Thunderbolt 3 in Action: Akitio Thunder3 Duo Pro DAS Review

Thunderbolt Software

Consumers dealing with Thunderbolt 3 must understand that this is cutting-edge technology. It is imperative that the drivers and the Alpine Ridge firmware be up to date in order to ensure a smooth usage experience. GIGABYTE has a driver update as well as a firmware update tool available for the GA-Z170X-UD5 TH motherboard, and other system vendors should also have similar updates available.

The Thunderbolt software component gets installed along with the driver. Unlike traditional USB, every connected Thunderbolt peripheral must first be authorized to connect before becoming accessible. This authorization can be permanent or on a case-by-case basis. Management of authorized devices is done through the Thunderbolt software.

The software also allows users to check the driver and firmware versions.

Power Consumption

Power consumption of the Thunder3 Duo Pro units were recorded under various conditions. While using the device in a standalone mode (i.e, just connected to the host, and no daisy chaining involved), the unit idled at around 5.4W and had a peak power consumption of around 12.1W. This was with two of the Intel SSDs in RAID-0 in the course of our benchmarking routine.

Benchmarks were also processed with the typical usage scenario of high-capacity hard drives. Two 8TB Seagate Enterprise NAS HDDs (7200 RPM) were configured in RAID-0 for this purpose. Peak power consumption was around 40W, but the unit stayed between 24W and 28W throughout the course of our benchmarking.

Adding the SanDisk Extreme 900 to either of the above configurations drove up the power consumption at the wall by around 5 - 8W.

Concluding Remarks

The Thunderbolt ecosystem has received a major boost with the release of products and peripherals supporting Thunderbolt 3 with its Type-C connector. Intel has managed to create a compelling case for the inclusion of Thunderbolt 3 in various systems due to the unique features of the Alpine Ridge controller. The integration of a USB 3.1 Gen 2 host controller has emerged as a key aspect.

Coming to the business end of the review, the 2-bay Akitio Thunder3 Duo Pro performed flawlessly in our testing, and gave expected results in various benchmarks. More importantly, thanks to the presence of a two-port controller, it could easily bring out the various advantage provided by Thunderbolt (daisy chaining etc.). The availability of a USB 3.1 Gen 1 device port ensures that the unit can also be used with systems that don't have Thunderbolt 3.

The unit has a solid feel and a pleasing industrial design. The tool-less installation procedure for the drives is welcome. The unit includes an active Thunderbolt 3 cable (capable of handling 40 Gbps), and, for a cutting-edge product, the street price of $378 sounds reasonable. That said, there is scope for improvement in the product - it would be nice to have easy hot-swap capabilities similar to, say, the LaCie 2big Thunderbolt 2. A notch / plastic key to help in setting the RAID level would also be welcome. The drive bay / slot could also be designed to make drive removal / replacement simpler.

Going through the specifications of the Thunderbolt 3 peripherals currently announced / available in the market (including the Akitio Thunder3 Duo Pro) shows that Windows support is being worked upon first, and not Mac OS X. This leads me to believe that Thunderbolt has well and truly arrived for the mass market. Widespread usage is bound to bring down the premium associated with Thunderbolt right now. One can definitely say that Thunderbolt will not go the Firewire way.