Review on Highpoint RocketStor 6114V Raid 5 USB 3.1 Gen 2 4-Bay Storage Enclosure by Edward Freeland

First RAID user - very happy with this product! Around the fall of last year, I started looking for a backup solution with more than 1 KB of memory. I am a very prolific amateur filmmaker with limited skills so as you can imagine there is never enough storage space. I had outgrown the collection of USB docks/SATA drives I had relied on for years and needed something more centralized and durable. There are many "RAID boxes" out there for this type of use and price, but the Rocketstor 6411V seemed like a good buy in terms of speed and value. The positive feedback from Anandtech, noting good performance and easy setup, didn't bother. My current setup is based around a gaming motherboard (Aorus 7) and has multiple USB 3.0 and 3.1 ports, so this model worked well. on most turrets. Everything I needed was already in the box, except hard drives (I always had the popular Iron Wolf) and a screwdriver. Physically installing the hard drives into the bays was the hardest part of setting up this thing (not hard at all, that is). The software wasn't included, but it's easy to download and install in less than a minute. Windows (10) noticed the device as soon as I plugged it in and I just proceeded with the download - pretty normal. The RAID manager has an installer, so that's not a problem either. Creating the array was actually the easiest part. Once you launch the interface, all you have to do is select a few options - choose your RAID type, select your drives, and click OK. That's it - done. Windows saw the new drive, I formatted/partitioned it and was ready to go. The speed is a big step up from the USB stick docks I've used. This was not surprising when using RAID 5, but was also true when using separate hard drives (RAID software calls this mode "JBOD"). I read a previous review with comments about hard drives disappearing after a reboot or when the other is disconnected. Luckily I didn't come across this and after 3 weeks with RAID 5 everything still works. The RAID array is treated like any other drive during boot/reboot. If you need something quick and easy to set up, the 6114V is a good option.