OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 User Manual

ThunderBay Flex 8
Introduction
4
1.6 Usage Notes
- U.2 drives supported only in the top 4 drive bays. The left-most bay provides x4 PCIe lanes for
maximum performance; the remaining three provide x1 lanes each.
- 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA drives accepted in all 8 bays.
- Front USB ports can connect at up to 10Gbps even though they are Type-A ports (USB 3.2 Gen 2).
- Thunderbolt device chains can support up to six Thunderbolt devices.
- By using the DisplayPort feature, the overall performance of the drive may decrease somewhat, as the
DisplayPort shares bandwidth with the Thunderbolt 3 ports. The same is true if you connect a display
to one of the available Thunderbolt 3 ports (this can be done with either a native Thunderbolt 3 display
or with a Thunderbolt 3 display adapter).
- Thunderbolt 3 is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt, but speeds can be
impacted depending on where in the chain a device is connected. If mixing Thunderbolt 3 with
Thunderbolt 2 and/or Thunderbolt devices, use the device order shown below, if possible. Computer >
Thunderbolt 3 devices > Thunderbolt 2 devices > Thunderbolt devices.
- SAS drives – Use of SAS drives requires the installation of a PCIe SAS controller (sold separately).
- To ensure no data is lost during normal use, always eject or unmount the corresponding disk(s) from
your operating system before powering off the device. Several options are provided below for Mac.
- Drag the icon for the disk you wish to unmount to the trash can; OR
- Right-click the disk icon on the desktop, then click “Eject”; OR
- Highlight the disk on your Desktop and press Command-E.
1.7 OWC Dock Ejector
This application safely ejects all drives connected to the ThunderBay Flex 8 with a single click, adding peace of
mind to fast-paced workows. To install this app, please follow the steps below.
- Download the installer le: download.owcdigital.com/dockejector/mac
- Launch the installer and follow the prompts. No restart is required.
- Once the app is running an icon like the one shown below will appear in the macOS menubar
- To learn more about OWC Dock Ejector please visit: go.owcdigital.com/dockejector.

OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 Specifications

General

Fan diameter	120 mm
Product type	HDD/SSD enclosure
Certification	CE, FCC, VCCI, RCM, BSMI
On/off switch	Yes
Product color	Black
Number of fans	1 fan(s)
Operating altitude	-304.8 - 3048 m
Storage temperature (T-T)	-40 - 65 °C
Operating temperature (T-T)	10 - 35 °C
Storage relative humidity (H-H)	5 - 95 %
Operating relative humidity (H-H)	8 - 90 %
RAID levels	0, 0+1, 1, 4, 5, JBOD
Storage drive size	2.5/3.5 \
Compatible memory cards	CFexpress, SD
Installed storage drive type	HDD+SSD
Total installed storage capacity	134000 GB
Number of storage drives supported	8
Supported storage drive interfaces	SAS, Serial ATA
Chipset	Thunderbolt: Intel JHL7440, PCIe Switch: ASMedia ASM-2824, USB, Controller: Genesys Logic GL-3590
Data transfer rate	40 Gbit/s
AC adapter frequency	50 - 60 Hz
Power consumption (max)	450 W
AC adapter input current	7 A
AC adapter input voltage	100 - 240 V
AC adapter output current	37 A
AC adapter output voltage	12 V
USB connector type	USB Type-A, USB Type-C
Thunderbolt 3 ports quantity	2
Mac operating systems supported	Mac OS X 10.15 Catalina, Mac OS X 10.15.3 Catalina, Mac OS X 11.0 Big Sur, Mac OS X 12.0 Monterey, Mac OS X 13.0 Ventura

Weight and Dimensions

Depth	390 mm
Width	149 mm
Height	349 mm
Weight	13900 g