Thunderbolt (40Gb/s)

ThunderBay 4

Performance and Capacity Perfection for Individual to Studio Content Creators

  • OWC ThunderBay 4 facing right
  • OWC ThunderBay 4 facing right with drive trays
  • OWC ThunderBay 4 rear view
  • OWC ThunderBay 4 facing left
  • OWC ThunderBay 4 with drive trays
  • OWC ThunderBay 4
  • OWC ThunderBay 4
  • OWC ThunderBay 4
  • Work faster: up to 1527MB/s real-world speed to easily handle video editing, audio production, and photo editing, and other bandwidth demanding needs.
  • Work bigger: access, backup, and archive up to 80TB of irreplaceable footage, images, and files.
  • Built for RAID: bundled with OWC SoftRAID; the fastest and most flexible RAID 0/1/4/5/10 tool. Also supports Apple RAID and Microsoft Disk Manager.
  • Expansive: daisy-chain up to five additional ThunderBay 4 or other Thunderbolt storage devices via the second Thunderbolt port.
  • Worry-free: 5 Year (solution) or 1 Year (enclosure) OWC Limited Warranty
Mike Mezeul II
"When it comes to making sure years of content is easily accessible in a speedy manner, the ThunderBay provides that and much more."
Mike Mezeul II, Extreme Nature & Landscape Photographer / Educator
Florian Wagner
“I use Thunderbay for storing all the data I took over the years. I take huge risk in taking the best possible images. I do not want to loose them at any price."
Florian Wagner, Photography, Film & Visual Storyteller
OWC ThunderBay 4 on desktop with audio gear

Perfect in All, for All

Speed, capacity, and configuration flexibility in a compact desktop footprint. ThunderBay 4 is perfection for a myriad of content creators and the reason it’s been one of the best-selling RAID storage solutions for the past decade.

Handle it all from everyday file storage and backup to running multi-stream compressed 4K video. Choose a preconfigured solution to start working immediately or add your own HDDs or SSDs to a DIY kit. Configure ThunderBay 4 with SoftRAID or your own RAID software to achieve your optimum level of performance and data redundancy. Add additional ThunderBay 4 or other Thunderbolt storage devices to the second Thunderbolt port and flex bigger capacity muscle. In every imaginable way, ThunderBay 4 is perfect in all, for all.

How Much Content You Can Store

RAID 0 (80TB) RAID 5 (60TB)

Video: XAVCS/H.265 4K
4:2:2 10-Bit at 4K 23.976fps - 45GB/hour

1,778 hours

1,333 hours

Video: ProRes 422 HQ 4K
at 23.976fps - 396GB/hour

202 hours

152 hours

Video: BRAW 6K DCI
At 5:1 compression and 23.976fps - 637GB/hour

125 hours

94 hours

Audio: WAV 32bit 48Khz
Stereo - 1.38GB/hour

57,971 hours

43,478 hours

Photo: 45 Megapixel RAW
50MB/each

1.6 million images

1.2 million images

Performance Icon

Speed to Create

Up to 1527MB/s real-world speed to easily handle video editing, audio production, and photo editing, and other bandwidth demanding needs.

RAID Icon

Built for RAID

Bundled with OWC SoftRAID; the fastest and most flexible RAID 0/1/4/5/10 tool. Also supports Apple RAID and Microsoft Disk Manager.1

Capacity to Dream Icon

Capacity to Dream

Access, backup, and push your creativity beyond your dreams with up to 80TB of either HDD or SSD storage.

Expansive Icon

Powerfully Expansive

Daisy-chain up to five additional ThunderBay 4 or other Thunderbolt storage devices via the second Thunderbolt port.

OWC ThunderBay 4 workstation

The Difference-Maker for Creators Just Like You

Whether you want to blaze through viewing a huge Lightroom catalog, import and edit massive files faster, level up your editing capabilities, or want to unleash greater audio production capabilities, ThunderBay 4 is the difference maker for:

  • Individual content creators and filmmakers
  • Audio editors, musicians, producers, music studios
  • Wedding, sports and high-volume photographers
  • Small production companies and photography studios
  • DIT setups with large data needs
  • Anyone seeking consolidation of multiple external drives

Gone is the time-consuming frustration of dealing with your content spread across multiple different external drives. Just connect ThunderBay 4’s Thunderbolt cable to your notebook to access your files faster while simultaneously charging your notebook. And with SoftRAID equipped models, you’ll work more confidently knowing the health status of your drives.

“Using the ThunderBay 4 has been fantastic. I now have plenty of breathing room when it comes to storage, and the speed increase has had a noticeable effect on both my photo editing in Lightroom and editing in Final Cut Pro.”
Taro Moberly, street and travel photographer
"I’ve used it for ingesting footage and editing directly on the drives and it has worked flawlessly, absolutely brilliantly.”
Geekanoids, UK’s longest running tech channel
OWC ThunderBay 4 on desk with MacBook Pro

Mac-Ready Across the Board

ThunderBay 4 checks all the functional boxes to make you a more efficient content creator: fast data access, enormous storage capacity, centralized (and hassle-free!) file location, and it works with Macs (Intel-based plus the latest Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3 machines) and Windows PCs. What makes ThunderBay 4 the best 4 bay storage solution available is its time-proven reputation of providing peace of mind your data will be safely protected today and tomorrow. Gone is the fear of a costly slow down or — gulp — losing irreplaceable data because you didn’t select the right RAID solution

Lineup of Mac computers
OWC ThunderBay 4 facing right with drive trays out

We Never Rest.
Our Good is Better.
Our Better is Best.

What’s most important to you in a storage solution is likely entirely different than another content creator. That why we don’t rest on our laurels and continue to make sure ThunderBay 4 doesn’t make you compromise. Merge four drives in a RAID 0 for huge performance and capacity gains over using a single external drive. Combine the capacity of three drives and use the fourth for RAID 5 data protection that keeps you working even if one of the drives fails. Or choose a DIY kit and add your own SATA SSDs for ultimate speed. With ThunderBay 4, you’re in charge of what’s good, better, or best for your needs:

RAID Level / Drive Type RAID 5 HDD RAID 0 HDD RAID 0 SSD

Configuration Attributes

Best Safety /
Better Capacity

Best Capacity /
Better Speed

Best Speed /
Good Capacity

Maximum Capacity

60TB
(3 x 20TB with 1 x 20TB used for redundant protection)

80TB

16TB
(4 x 4TB SATA 6G SSD in DIY kit)

Maximum Speed

Up to 770MB/s2

Over 1000MB/s3

Up to 1527MB/s4

The Most Powerful RAID Tool on the Planet.

SoftRAID is the world’s fastest and most flexible application to configure, maintain, and protect your RAID volumes on Mac and PC. OWC enclosures include 3 Years of SoftRAID Premium.

  • High-Performance RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) volumes
  • Predictive Health Monitoring proactively notifies of Volume and Disk issues well before failure — provided on your computer and remotely
  • Seamless Cross-Platform Sharing with support for Apple-formatted APFS and HFS+ SoftRAID volumes between Mac and Windows at no additional cost
  • 35+ Years of Experience of Pro Support to provide peace-of-mind with setup help, ongoing questions, or urgent disk issues
  • And many more unique features.
  • Learn more about SoftRAID

M1 Macs require macOS 11.3 or later. SoftRAID is licensed per computer.

iMac Pro with SoftRAID

The Cool Quiet Type

External drives for content production need to offer more than just speed and capacity for massive files. They also need to offer quiet and secure reliability. You’ll work confidently and free of distraction with ThunderBay 4’s unique design. Its heat dissipating aluminum housing utilizes “flow-thru” venting, a low-turbulence fan, and a drive-isolating design coupled with vibration-absorbing feet that reduces sonic resonance. And you’ll always keep your data safe and secure with the locking faceplate and backside security slot.

OWC ThunderBay 4 rear view facing right
OWC ThunderBay 4 with MacBook Pro and two displays

Daisy-Chain Possibilities

ThunderBay 4 goes beyond offering the perfect balance of performance and capacity. With an extra Thunderbolt port, you have an unlimited world of workflow options. Attach a 5K Thunderbolt display or two 4K displays. Place a USB-C device at the end of a daisy chain. With an extra Thunderbolt port, you have the flexibility to add to your daisy-chain and master any task at hand.

Array of OWC ThunderBay 4

Pre-Tested = Ready to Work

We understand having confidence in gear reliability is paramount to creative professionals. That’s why every ThunderBay 4 undergoes OWC's multi-hour "burn-in" performance certification prior to shipping. This ensures your ThunderBay 4 arrives operating properly and immediately ready for demanding use.

OWC Thunderbolt (USB-C) Cable ends

OWC Thunderbolt Cable Included

OWC ThunderBay 4 comes 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 ClingOn

Work with Ultimate Confidence

Active workspaces expose gear to unexpected bumps and shoves. OWC ClingOn custom cable stabilizers (available separately) screw into the OWC Dock or OWC Drive housing to reduce – if not completely eliminate – cable strain on Thunderbolt and USB-C connections so you can work with ultimate confidence even in the highest foot traffic environments.


OWC ThunderBay Family

Meet the members of the OWC ThunderBay Family. Which one is just right for you?

  1. RAID 1+0 (10) coming soon to Windows.
  2. Up to 770MB/s real world peak performance in AJA System 4K Test with 4 x 20TB HDDs in RAID 5 connected to either a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019, MacBookPro16,1) with 2.4GHz processor and 64GB RAM or a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021, MacBookPro18,1) with Apple M1 Pro processor and 16GB RAM.
  3. Over 1000MB/s read/write real world peak performance in AJA System 4K Test and Blackmagic Disk Speed Test with 4 x 20TB HDDs in RAID 0 connected to a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019, MacBookPro16,1) with 2.4GHz processor and 64GB RAM.
  4. Up to 1527MB/s sequential read/write real world performance in AJA System Test (4K-Full resolution, 64GB file size, 10bit RGB codec, single file test) with 4 x 4.0TB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSDs in RAID 0 connected to iMac Pro Late 2017 (iMacPro1,1) with 32GB RAM and 3.2GHz processor.
  5. Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt compatibility requires a certified Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 (mDP) adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable (available separately). This configuration provides data transfer at up to 20Gb/s but does not support notebook charging.