Finally on the left is the power plug.
Back |
Fan |
The switch on the back of the Axus FiT 300 is all you need to set the configuration of the drives; however, the enclosure also comes with some software. The software is Windows only, but if you happen to be using Windows it provides a nice interface into all the FiT 300′s settings.
Configuration |
System Information |
The Axus FiT 300 comes with several accessories, which include a USB and eSATA cable, external SATA connector in case your computer doesn’t have an eSATA port, and more than enough screws so you can attach your hard drives to the drive trays. Even though none of these items would be hard (or expensive) to get, it is nice when a company thinks of the little things and includes them with their products.
Accessories |
Performance
Now that we have talked about the design of the FiT 300 we need to talk about how it performs.
However, before we can test the performance we have to install the drives and setup a RAID. Since the FiT 300 supports several different RAID levels I wanted to test a few to see how they performed.
Setting up a RAID can be done with the software or by using the selection switch on the back of the FiT 300. The software takes presidance, so no matter what you have on the switch it can be changed by using the software.
The software is very easy to use. When the software is first started, the number of installed drives are shown. There is also a list of all the available drive configurations, which includes all the RAID levels. The configurations that do not apply are grayed out. As you can see in my images RAID 10 is grayed out.
So for my first test I choose RAID 0. Setting up the RAID was really easy, all I had to do was select RAID 0 on the left side and then click Apply. After a few minutes the changes were complete and it was ready to be used.
Raid 0 |
Raid 0 Setup |
Raid 0 |
To test the FiT 300 I ran a program called Disk Thruput Tester. This program creates and transfers large files. According to this program the Axus FiT 300 achieved a write speed of 142 MB/S and a read Speed of 147 MB/S. In my opinion this is really good.
RAID 0 Speed |
The next test is with RAID 3. With RAID 3 the Axus FiT 300 achieved a write speed of 139 MB/S and a read Speed of 146 MB/S. Again, these speeds are really good.
RAID 3 Speed |
My final test is with RAID 5. With RAID 5 the Axus FiT 300 achieved a write speed of 140 MB/S and a read Speed of 145 MB/S. Which finishes up my testes with great speeds. When compared to my last enclosure this one is much faster.
RAID 5 Speed |
Warranty
The Axus FiT 300 comes with a 2 year warranty on the main enclosure. The power supply and power adapter come with a 1 year warranty. The other accessories and mechanical parts do not have a warranty. In my opinion, this is not a very good warranty, with no moving parts the Axus FiT 300 should come with a lifetime warranty. You can find out more about their warranty processes on their website (http://www.axus.com.tw/warranty.htm)
Support is provided by the reseller and not by Axus. Depending on where in the world you live they may have more than one to choose from. However, in North America they only have one (PC Pitstop). I don’t have any experience with that company so I cannot comment on their service.
Conclusion
Despite the rather wimpy warranty the Axus FiT 300 worked without any problems at all. In fact, I had a hard time finding ways that it could be improved. Right now the FiT 300 is not available for sale, but Axus says the MSRP will be $249. This is actually a really good price considering all the features you get. If you are looking for an external enclosure with a pluthera of features then I can really recommend the Axus FiT 300.
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