If one drive takes a lickin’, the other will just keep on tickin’.

The ARAID T2000 backs up your data simultaneously and on the fly. RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) makes it happen—more specifically, a RAID 1 mirroring array. In a RAID 1 setup with two hard drives like the ones in the ARAID T2000, the same data is written to both drives, creating an instant backup.

The ARAID T2000 can be used as a boot drive when connected to your Mac via FireWire 400. The ARAID T2000 comes without hard drives, so we used a pair of 250GB Western Digital Serial ATA drives and attached them to the two trays before sliding them into the enclosure. Easily done.

You connect the ARAID T2000 to your Mac via FireWire 400, and it appears as a single 250GB external. You don’t need software to configure the two drives in the box because the built-in controller handles everything. Using Shirt Pocket’s SuperDuper ($27.95, www.shirt-pocket.com), we copied our Mac’s internal 60GB drive to the ARAID T2000’s primary upper drive. In System Preferences > Startup Disk we chose the ARAID T2000. When we rebooted, the LCD on the ARAID T2000 showed that the upper tray’s primary drive was mirroring itself to the secondary drive at about 1GB per minute.

After an hour, both drives were in sync. From then on, data was written automatically to both drives. The Mac’s internal drive still worked and wasn’t needed anymore, but we kept its operating system intact in case we ever had to boot from it. We erased everything else, using the drive for additional storage.

If one ARAID T2000 drive fails, an alarm sounds and the device’s LCD monitor indicates which drive needs to be replaced. The other will carry on so you can continue to use your Mac. Just pull out the bad drive, replace it, reinsert the tray, and the good drive will begin copying itself to it. For the Boy and Girl Scouts out there, you can buy an extra tray ($43) and have an extra drive on standby so you’re always prepared for a drive failure.

When it’s time for a new Mac, you’ll be good to go without having to reinstall applications. However, you can’t boot Intel Macs with a RAID array previously formatted for a PowerPC Mac, or vice versa. And the ARAID T2000’s two fans are a bit noisy.

There are many other tasks you can do with a RAID 1 array. You can try new software on one drive while disabling the other, returning to the status quo if conflicts occur. With a third tray, you can rotate drives and keep one drive off-premises for security. If your Mac needs repair, your data can remain secure without running the risk of getting snooped or wiped by a nosy (or not-so-bright) Geek Squadder.

The bottom line. The ARAID T2000 isn’t sexy—heck, RAID in general isn’t sexy at all. But we can live with that knowing that we’ll never have to worry about backups or lost data.

COMPANY: Accordance
CONTACT: www.accordancesystems.com
PRICE: $495 (hard drives not included)

REQUIREMENTS: FireWire 400
Quick and easy setup. Versatile.
Ugly duckling. The two internal fans are noisy.