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OWC ThunderBay Flex 8

Flexible 8-Bay Storage + 8-Port Connectivity + PCIe Expansion

The Industry’s First Thunderbolt All-in-wonder

Tame your workflow with this highly configurable productivity platform for digital imaging, VFX, video production, and video editing professionals. With unrivaled Flexibility, you can choose drive type(s), enjoy docking convenience, and expand your capabilities with PCIe cards.

3.5/2.5-Inch

8

Drive Bays

Connections

Ports

8

Dock + 85W Charging

Virtually

Limitless

Capacity

Up To

MB/s

2750

Drive Bays

X4 Lane

PCIe

Drive Bays

Advanced

RAID

Options

Flexible

SATA/SAS

Performance

Future Forward

U.2/M.2

Capable

OWC ThunderBay Flex 8

Flexible 8-Bay Storage + 8-Port Connectivity + PCIe Expansion

The Industry’s First Thunderbolt 3 All-in-
wonder

Tame your workflow with this highly configurable productivity platform for digital imaging, VFX, video production, and video editing professionals. With unrivaled Flexibility, you can choose drive type(s), enjoy docking convenience, and expand your capabilities with PCIe cards.

3.5/2.5-Inch

8

Drive Bays

Connections

Ports

8

Dock + 85W Charging

Virtually

Limitless

Capacity

Up To

MB/s

2750

Drive Bays

X4 Lane

PCIe

Drive Bays

Advanced

RAID

Options

Flexible

SATA/SAS

Performance

Future Forward

U.2/M.2

Capable

ThunderBay Flex 8

DIY Enclosure

with SoftRAID

Incredibly powerful, easy-to-use RAID management and protection.

Only

$2,704.99
Learn More

ThunderBay Flex 8

DIY Enclosure

with Hardware RAID

Hardware RAID card installed in PCIe slot and preconfigured in RAID 5.

Only

$4,099.99
Learn More
Learn More

ThunderBay Flex 8

8 x HDD

Maximum Capacity

Ideal for taming the voracious drive space appetite of RAW, 4K, large format, and VR workflows. Arrives pre-set with RAID 5 speed and protection. Plus, select a recommended PCIe card or add your own.

From

ThunderBay Flex 8

4 x SSD + 4 x HDD

Maximum Flexibility

Get the best of both worlds: a blazing-fast, high-capacity SSD RAID 0 project drive for large-format, multi-stream workflows along with the added long-term storage capacity of an HDD RAID 5. Plus, select a recommended PCIe card or add your own.

From

ThunderBay Flex 8

1 x SSD + 7 x HDD

Maximum Workflow

Ingest and edit live on a hyper-fast U.2 SSD or use the drive as a swappable transport for fast lab processing while being able to edit and store entire projects on the ultra-capacity HDD RAID 5 array. Plus, select a recommended PCIe card or add your own.

From

ThunderBay Flex 8

4 x SSD + 7 x HDD

Maximum Shuttle Workflow

Featuring an OWC U2 Shuttle with four NVMe M.2 drives in one bay, you can RAID them to ingest and edit live with incredible performance. Then use the U2 Shuttle as a transport drive for lab processing. Edit and store entire projects on the ultra-capacity HDD RAID 5 array. Plus, select a recommended PCIe card or add your own.

From

Flexible storage

Eight Universal 3.5/2.5-inch Drive Bays

Use SATA/SAS1 and U.2/M.22 NVMe drives for up to 144TB of capacity and real-world speeds up to 2750MB/s.

Future-Ready

The top four bays can utilize U.2 SSDs...the emerging M&E industry storage standard.

Powerfully Easy RAID

Create, manage, and monitor advanced RAID sets with SoftRAID, the world's most advanced RAID management solution with easy setup, e-notifications, and drive integrity monitoring.

Flexible storage

Eight Universal 3.5/2.5-inch Drive Bays

Use SATA/SAS1 and U.2/M.22 NVMe drives for up to 144TB of capacity and real-world speeds up to 2750MB/s.

Future-Ready

The top four bays can utilize U.2 SSDs...the emerging M&E industry storage standard.

Powerfully Easy RAID

Create, manage, and monitor advanced RAID sets with SoftRAID, the world's most advanced RAID management solution with easy setup, e-notifications, and drive integrity monitoring.

Docking Flexible

Connect More

Convenient front mounted USB-C and (2) USB-A 10Gb/s ports for peripherals and mobile devices.

See More

DisplayPort 1.4 for connecting up to an 8K display3

Fast Media Ingest 

Frontside SD 4.0 and CFexpress card readers with up to 985MB/s speed

Flexpandable for Unique Needs

Do More

A second Thunderbolt 3 port4 for daisy-chaining devices or additional display(s).

Play Your Card

PCIe x16 connector/x4 lane slot for audio/video capture, networking, SSD storage, hardware RAID card, or I/O card

Flex Your Way Through Every Workflow

Whether you call it a workflow workhorse, a productivity platform, or a configurable command center, one description of the ThunderBay Flex 8 says it best. It’s a groundbreaking workflow solution for digital imaging, VFX, video production, and video editing professionals from the world’s leading Thunderbolt accessory manufacturer.

Whether you call it a workflow workhorse, a productivity platform, or a configurable command center, one description of the ThunderBay Flex 8 says it best. It’s a groundbreaking workflow solution for digital imaging, VFX, video production, and video editing professionals from the world’s leading Thunderbolt accessory manufacturer.

See your work in greater detail by adding up to an 8K display via a built-in DisplayPort 1.4 connection. Ingest hi-res images and video via front-side SD 4.0 and CFexpress card readers. And when you want to expand your desktop capabilities, there’s a PCIe slot waiting for your specific project needs.

ThunderBay Flex 8 is the one Thunderbolt 3 desktop device that rules them all. With an irresistible economy of scale, this consolidated solution is ideal for anyone waiting for the right moment to invest in Thunderbolt technology.

Flex Your Way
Through Every Workflow

Whether you call it a workflow workhorse, a productivity platform, or a configurable command center, one description of the ThunderBay Flex 8 says it best. It’s a groundbreaking workflow solution for digital imaging, VFX, video production, and video editing professionals from the world’s leading Thunderbolt accessory manufacturer.

Whether you call it a workflow workhorse, a productivity platform, or a configurable command center, one description of the ThunderBay Flex 8 says it best. It’s a groundbreaking workflow solution for digital imaging, VFX, video production, and video editing professionals from the world’s leading Thunderbolt accessory manufacturer.

See your work in greater detail by adding up to an 8K display via a built-in DisplayPort 1.4 connection. Ingest hi-res images and video via front-side SD 4.0 and CFexpress card readers. And when you want to expand your desktop capabilities, there’s a PCIe slot waiting for your specific project needs.

ThunderBay Flex 8 is the one Thunderbolt 3 desktop device that rules them all. With an irresistible economy of scale, this consolidated solution is ideal for anyone waiting for the right moment to invest in Thunderbolt technology.

NVME. PCIE.

What’s it mean to me?

At the heart of the ThunderBay Flex 8 capabilities are two cutting-edge technology standards: NVMe and PCIe. Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) optimizes the performance of modern flash technology over the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) standard. It enables significantly faster SSD performance with a more direct and optimized path to a computer’s processor.

Tying both of these technologies together is the Thunderbolt 3 interface which uses the PCIe bus. This interface offers the fastest data transfers possible on a single cable between computers and peripherals like storage solutions, docks, and expansion devices while also supplying 85W of power to keep your laptop ready to go at a moment’s notice.

UP TO

2750

MB/S

PERFORMANCE

The Future Standard of Storage Available
Today

Right out of the packaging, all eight bays can utilize SATA 6Gb/s 2.5-inch SSDs or 3.5-inch HDDs. To take advantage of 40Gb/s PCIe technology, the top four bays are NVMe U.2 SSD ready. These emerging super-fast SSDs enable ThunderBay Flex 8 to meet the future storage needs of content creators and video production pros.

Muscle-Flexing Data Performance

Are you a video pro working with 4K/8K and even Phantom high-speed files? The ThunderBay Flex 8 offers a variety of drive configurations that deliver real-world read/write speeds of 2750MB/s that saturate the Thunderbolt 3 speed threshold. Try any of these options:

  • A single U.2 NVMe SSD in Bay A
  • Multiple U.2 SSDs installed in top four bays (A-D) in RAID 0
  • Six or more SATA SSDs in any bays in RAID 0
  • Swap out the built-in SATA drive controller card with a SATA/SAS hardware RAID card and configure 8 x SATA/SAS drives in hardware RAID 0

Done with the drives but need the docking connectivity?

Eject the ThunderBay Flex 8 drives and any external drives in a single click with the free OWC Dock Ejector app. It ensures all data has been written before any drive is unmounted to protect against data loss. It will even warn you from accidentally ejecting an in-use drive

Docking Flexibility

A virtual buffet of productivity-enhancing possibilities awaits you with the docking connections built into ThunderBay Flex 8.
Power your notebook with up to 85W power delivery while capturing multi-stream hi-res footage at full frame rate. Connect
audio and video mixers, digital camera, keyboards, and other peripherals and charge mobile devices via one USB-C and two
USB-A 10Gb/s ports. Ingest and work with 4/8K RAW video and RAW photo files immediately at speeds up to 985MB/s with
frontside SD 4.0 and CFexpress card readers. Add more viewing space with up to an 8K monitor via the DisplayPort 1.4
interface. And if all that’s not enough to satisfy your project needs, daisy-chain up to five additional Thunderbolt 3 devices!

Flexpandable For Unique Needs

By removing the enclosure’s side panel, you can expand your capabilities by installing a half-length, full-height, single-width
expansion card in the PCIe x16 connector/x4 lanes slot. Add a 4K video capture card for direct ingest of multi-stream high-res
footage. Record high-quality tracks with an audio card and then edit and archive tracks.

Create a powerful file server with a high-speed networking card. By replacing the built-in SATA drive controller with a SATA or
SAS RAID card, you can turn ThunderBay Flex 8 into a hardware RAID storage solution while keeping a PCIe slot open for other
cards.

A Flextraordinary Platform

ThunderBay Flex 8 is a user-configurable platform that you can use to launch into
projects with a new realm of time and money-saving results. To get you started, we suggest three sample configurations that make the most of the extraordinary highlights that have made OWC solutions the choice of performance enthusiasts and cinematographers around the world:

  • Plug and play with no drivers needed and Thunderbolt cable included
  • Free lifetime expert support
  • Worry-free ownership with up to 5 Year OWC Limited Warranty5

RAID Made Easy

Harness the full capability of your OWC drive array with the included SoftRAID XT, the most powerful, intuitive RAID management software on the market for macOS and Windows. SoftRAID’s RAID creation and management technology has been finely tuned to perfection with over 20 years of development to provide rock solid protection of your data and optimize drive performance.

Packed with Features

SoftRAID XT provides an unbeatable combination of speed, protection, and compatibility:

  • Advanced: Create RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) arrays1
  • Protected: SoftRAID Monitor constantly watches your disks and alerts you if problems are detected
  • Validated: Volume validation ensures sectors can be read and parity is correct
  • Certified: Checks disks before use to ensure they are safe for data storage
  • Vigilant: Error prediction helps protect against unexpected failure
  • Universal: Move SoftRAID arrays seamlessly between Mac and PC2 with built-in OWC MacDrive technology

Beyond Hardware RAID

SoftRAID provides a level of storage performance that you simply can’t get with hardware RAID. Software RAID gives you increased power and control over your RAID drives and disks that hardware RAID can’t deliver and doesn’t lock you into technology that you can’t upgrade or expand.

Dive deeper into the benefits of SoftRAID »

    • RAID 4/1+0 (10) is available for Mac only at this time.
    • SoftRAID serial numbers work on both Mac and Windows. SoftRAID is licensed per computer. In order to use SoftRAID on multiple computers, you will need a unique, valid license per computer. Additional licenses can be purchased anytime.

A Protective, Economical Post-Production Solution

Sending a drive from set to post-production typically entails tedious and time-consuming drive enclosure disassembly to access the storage drive or costly shipping of the entire enclosure to the post lab. But ThunderBay Flex 8 offers a flexible option.

By installing an OWC U.2 NVMe Interchange System carrier tray (sold separately) with a built-in U.2 connector into a ThunderBay Flex 8 drive tray, you can protect the U.2 SSD drive’s connector from repeated install/removal wear for improved drive longevity and investment. When done with your shoot, just ship the lightweight protective carrier and drive to the lab where the carrier can be installed into an OWC Helios 3S equipped with the OWC Interchange System. It’s a complete solution to safeguard your data while lowering shipping costs.

End-to-End Workflow Possibilities

Flex On-Set

  • OWC Interchange System Carrier Tray with SSD
  • OWC ThunderBay Flex 8

Protects U.2 SSD drive connectors from install/removal wear to improve drive longevity and extend your drive ROI.

Transit To Post

  • OWC Interchange System Carrier Tray with SSD
  • Small and economical. Ship only what you need.

Lightweight protective carrier safeguards data while lowering shipping costs vs shipping the entire enclosure.

Post-Production Lab

  • OWC Interchange System Carrier Tray with SSD
  • OWC Helios 3S (sold separately)
  • OWC Interchange System (sold separately)

Desktop U.2 NVMe SSD swappable storage for fast processing of footage.

Thunderbolt Made Easy

We make it easy to choose the right gear. Our Thunderbolt Certified products offer the same performance and functionality whether they are Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4. And if you’re rocking a beloved Thunderbolt 2 machine, we offer an adapter so you can plug into our universe of award-winning solutions. No hassles, no confusion. That’s the OWC Difference.

Apple Mac models with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt ports can be connected using an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (available separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.

Your Digital Life...
Protected for Free

Your data is irreplaceable, and we take protecting it seriously. That's why this OWC Solution includes Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office – the world's only combination backup and antimalware solution that keeps your data protected from accidents, failures, and malware/ransomware attacks.

  • Complete Backup And Fast Recovery - Quickly restore your files or entire system at any time.
  • Easy Disk Cloning and Full Image Backup - Just two clicks to start a full disk image backup.
  • Cloud, Local or Hybrid Cloud Backup - Back up locally, to the cloud, or both. With 250GB of cloud        storage, it’s your choice.
  • Integrated Protection from Malware - Behavioral heuristics stop ransomware and cryptojacking.

Learn more about Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office »

Learn More About U.2 Technology
Benefits on the Rocket Yard Blog

  • What is an NVMe U.2 SSD and why is it important?
  • How U.2 Drives can Revolutionize your DIT Workflow
  • The Benefits of Using U.2 Drives for Data Backups
  • U.2 vs. M.2 Drives: Which is Best for your IT Workflow?
  • U.2 SSDs: Blazing-Fast High-Capacity Adaptable Storage
  • What is the Best U.2 SSD for Gaming?

Learn More About U.2 Technology Benefits
on the Rocket Yard
Blog

  • What is an NVMe U.2 SSD and why is it important?
  • How U.2 Drives can Revolutionize your DIT Workflow
  • The Benefits of Using U.2 Drives for Data Backups
  • U.2 vs. M.2 Drives: Which is Best for your IT Workflow?
  • U.2 SSDs: Blazing-Fast High-Capacity Adaptable Storage
  • What is the Best U.2 SSD for Gaming?

Stabilize Thunderbolt and USB-C Cables with OWC ClingOn

Active workspaces expose gear to bumps, shoves, or even the random tail wag from a pet. OWC ClingOn custom cable stabilizers (sold separately) screw into the OWC ThunderBay’s housing to reduce – if not completely eliminate – cable strain on Thunderbolt and USB-C connections so you
can work with confidence even in the highest traffic environments.

Professional Grade = Ready to Work

We understand having confidence in gear reliability is paramount to creative professionals. That’s why every ThunderBay undergoes OWC's multi-hour "burn-in" performance certification prior to shipping. This ensures your ThunderBay arrives operating properly and immediately ready for demanding use.

OWC Thunderbolt Cable Included

OWC ThunderBay solutions come with a certified 0.7M OWC Thunderbolt (USB-C) Cable. But if your workflow demands a different length to make the connection, OWC Thunderbolt (USB-C) Cables are the perfect choice.

OWC, Trusted by Pros & Enthusiasts the World Over

We build our hardware to the highest standards of reliability and performance. Because 100% reliability is always the goal, we rigorously quality test and back our hardware with up to a 5 Year OWC Limited Warranty and award-winning customer support.

Learn More
  • SAS drives are supported with SAS drive controller card (available separately).
  • Up to four U.2 drives are supported. M.2 drives are also supported with M.2 to U.2 adapter (available separately).
  • Full DisplayPort 1.4 capabilities depends on host computer support of DisplayPort 1.4 specification through its Thunderbolt 3 connection, host computer GPU capabilities, and connecting cable capabilities.
  • Apple Mac models with Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt ports can be connected using an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (available separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.
  • 5 Year OWC Limited Warranty for Enterprise Hard Drive and SSD solutions. 3 Year OWC Limited Warranty for enclosure only.
  • The LED function of this product will be disabled and not function if used with a 4TB and/or 8TB OWC U2 Shuttle (OWCU2SHUTTLE04), (OWCU2SHUTTLE08).