QDA-A2MAR

Use two M.2 SATA SSDs in a single 2.5-inch SATA drive bay with RAID support for PC and NAS

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-A2MAR 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-A2MAR. 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.

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  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.

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  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.

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  RAID 0 Mode

  Data is split amongst the drives. RAID 0 provides the fastest performance but does not protect data from drive failure.

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  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 M.2 SSDs instead of a single 2.5-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. The M.2 SSDs also help achieve maximized performance and lower latency, ideal for on-the-fly video editing and server-grade applications.

Note: Computer SATA ports or the USB to SATA adapters/cables that do not support 12V output (+12V_SATA) are not compatible with the QDA-A2MAR. Please consult your computer vendor for the SATA port voltage output before purchasing the QDA-A2MAR.

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-A2MAR. Firmware updates for the QDA-A2MAR 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-A2MAR supports hardware RAID that will not consume CPU resources to help sustain optimal NAS performance. You can install one or more QDA-A2MAR in a NAS to maximize the storage utilization of available 2.5-inch drive bays. The QDA-A2MAR can accommodate two M.2 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 disk health of the QDA-A2MAR 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-A2MAR 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-A2MAR, or one SSD plus one QDA-A2MAR)
4. If a QDA-A2MAR drive fails and needs replaced: you must disable Qtier to make the QDA-A2MAR drive data move to the NAS-based storage pool, and then replace the failed QDA-A2MAR drive.

Read Quick Installation Guide