QNAP 3.5″ SATA to dual 2.5″ SATA drive adapter, up to 9.5mm 2.5″ drive height support, hardware RAID 0/1, JBOD, Individual disk modes – QDA-A2AR
QDA-A2AR
Overview
Features
The QDA-A2AR can accommodate two 2.5-inch SATA drives within a single 3.5-inch SATA drive bay. No software driver is required for the QDA-A2AR, and it can be installed in a PC/workstation (Windows®, Linux®) or QNAP NAS to flexibly add additional hard drives or SSDs to meet various storage needs.
1. Use two 2.5-inch SATA HDDs/SSDs (7mm to 9.5mm high) in a single 3.5-inch drive bay. (HDD/SSD sold separately)
2. Up to 6 Gb/s file transfer speeds. Can be the primary bootable device for PCs.
3. Choose a hardware RAID group with the disk mode switch.
Architecture diagram
Note: The connected drive may not reach its optimal performance due to protocol translation and some overhead.
Supports various RAID levels
The QDA-A2AR supports a variety of RAID configurations. Depending on your requirements, you can use the bundled metal pin as disk mode switch tool to select your ideal RAID mode: Individual, JBOD, RAID 0, or RAID 1. Windows® users can use the QNAP External RAID Manager utility to view the RAID group status and disk health information.
Note:
1. All the drive data will be cleared upon drive initialization or RAID mode switching with the QDA-A2AR. Ensure that all data is backed up beforehand.
2. Window and Linux PC supports all four modes mentioned above. QTS does not support Individual mode.
3. It is recommended that only drives with identical model numbers and capacities are used to create a RAID 0/1 group because the total storage space will be equal to the size of the smallest drive.
4. The SATA controller of the PC must support port multipliers to recognize two drives in the Individual mode configuration. Consult your system provider and install the latest drivers for your SATA controller.
5. Installing a QNAP disk adapter in another QNAP disk adapter is not supported. (e.g. QDA-A2MAR cannot be installed in the QDA-A2AR.)
6. TR-002/TR-004 RAID expansion enclosures do not support QDA-A2AR/QDA-A2MAR.
Individual Mode
A PC that supports SATA port multipliers can connect two SATA drives to a single SATA port, allowing you to independently access each disk as separate storage space.
RAID 1 Mode (Default)
Half of the total storage capacity is used to store data, and the other half keeps a copy of this data. This provides high data protection at the cost of only being able to use half the installed storage space.
RAID 0 Mode
Data is split amongst the drives. RAID 0 provides the fastest performance but does not protect data from drive failure.
JBOD Mode
All the drives are recognized as a single drive. This allows maximal storage utilization but provides no data protection.
Install in a PC/workstation for higher performance or data protection
When using two 2.5-inch drives instead of a single 3.5-inch drive in a PC/workstation (Windows® or Linux®) you can create a RAID 0 for enhanced performance, or RAID 1 to add data redundancy for greater data protection. To deal with tasks that require intensive, fast data transmission, you can install high-speed SATA SSDs to achieve maximized performance and lower latency, ideal for on-the-fly video editing and server-grade applications.
External RAID Manager for Windows users
The QNAP External RAID Manager utility allows Windows® users to view the drive status and RAID information of the QDA-A2AR. Firmware updates for the QDA-A2AR can also be managed with the External RAID Manager utility.
Learn More: External RAID Manager
Install in QNAP NAS for efficient storage or SSD caching
The QDA-A2AR supports hardware RAID that will not consume CPU resources to help sustain optimal NAS performance. You can install one or more QDA-A2AR in a NAS to maximize the storage utilization of 3.5-inch drive bays. The QDA-A2AR can accommodate two SSDs to create an SSD volume for performance-demanding workflows or work in an efficient tiered-storage environment with Qtier. It can also boost IOPS performance when configuring SSD caching. RAID information and drive health of the QDA-A2AR can be monitored through the QTS Storage & Snapshots Manager.
Learn More: Qtier, SSD caching
Note:
1. QTS 4.4.1 / QuTS hero h4.5.1 (or later) is required for the QNAP NAS.
2. QTS / QuTS hero identifies a QDA-A2AR as a single volume (no matter one or two drives installed).
3. When using Qtier in QTS with HDD storage pool in RAID protection (such as RAID 1/5/10), then two SSDs are required in the SSD pool (for example, two QDA-A2AR, or one SSD plus one QDA-A2AR)
4. If a QDA-A2AR drive fails and needs replaced: you must disable Qtier to make the QDA-A2AR drive data move to the NAS-based storage pool, and then replace the failed QDA-A2AR drive.
Short Tech Specification
| 3.5″ SATA to dual 2.5″ SATA drive adapter, up to 9.5mm 2.5″ drive height support, hardware RAID 0/1, JBOD, Individual disk modes |
Detailed Tech Specification
Hardware Specs
Use two 2.5-inch SATA drives in a single 3.5-inch SATA drive bay with RAID support for PC and NAS
| Supported Dirves | 2 x 2.5″ SATA 6Gbps HDD/SSD (up to 9.5 mm in height) |
| Host Interface | SATA 6Gbps |
| Supported Operating Systems | 1. QTS 4.4.1 (or later) 2. Windows: Windows 7, 8.1, 10, Windows Server 2012 R2 3. Ubuntu |
| Dimension | 138.2 × 101.6 × 25.9 mm |
| Weight | 0.15 kg |
| RAID Support | RAID 0, 1 |
| Note | The connected drive may not reach its optimal performance due to protocol translation and some overhead.
All the drive data will be cleared upon drive initialization or RAID mode switching with the QDA-A2AR. Ensure that all data is backed up beforehand. Window and Linux PC supports all four modes mentioned above. QTS does not support Individual mode. It is recommended that only drives with identical model numbers and capacities are used to create a RAID 0/1 group because the total storage space will be equal to the size of the smallest drive. The SATA controller of the PC must support port multipliers to recognize two drives in the Individual mode configuration. Consult your system provider and install the latest drivers for your SATA controller. Installing a QNAP disk adapter in another QNAP disk adapter is not supported. (e.g. QDA-A2MAR cannot be installed in the QDA-A2AR.) TR-002/TR-004 RAID expansion enclosures do not support QDA-A2AR/QDA-A2MAR. QTS identifies the drives in a QDA-A2AR as a single volume. Installing two drives with a RAID 1 configuration for QDA-A2AR is required to use Qtier. If a QDA-A2AR drive fails and needs replaced: you must disable Qtier to make the QDA-A2AR drive data move to the NAS-based storage pool, and then replace the failed QDA-A2AR drive. |
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