Only a company like LaCie could turn the most mundane of product categories—a backup RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) storage device—into something that's not only practical, but borderline sexy and fun to use. Think I'm kidding? Check out LaCie's new 2big Triple, a beautifully crafted 2-disk RAID that will look good on your desktop while providing you with a safe and easy way to back up your photos.

Designed by Neil Poulton, a Scottish-born industrial stylist who's behind the tastefully contoured look of several of LaCie's products, the 2big Triple is made of attractive brushed silver metal that serves as a heat sink to cool the device naturally. Even when the RAID was working hard copying over my files—which it does through a choice of two Firewire 800, one Firewire 400, or one USB 2.0 ports—I was pleasantly surprised that it was just lukewarm to the touch. The 2big Triple also has a built-in thermoregulated fan that generally stays pretty quiet. (Though for some reason it ran slightly louder when I hooked it up to my MacBook via USB 2.0 versus Firewire.)

Weighing 5.73 pounds, the 2big Triple has a rock-solid overall build but doesn't look or feel obtrusive and is easy to reposition on your desk. A metal footplate below the RAID keeps it in place though there's also a rack-mounted option if you want to stack it in a more discreet location.

The benefit of a RAID versus a single disk external drive is that it gives you the option of redundant storage, which, for my money, is one of the safest ways to back up your work. If one hard drive goes down, you always have another.

I tried out the 2 terabyte (tb) configuration ($940)—it's also offered in 1 gb ($410) and 1.5 tb ($620) versions—and each 1 tb 3.5-inch SATA II drive comes locked in securely in the back of the RAID. If you need to swap one out, all you have to do is turn the lock on back with a key or a coin, pull out the old drive and slide in a new one.



Safe Rather Than Sorry

One of the most important things you'll do while setting up the 2big Triple is to decide which RAID configuration you want. Though it comes configured in the Fast (RAID 0) mode, which links both disks into one, my advice is to go with the Safe (RAID 1) set-up, in which disk 1 is mirrored on disk 2 so you get a double back-up. (Hard drives do go down sometimes!) Even the 1TB model will still give you 500 gb of storage in Safe mode.

Changing the RAID configuration is done by adjusting a rotary switch on back between the four configurations: RAID 0 (Fast), RAID 1 (Safe), JBOD (two independent drives), or Big (two drives combined). To change the switch you have to stick a small screwdriver into the slot and twist it until the arrow settles on the right spot. In future versions of this product I'd definitely recommend including some kind of tiny screwdriver with the 2big Triple since some people may not have one that small handy. (I had to dig out an old Swiss army knife.) I'd also make the switch lock in more securely to each setting. In the current version, it feels loose and it's hard to tell if you've picked the right RAID configuration.

With my 2big Triple set to Safe mode, I connected it via Firewire to my laptop, fiipped the power switch on the back of the RAID, and the device's Cyclops-like button in front began fiashing between blue and red as the fan inside roared to life. It's a cool effect and while it might not serve much of a purpose, it definitely wakes you up and gets you ready to start backing up your files.

The 2big Triple appeared as a single drive on my desktop, and backup can either be done automatically via the included Retrospect software or by manually dragging files over. Transfer speeds were fast—averaging approximately 90-100 megabytes per second using Firewire 800, 45-50 mb/s using Firewire 400, and about 50-60 using USB 2.0. In no time at all I had double backed up most of the photos on my hard drive.

I was not as thrilled with the device's Shortcut button, which I initially couldn't get to work properly when the 2big Triple was hooked up to my laptop via Firewire. The button—which is that same blue glowing bulb on the front I mentioned earlier—is designed to automatically launch either the Retrospect backup software or an application of your choice when you press it. When I connected the 2big Triple by Firewire to both a Macbook (Firewire 400) and to a Macbook Pro (Firewire 400 and 800), the button only worked some of the time and the drive didn't always show up in the LaCie Shortcut Button drives list. Curiously, this problem didn't occur when I connected via USB 2.0.

The problem appears to be related to an early version of the LaCie Shortcut Button software. When I upgraded to version 1.2 (9), the Shortcut button worked fine for Firewire 400 and 800.



The Bottom Line

Despite its erratic shortcut button, I found the LaCie 2big Triple to be one of the best backup solutions on the market today. Since the 2 tb model I tried out is pricey—and you may not need all that backup space—I'd recommend considering a less expensive, lower capacity model, which will still give you plenty of storage space even in the mirrored Safe mode.

Best of all, if you use the 2big Triple with the fun—though admittedly cheesy—new Time Machine backup program that's part of the Apple Leopard (10.5) operating system, you might find that backing up your work isn't such a chore after all.



LaCie 2big Triple

www.lacie.com

Pros: A safe and easy-to-use redundant storage solution; attractive and practical industrial design stays cool while internal fan keeps quiet; very fast transfer speeds

Cons: Buggy short-cut feature; tricky-to-use RAID configuration switch; pricey

Price: $940