AIO's Thunder 3 Quad Mini: A Compact and Powerful Storage Solution

The Thunder 3 Quad Mini is an all-in-one enclosure designed to house multiple SSDs, allowing users to upgrade their storage capabilities with ease. This compact device features four drive bays, each capable of accommodating a 2.5-inch SSD. The drives are secured in place using included screws, eliminating the need for tools to remove them once installed.

In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to install and utilize the Thunder 3 Quad Mini. We have chosen three 1TB SSDs for our test unit, which should provide more than enough storage space for most users. To begin, we simply screw in each of the screws, securing the drives in place. For now, we are only using three drives, but a fourth drive is available to be installed later.

The Thunder 3 Quad Mini features a sleek and compact design, making it an ideal solution for those seeking a portable storage option. Its small size allows it to fit on most desks, including our test subject - a mid-2017 5K iMac. The device also boasts two Thunderbolt 3 ports, one of which is used to power the enclosure.

To use the Thunder 3 Quad Mini, simply plug in the power connector and then connect the Thunderbolt 3 cable to the first port on the device. The orange light will indicate a power connection, and once established, it will turn blue to signal a successful connection. We have tested this process with our iMac and observed the expected results.

One of the key features of the Thunder 3 Quad Mini is its ability to be used as a boot drive for Macs. In our experience, using a solid-state drive as a boot device significantly speeds up the system's performance. To configure the drives in a RAID zero setup, we utilized the Mac OS Disc Utility.

Setting up software raid and using it as a boot drive has several caveats, however. One of the main concerns is that you cannot easily use the built-in Mac OS fileVault encryption feature without jumping through hoops. This may be a drawback for some users concerned about data security.

Another advantage of the Thunder 3 Quad Mini is its ability to operate in quiet mode, eliminating fan noise and producing zero dB operation. This makes it an excellent solution for those requiring a quiet environment, such as audio engineers or video producers. However, it's essential to note that this feature is more suitable for solid-state drives, which generate less heat than mechanical hard disks.

The Thunder 3 Quad Mini also features daisy-chaining capabilities, allowing users to connect additional devices via the second Thunderbolt 3 port. This provides flexibility and convenience for those seeking to expand their storage or connectivity options.

In conclusion, the AIO Thunder 3 Quad Mini is an excellent storage solution for those in need of a compact and powerful device. Its compact design makes it suitable for most desks, while its two Thunderbolt 3 ports provide ample connectivity options. With its ability to be used as a boot drive and its quiet operation mode, this enclosure is well-suited for various applications.

**Availability and Pricing**

The Thunder 3 Quad Mini is available on the market, with a starting price of $329. While it may not be suitable for all users due to its limited power delivery capabilities when paired with certain devices, we believe it provides an excellent solution for those seeking a compact and powerful storage option. We look forward to seeing more reviews and feedback from users who have experience with this device.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhandson with the aido Thunder 3 quad mini portable 4 based storage for your Mac let's have a look akido Thunder 3 quad mini is a thunderbolt 3 enabled external stor solution for your Mac and it works with 2.5 in hard drives or more preferably solid state drives and because of its form factor which is extremely small you'll find that this works great with the MacBook Pro but I like the fact that it works great with my iMac because the new iMacs are thunderbow 3 enabled so inside the box you'll find some documentation of course instructions some stickers and then you'll see the Thunder 3 quad mini along with another box that contains all the accessories like your power supply the included Thunderbolt 3 cable some screws and some cable management tags now the quad mini is inside this little bag and as you can see it's really really really small this is a very very tiny device I just want to emphasize that and you have four drives that can fit in this thing at the same time which is really awesome so here is the design it is sort of a space gray color and at the bottom of the device on the front panel you see the four activity light indicators you also see the AO logo and the Thunderbolt 3 Logo now on the rear of the device you have the fan you also have a DC input and you have a couple of Thunderbolt 3 ports a fan switch and a display port output that can support a 4K mod monitor at up to 60 HZ now on the bottom of the device you see this little latch at the top that actually releases the front panel so that you can access the drives inside of the aidio Thunder quad mini so we're just going to pop it open like that remove the front panel like this and there you go there's all four drives and those drives simply just slide out so you won't need any tools to actually remove a drive once inside you will need to however Mount each 2.5 in Drive using the included screws so that's what I'm going to do right now I'm going to use these three sandis 1 tbte drives uh these are very very good drives here and we're just going to Simply screw in each of the screws so it looks something like this so I'm only using three drives in this case I do have a fourth drive but that's currently installed in my mining rig so I'm going to replace that with a smaller drive and reclaim that 1 TB drive so I can use in the Thunder 3 quad but for now three should be perfectly fine to Showcase how this thing works so I'm going to replace the front panel just snaps in place like that okay so here is my desk and I think this thing is going to fit in perfectly on the desk with the 5K iMac and the reason why I'm so high on the mid 2017 5K iMac is because it features Thunderbolt 3 as you can see there's two Thunderbolt 3 ports built right in to the chassis now aidio does include a thunderbolt 3 cable but it's just way too short for any real practical application in my opinion unless you you have this thing right next to your MacBook Pro or right next to your iMac I definitely recommend getting a longer Thunderbolt 3 cable and that's what I'm going to use right there so all you need to do is plug in the power connector and then plug in the Thunderbolt 3 cable to the first Thunderbolt 3 port on the aido Thunder 3 quad mini so you can see the orange light is own indicating that there is a power connection and that orange light will turn blue once there is an established Thunderbolt 3 connection so I just turned my iMac on you saw the little logo turn blue and it's ready to go so I'm actually using this as a boot drive for my 5K iMac and the reason why I'm doing that I'll explain in a future video and post but basically I have the entry-level 5K iMac which has a slow Fusion drive and using this as a boot Drive really speeds up your iMac uh as you're going to see here so I use the Mac OS disc utility to set up these three drives in a raid zero configuration which obviously is going to boost the speeds of both read and right so if I had a fourth drive it would be even faster the maximum transfer rate for a stripe rate set with four ssds is about 1375 megabytes per second really really fast but as you can see it's no slouch right now even with just three drives installed now there are some caveats associated with setting up a software raid and using it as a boot drive one of the main caveats is that you can't use the built-in Mac OS file Vault encryption VAR very easily without jumping through a bunch of Hoops uh so that is one definite downside if you are concerned about encrypting your data on your main boot drive now as someone who regularly records voiceovers and things of that nature having a quiet environment is essential and this device allows you to turn off the fan for completely silent zero DB operation obviously this is more suited towards solid state drives and not mechanical hard disk which generate more heat you also have the ability to daisy chain to that second Thunderbolt 3 Port so you can connect to a thunderbolt device or a USB 3.1 Gen 2 device or whatever the case may be that provides you with a lot of additional flexibility so aidio notes that the Thunder 3 quad mini is great for the MacBook Pro because of its small size and portability and while that is definitely true it only provides 15 wats of power delivery to the MacBook Pro so it's not going to be able to charge any MacBook at full speed keep that in mind so while the Thunder 3 quad mini no doubt makes for a solid MacBook Pro companion I personally love using it with with my 5K iMac it has a great design it's easy to use it's small and compact it accommodates a large amount of storage space with solid state media so it's great for using as a media storage drive or a very fast backup drive or whatever the case may be you can even use it as a boot drive like I have with my 5K iMac and that's going to be much faster than the internal Fusion Drive included with the base model machine so ladies and gents the Thunder 3 quad Mini starts at 329 and should be available shortly let me know what you think in the comments this is Jeff with 9-5 Machandson with the aido Thunder 3 quad mini portable 4 based storage for your Mac let's have a look akido Thunder 3 quad mini is a thunderbolt 3 enabled external stor solution for your Mac and it works with 2.5 in hard drives or more preferably solid state drives and because of its form factor which is extremely small you'll find that this works great with the MacBook Pro but I like the fact that it works great with my iMac because the new iMacs are thunderbow 3 enabled so inside the box you'll find some documentation of course instructions some stickers and then you'll see the Thunder 3 quad mini along with another box that contains all the accessories like your power supply the included Thunderbolt 3 cable some screws and some cable management tags now the quad mini is inside this little bag and as you can see it's really really really small this is a very very tiny device I just want to emphasize that and you have four drives that can fit in this thing at the same time which is really awesome so here is the design it is sort of a space gray color and at the bottom of the device on the front panel you see the four activity light indicators you also see the AO logo and the Thunderbolt 3 Logo now on the rear of the device you have the fan you also have a DC input and you have a couple of Thunderbolt 3 ports a fan switch and a display port output that can support a 4K mod monitor at up to 60 HZ now on the bottom of the device you see this little latch at the top that actually releases the front panel so that you can access the drives inside of the aidio Thunder quad mini so we're just going to pop it open like that remove the front panel like this and there you go there's all four drives and those drives simply just slide out so you won't need any tools to actually remove a drive once inside you will need to however Mount each 2.5 in Drive using the included screws so that's what I'm going to do right now I'm going to use these three sandis 1 tbte drives uh these are very very good drives here and we're just going to Simply screw in each of the screws so it looks something like this so I'm only using three drives in this case I do have a fourth drive but that's currently installed in my mining rig so I'm going to replace that with a smaller drive and reclaim that 1 TB drive so I can use in the Thunder 3 quad but for now three should be perfectly fine to Showcase how this thing works so I'm going to replace the front panel just snaps in place like that okay so here is my desk and I think this thing is going to fit in perfectly on the desk with the 5K iMac and the reason why I'm so high on the mid 2017 5K iMac is because it features Thunderbolt 3 as you can see there's two Thunderbolt 3 ports built right in to the chassis now aidio does include a thunderbolt 3 cable but it's just way too short for any real practical application in my opinion unless you you have this thing right next to your MacBook Pro or right next to your iMac I definitely recommend getting a longer Thunderbolt 3 cable and that's what I'm going to use right there so all you need to do is plug in the power connector and then plug in the Thunderbolt 3 cable to the first Thunderbolt 3 port on the aido Thunder 3 quad mini so you can see the orange light is own indicating that there is a power connection and that orange light will turn blue once there is an established Thunderbolt 3 connection so I just turned my iMac on you saw the little logo turn blue and it's ready to go so I'm actually using this as a boot drive for my 5K iMac and the reason why I'm doing that I'll explain in a future video and post but basically I have the entry-level 5K iMac which has a slow Fusion drive and using this as a boot Drive really speeds up your iMac uh as you're going to see here so I use the Mac OS disc utility to set up these three drives in a raid zero configuration which obviously is going to boost the speeds of both read and right so if I had a fourth drive it would be even faster the maximum transfer rate for a stripe rate set with four ssds is about 1375 megabytes per second really really fast but as you can see it's no slouch right now even with just three drives installed now there are some caveats associated with setting up a software raid and using it as a boot drive one of the main caveats is that you can't use the built-in Mac OS file Vault encryption VAR very easily without jumping through a bunch of Hoops uh so that is one definite downside if you are concerned about encrypting your data on your main boot drive now as someone who regularly records voiceovers and things of that nature having a quiet environment is essential and this device allows you to turn off the fan for completely silent zero DB operation obviously this is more suited towards solid state drives and not mechanical hard disk which generate more heat you also have the ability to daisy chain to that second Thunderbolt 3 Port so you can connect to a thunderbolt device or a USB 3.1 Gen 2 device or whatever the case may be that provides you with a lot of additional flexibility so aidio notes that the Thunder 3 quad mini is great for the MacBook Pro because of its small size and portability and while that is definitely true it only provides 15 wats of power delivery to the MacBook Pro so it's not going to be able to charge any MacBook at full speed keep that in mind so while the Thunder 3 quad mini no doubt makes for a solid MacBook Pro companion I personally love using it with with my 5K iMac it has a great design it's easy to use it's small and compact it accommodates a large amount of storage space with solid state media so it's great for using as a media storage drive or a very fast backup drive or whatever the case may be you can even use it as a boot drive like I have with my 5K iMac and that's going to be much faster than the internal Fusion Drive included with the base model machine so ladies and gents the Thunder 3 quad Mini starts at 329 and should be available shortly let me know what you think in the comments this is Jeff with 9-5 Mac\n"