During these hectic and strange times, we find ourselves living a completely new reality. For some people that are currently working from home, that basically means finding a new way of running their business. Whether you’re currently working for a major company directly from your home office, running a small business directly from home, or even if you’re a professional content creator during these lock-down days, having a professional-grade external storage solution can help you go a long way. This brings us to the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual w/ 3-Port Hub.
The OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub is a Dual-Drive Hardware RAID Storage Solution that also comes equipped with a 3-Port Powered USB Hub.
This professional-grade external storage solution is designed to handle diverse workflows, while also offering its users up to 32TB of storage capacity plus a built-in high-powered USB hub for accessory connectivity and device charging. All that easily makes it the centerpiece unit of your desktop.
Not only that, but this compact external storage solution comes equipped with literally everything you need to get support your work from home, as it comes ready-to-go to give you its best performance with any USB equipped Mac, PC, or tablet from nearly the last decade. Thanks to its wide compatibility, you don’t need to worry about what system you have. The Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub offers a high-end performance, a large data storage capacity, and hub capability your digital needs.
Now, let’s have a more detailed look at the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub and check everything that this professional-grade external storage solution has to offer.
DESIGN & SPECS
Starting with the unit’s size, the Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub features a very compact design, measuring just 3.3 inches wide by 5.8 inches tall. Thanks to its ultra-compact size, you’re left with more free room on your desk or work area to have an easier time working on your projects.
Not only that, but this high-end and pro-grade external storage solution can also be easily transported and taken with you while you’re on-the-go.
In case you need to take it with on-the-go, both the Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub and any other external drives that you might have connected to it can all be easily safely disconnected and dismounted by simply using OWC’s free-to-download-and-use OWC Dock Ejector App.
This simple App allows you to disconnect both the Mercury Elite Pro Dual and any connected external drives to it all at once with the click of one button.
Working as an ultra-modern plug-and-play pro-grade external storage solution, the Mercury Elite Pro Dual can handle several different workflows. Absolutely no drivers at all are needed to start up the unit, and each package already comes included with several USB Connection Cables so that users can easily set it up within their desk / workspace in order to get it running in just a few minutes.
Not only it this external storage unit superfast, but it also very versatile, as well as super convenient to have around.
Featuring a high-performance at all times, the Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub can offer over 1000MB/s (1GB/s) of data transfer speeds, which basically allows you to transfer the equivalent of an entire DVD in less than 5 seconds, or even transfer around 1,000 photos in just 2 seconds.
Thanks to its high-end performance, you can use the Mercury Elite Pro Dual for backing-up all of your important work / business files, photography files, and all of your audio. Not only that, but you can also have multiple virtual machines stored and ready-to-use. Additionally, the Mercury Elite Pro Dual is also a great tool for any content creator’s video editing needs.
The system’s heat-dissipating aluminum body works together with high-efficiency whisper-quiet cooling fan (found at the back of the unit), and that combination makes this external storage solution one of the best that you can find to work without any distractions whatsoever.
In fact, the system is so quiet that you won’t even notice it’s there, and thanks to its ultra-fast performance, not even the highest data loads will put the system under pressure. Sure enough, older laptops or desktops might struggle a little when transferring tons of data at once, but definitely not this Mercury Elite Pro Dual model.
As mentioned earlier, this pro-grade external storage solution also features a configurable capacity that can go all the way up to 32 TB of high-performance data storage space. While the basic model comes with just 2TB of storage space, the system’s wide configurable storage capacity ensures that you have a viable solution for any of your storage needs.
Specifically for advanced users with particular application requirements, you’ll also be happy to know that this Mercury Elite Pro Dual storage solution also comes equipped with user configurable hardware RAID settings (which are optional to use, of course) for either 0, 1, Span, or Independent Mode Operation.
INTERFACE
Now, moving on to the system’s interface. Starting with the system’s front panel, users can find a set of activity LEDs, which basically offer you an instant status update for all of your drive monitoring needs, thus easily informing you whenever drives are connected or disconnected from the system.
Then, as soon as you have a look at the back-side of the system, you’ll notice its main connectivity panel.
Going from top to bottom of this connectivity panel, there’s a RAID Selector Dial, a Set RAID Button, followed by the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual’s rear-side 3-Port Hub, as well as a Dedicated Security Slot (which can be used to connect a Security Tether to the system), and the system’s DC Input Port (which is used to connect its proprietary power supply).
The OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual’s rear-side 3-Port Hub includes a set of three (x3) USB Connection Ports that can be used to connect high-speed storage with performance of up to 1250MB/s, as well as keyboards, mice, Smartphones, and pretty much any other USB-enabled device that you can think of.
From top to bottom, the system’s USB 3-Port Hub consists of:
- x1 USB 3.2 10Gbps USB-C Host Port, which can be used to connect the system a compatible host computer.
- x1 USB 3.2 10Gbps USB-C Hub Port, which can be used to connect the system to a compatible USB device (up to 3A bus power provided)
- x2 USB 3.2 10Gbps USB Type-A Hub Ports, which can be used to connect the system with up to two (x2) compatible USB devices (up to 900mA bus power per port)
Thanks to that, you can basically connect any USB peripheral or device that you want. If you have a USB-enabled device, chances are that the Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub most likely supports it (compatibility discussed ahead, right in the next section of the article).
Since the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual’s rear-side 3-Port Hub is designed for any modern USB-enabled devices, all of its three (x3) USB Hub Ports are backward compatible, fully powered, and provide full performance.
Because of that, whether you’re looking to connect your keyboard and mouse, a bus-powered or desktop drive, a mixer unit, or even a video-system, you’re always assured to have all of its USB ports working at maximum speed and power.
Lastly, it’s also worth to mention that the system’s three (x3) USB Hub Ports also fully support USB-device-charging, powering, and data syncing for all of your mobile devices, tablets, cameras, headphones and even gaming devices.
COMPATIBILITY
When it comes to the system’s compatibility, the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub is universally compatible with nearly all USB computers from the last decade up to the latest machines.
That basically means that this external storage solution is fully compatible with pretty much any Mac or PC equipped with at least one USB port.
Since this is, as mentioned, a plug-and-play solution, the Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub also comes included with all the cables you need to connect the system to any computer or USB equipped mobile device.
Lastly, it’s also important to point out that you could use this Mercury Elite Pro Dual model to work cross-platform with both Macs and PCs by using OWC’s MacDrive Software. However, keep in mind that this specific software is sold separately.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
Inside each package, users will find: their The OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub unit, as well as one (x1) USB-C to USB-C Connection Cable and one (x1) USB-C to USB-A Connection Cable, the system’s included Power Supply and Power Cable, and a Quick Start Guide.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual with 3-Port Hub is an external Dual-Drive Hardware RAID Storage Solution that features a 3-Port Powered USB Hub, over 1000MB/s (1GB/s) of data transfer speeds, and up to 32TB of storage capacity.
If you’re looking for an high-end and professional-grade external storage solution, this model will simply not disappoint you. This system is great for any one that’s working from home for big companies, for anyone that’s running a small business right from their home and needs a powerful, fast and reliable storage solution, or even for any content creator that needs a powerful data storage system with high data-transfer speeds.
If you’re interested in buying it, each unit starts at $249 specifically for the 2TB solution, but as mentioned earlier, the system’s storage space is available up to 32TB (which will make the price increase just slightly). Furthermore, the Mercury Elite Pro with 3-Port Hub solution is also available as a “DIY, 0GB-storage space”, which basically has you adding your own drives, and that goes for just $149 (this is basically a great deal for anyone that’s just a bit tech savvy and knows how to install a few drives into the system).
Coming together with your purchase, there’s also up to 3 Year OWC Limited Warranty with a 1 Year Level 1 data recovery, as well as lifetime US-based support.
You can order your preferred unit right now, directly from OWC’s official shopping page, which you can access by clicking this link.
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