Features

  • Lighting fast 40 GBPS transfer speeds via Thunderbolt 3
  • Pocket-sized storage capable of 4K video editing
  • Designed for the latest dual M.2 SSD slots for double the capacity
  • Variable speed fan to cool down the system
  • Up to 3x faster than USB 3.1 Gen2 Flash storage speed

Small yet with Stunning-Fast Extreme Speed

While the portable storage is small in size and ultra light in weight, the storage does exactly provide the lightning-fast 40 Gbps transfer speeds via Thunderbolt™ 3 supporting all sorts of data archiving and real-time editing.

Palm-Sized Storage for 4K

Even though created handy and mini in size, the pocket-sized storage is ready for the 4K video editing and post-production workflows with utmost performance and finest protection.

Always Double Capacity

Besides the ultra transfer speeds and the extraordinary performances to the host computer over Thunderbolt™ 3, the dual M.2 SSD slots inside the storage device do truly provide the opportunity to bear two M.2 NVMe SSD memory modules to have the empowered double capacity at all times. No matter how big the capacity of M.2 SSD you use, dual M.2 SSDs are ensured always bringing you the doubled storage capacity.

Designed with Latest M.2 NVMe Technology

The NA611TB3 can be equipped with two M.2 PCIe NVMe flash storage modules with each module having PCIe 3.0 x2 lanes up to 16Gbps throughput. Moreover, the dual M.2 modules can further choose to be configured for software array as RAID 0 in favor of performance or RAID 1 in support of security.

Astonishing Data Transfer Rates and Achievement

The Netstor Thunderbolt™ 3 external NVMe SSD flash storage supports all high-performance PCIe 3.0 M.2 SSD controllers in the industry allowing NA611TB3 to surpass USB 3.1 Gen2 flash storage by up to x3 times speed.

Active Cooling Makes your NVMe Cool

The variable-speed fan cooling system of NA611TB3 effectively cools down your NVMe SSDs and brings M.2 NVMe to the optimum efficiency.

Tiny in Size yet Featuring Dual Thunderbolt™ 3 Ports

Despite the fact small-scale in size, the Netstor storage device is still designed with two Thunderbolt™ 3 (USB-C) ports to allow the end-users to make a daisy-chain easily of up to five additional Thunderbolt peripheral devices and a monitor for varied working applications.

Specification

Host Interface Thunderbolt 3 (Dual Port USB-C for Daisy Chain)
Data Transfer Rate 40Gbps Bi-directional
NVMe Interface Two M.2 x4 M key (Two PCIe 3.0 x2 electrical)
NVMe Type  Supports 2242 / 2260 / 2280 / 22110 PCIe SSD
Capacity NVMe SSD sold separately
RAID Mode JBOD (RAID 0 or 1 can be provided by OS)
Configurations
  • A Single volume (single M.2 NVMe SSD is installed as JBOD mode)
  • B Dual volumes (two M.2 NVMe SSDs are installed as JBOD mode)
  • C Single volume (two M.2 NVMe SSDs are installed configured as RAID 0 by O.S.)
  • D Single volume (two M.2 NVMe SSDs are installed configured as RAID 1 by O.S.)
LED Display for Enclosure Standby – Orange Power on – Blue NVMe Access – Flashing White
Material Heavy-duty cold-rolled steel Housing
Power Supply Power Adapter: AC Input: 100–240V, 50-60Hz DC Output:+12V/5A, 60W
Dimension 125(D) x 150(W) x 35(H) mm 4.92(D) x 5.9(W) x 1.37(H) inch
Cooling One 20 x 20 x 10 mm Cooling Fan
O.S. Support macOS High Sierra 10.13 above Windows 8 / 10
Weight 0.6 Kgs / 1.32 lbs (w/o Adapter)
Operating Temperature 0 to 40°C (32 to 104°F)
Storage Temperature -10 to 50°C (14 to 122°F)
Relative Humidity 20 to 80% (non-condensing)
Package Content Enclosure x 1 60W Power Adapter x 1 Thunderbolt3-40Gbps cable x 1 (0.5 meter) Power Cord x 1

User Manual

User Manual

Installation guide

Installation Guide

Enclosure x 1 60W Power Adapter x 1 Thunderbolt 3 – 40Gbps cable x 1 (0.5 meter) Power Cord x 1

Model No. Description

NA611TB3

 Thunderbolt3 to M.2 NVMe Storage, Dual Thunderbolt3 Ports, with 60W Power Adapter, One 0.5 meter Thunderbolt3 cable

How to read the temperature of NVMe inside of NA611TB3/NA622TB3 for Mac OS?

If you would like to know the temperature of NVMe inside of NA611TB3/NA622TB3 for Mac OS, the third-party monitor tool such as iStat Menus can be downloaded and be used for monitoring the temperature of the M.2 NVMe SSDs in Netstor NA611TB3/NA622TB3 storage.

mac read the temperature of the nvme ssd by istat menus https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/

Can Thunderbolt 3 external M.2 NVMe SSD become a boot disk for the Mac computer?

Yes, the M.2 NVMe SSD in Netstor Thunderbolt 3 NA611TB3 / NA622TB3 storage can be used as the macOS boot disk for the Mac computer. The standard operating procedure for installing macOS on external Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD is as follows:

  1. At macOS’s Disk Utility, format the external Thunderbolt 3 NVMe SSD as APFS format.
  2. Go to macOS’s App Store. Key in macOS in the search bar, and press enter. Then you will see the macOS installer (free of charge) from the App Store. Click on the download button to download the macOS installer at App Store to your Mac computer.
  3. After the downloading finishes, execute the macOS installer, select the SSD (the external Thunderbolt 3 NVMe SSD) as the target installation drive [see the image below], and click on Install button to continue with the macOS installation on the external NVMe SSD.
    mac mojave installed on external m.2 nvme ssd
  4. As the macOS installation on the external NVMe SSD completes, the Mac computer will boot into the macOS on the external Thunderbolt 3 NVMe SSD automatically. At this time, click on the Apple icon at the top left position of the screen, select About This Mac, and then you will see that the Startup Disk for the system now becomes SSD [the external NVMe SSD] meaning that at the present your system is currently booting with the macOS on the external Thunderbolt 3 NVMe SSD for work.
    mac mojave installed on external m.2 nvme ssd

Without using the AC power source for NA611TB3, can MacBook Pro/iMac provide power to NA611TB3 via Thunderbolt to power up the Netstor unit?

No, NA611TB3 by design is a self-powered device, and the Netstor NA611TB3 storage has the following advantages:

na611tb3 power adapter advantages

NA611TB3 Self-Powered product features:

  • Supports up to dual M.2 NVMe SSDs. Capacity can be changed by user
  • Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports supporting daisy-chain
  • Dual ports power delivery: 15W to upstream, and another 15W to downstream

Why may external M.2 NVMe SSD be slower than M.2 NVMe SSD installed within the host computer?

There will be two factors which affect the different performances:
First, spec of M.2 NVMe within computer and spec of Thunderbolt™ 3.
Second, different M.2 NVMe SSDs’ specs.

1 Comparison of internal M.2 PCIe NVMe and Thunderbolt 3 spec.

The spec of internal M.2 NVMe is PCIe 3.0 ×4: 32 Gbps (~3200 MB/s)

Although, for the external Thunderbolt 3 interface, the throughput is 40 Gbps, the bandwidth still includes video signal transmission, so in fact, for the data transmission part, the actual performance is only up to 2750 MB/s.

2 Comparison of different M.2 NVMe SSDs’ spec.

Samsung 960 PRO- read: 3500 MB/s , write: 2100 MB/s

OCZ RD400- read: 2600 MB/s , write: 1550 MB/s

As single OCZ M.2 SSD module has lower performance in spec which is below Thunderbolt 3’s bottleneck, when dual OCZ M.2 SSD modules are set with RAID 0, it will have better performance.

As single Samsung M.2 SSD module has much higher performance in spec which is far above Thunderbolt 3’s bottleneck, when dual Samsung M.2 SSD modules are set with RAID 0, it will result in a reduction to RAID 0’s read/write performance over Thunderbolt 3; both read/write will have the same reduction ratio.

na611tb3 NVMe speed

How to Make Thunderbolt 3 Storages in Double Performance?

When two Netstor Thunderbolt 3 storage units (model: NA611TB3, NA622TB3, and NA762TB3…etc.) are connected to the same Thunderbolt 3 Mac computer/laptop, you can just use the following connection to get the Doubled Capacity and the Doubled Performance for up to 4200 MB/s between storages and the Thunderbolt 3 Mac.

Equipment Requirement:
。 Two units of Thunderbolt 3 storage
。 A Mac computer with 4 ports Thunderbolt 3

* [Note: 4 ports Thunderbolt 3 ports mean there are two Thunderbolt chips used by a computer; each Thunderbolt 3 chip (two ports) can provide bandwidth up to 2750 MB/s]

Scheme One

two na622tb3 connect to macbook pro

the graphic of two na622tb3 connect to macbook pro

Two NA622TB3 present double performance under iMac Thunderbolt 3 ports

Dual NA622TB3 with iMac 2017 27 and Gloway NVMe ssd

* Testing by: NA622TB3 *2, Gloway 2TB NVMe SSD *8, iMac 27”(Mid-2017) *1

Scheme Two

two na762tb3 connect to imac pro

the graphic of two na762tb3 connect to imac pro

Here is the way to verify which Thunderbolt 3 Mac computer/laptop contains two separate TB3 controllers in support of the above doubled performance.

Four TB3 ports MacBook Pro 2018/2019
Mac mini (Late 2018)
iMac Pro (Late 2017)

Does data transfer speed depend on the type of SSD card being used?

NA611TB3 40Gbps bandwidth is including data and video. For data, the maximum bandwidth is 2600MB/s.

When through Thunderbolt, the Thunderbolt bottleneck will reduce the Write performance a lot. So, the manufacturer suggests an NVMe selection for Thunderbolt better choose the performance under the Thunderbolt bottleneck such as RD400 from OCZ or XG3 or 5 from Toshiba.

Is there any specification performance for the NA611TB3 with a new Samsung 970 PRO M.2 2280 1TB?

Firstly, please refer to the attached Image_1.jpg; the spec of Samsung 960 PRO NVMe M.2 2280 1TB SSD is read 3500 MB/s, and write 2100 MB/s.

For dual Samsung 960 PRO NVMe M.2 2280 1TB SSDs (RAID 0) in NA611TB3 working with the Thunderbolt 3 computer, the read performance is about 2400 MB/s and the write performance is around 1250 MB/s; the data are in the below weblink:

http://www.netstor.com.tw/faq_info.aspx?page=1&id=7

On the other hand, please refer to the attached Image_2.jpg, for the spec of Samsung 970 PRO NVMe M.2 2280 1TB SSD, the read is the same as 960 PRO as 3500 MB/s, and the write is 2700 MB/s which is 600 MB/s more than 960 PRO.

Therefore, it could be speculated for dual Samsung 970 PRO NVMe M.2 2280 1TB SSDs (RAID 0) in NA611TB3 working with the Thunderbolt 3 computer, the read performance might still be identical as around 2400 MB/s and the write performance should be higher than 1250 MB/s because single 970 PRO’s write is higher than single 960 PRO’s write.

So far we haven’t got the chance to test Samsung 970 PRO NVMe M.2 2280 1TB SSDs in NA611TB3 working with TB3 computer, but once we or our partners have got the chance and have tested 970 PRO M.2 SSDs in NA611TB3 working with Thunderbolt 3 computer in the future and have the test performance result, we will let you know the information immediately.

I have two M.2 NVMe 1TB cards I would need to format as RAID 0 in order to have 2TB, will High Sierra do that and use APFS?

Yes, you can use macOS High Sierra’s Disk Utility to format the two M.2 NVMe 1TB cards as RAID 0 in order to have 2TB and use the RAID 0 as APFS.

http://www.netstor.com.tw/product_info.aspx?SerID=2&Title=Thunderbolt&ArID=92&PID=PID_171026055872595

Click download tab, click on User Manual, then go to page 11 of the user’s manual for the instruction.

Will the Samsung 860 EVO Series M.2 2280 2TB work with the NA611TB3?

The Samsung 860 EVO SATA M.2 2TB SSD is an M.2 SATA SSD.

Please refer to the attached image from NA611TB3 site’s specifications. It shows only M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD can be used with the NA611TB3 storage, therefore, the Samsung 860 EVO SATA M.2 2TB SSD will not work with NA611TB3 storage because 860 EVO is an M.2 SATA SSD rather than M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD.

Please visit the following site for more information:

http://www.netstor.com.tw/product_info.aspx?SerID=2&Title=Thunderbolt&ArID=92&PID=PID_171026055872595

Click on the ‘Compatibility’ tab, and you can see the current M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs for Netstor Thunderbolt 3 NA611TB3 storage.

Can NA611TB3 retrieve data off a M.2 NVMe SSD (Item# “SD9PN9U-512G-1012”)?

Yes, the NA611TB3 storage will allow you to retrieve the data off the SanDisk SD9PN9U-512G-1012 M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD in NA611TB3 over Thunderbolt 3 interface similar to the process on a thumb drive based on the condition that your SanDisk SD9PN9U-512G-1012 SSD is with NTFS format.

Since the SSD M.2 PCIe NVMe was run with Windows 10 Pro within the Dell XPS laptop, the file system of the SSD should be NTFS (New Technology File System) format. You can help double check whether the file system of your SSD is with NTFS format.

Based on the information described above, if your SSD is confirmed to be with NTFS format, when installed in NA611TB3 and connected to Dell  XPS laptop running Windows 10, the SSD [SD9PN9U-512G-1012] in NA611TB3 should be able to work and retrieve data

The working theory is: any M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD can work within inside one laptop or desktop computer, the same as an SSD will also work with a Thunderbolt 3 laptop/desktop computer via the Thunderbolt 3 interface.

Unless the SSD is old (year 2016) or in bad condition (wore out or damaged), It will work with TB3 computer via TB3 port.

Can you confirm the power consumption (Watts) at idle would be low with no Data activity or fan is this correct if the power consumtion states DC Output:+12V/5A, 60W in specs?

Yes, when the NA611TB3 is at idle, the power consumption will be low with no data activity and fan. As the NA611TB3 is at idle, the power consumption will only come from the two installed M.2 NVMe SSDs at idle status, the backplane and the Netstor unit’s internal low power 2×2 cm fan.

I will connect your NA611TB3 - Thunderbolt™ 3 NVMe SSD Storage to the Mac Mini thru the Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port. I had read the unit uses 2 pci lanes. What transfer speed could I expect for one card installed?

When only one Samsung 970 EVO M.2 1TB SSD is installed within the NA611TB3 storage, the maximum transfer speed will be up to 15XX ~ 1600 MB/s between NA611TB3 and the Thunderbolt 3 Mac because it is PCIe 3.0 x2 for one M.2 SSD within the Netstor unit.

Would NA611TB3 be bootable or need a Driver installed on the Mac. I may install the computers operating system on NA611TB3

A driver is not required. You can install the macOS operating system on one M.2 SSD within NA611TB3 unit, and the one M.2 SSD in NA611TB3 can be the bootable drive for the Mac.

Does the NA611TB3 support Trim?

Trim is a technology from SSD. As long as the M.2 SSD itself does support the Trim feature, the NA611TB3 supports it.

Does the NA611TB3 support UASP?

NA611TB3’s internal Alpine Ridge controller does support downstream USB 3.1 Gen2 (10Gbps) protocol and the Alpine Ridge is fully compliant with USB 3.1 Gen2 (10Gbps) protocol that supports UASP.

NA611TB3 is compatible with the 1tb intel 760p. any problem with the new 2.048tb intel 760p?

Because Intel 760P 1TB M.2 SSD uses SMI SM2262 controller, that’s why the Intel 760P 1TB M.2 SSD is supported by macOS, and the Intel 760P 1TB M.2 SSD is listed on the NA611TB3 M.2 SSD compatible list for macOS.

[macOS has the Mac driver for SMI SM2262 controller.]

 

As for Intel 760P 2TB M.2 SSD, presently we still can’t verify if SMI SM2262 controller is utilized on 760P 2TB M.2 SSD, so Intel 760P 2TB M.2 SSD was not listed on the NA611TB3 M.2 SSD compatible list for macOS.

Why NA611TB3 front power status LED turned from blue to solid amber light when connecting to iMac Pro?

The reason that the NA611TB3’s front power status LED will turn from blue light to solid amber light is because initially the Thunderbolt 3 signal between iMac Pro and Netstor unit is linked successfully (so it showed blue light), and then later the Thunderbolt 3 signal between iMac Pro and Netstor unit is NOT linked (so it showed solid amber light).

The factors to let Thunderbolt 3 signal between iMac Pro and Netstor be disconnected include: Thunderbolt 3 ports on Netstor unit and iMac Pro, Thunderbolt 3 cable connector side A and side B, and the Thunderbolt 3 cable itself.

Note that the NA611TB3 can be hot plugged to iMac Pro’s Thunderbolt 3 port. So in the following tests, the customer can hot plug the Netstor to iMac Pro’s Thunderbolt 3 port to verify the test result.

There are two Thunderbolt ports at rear of NA611TB3. One is Port A, and the other is Port B.

 Following are the procedures to test the connections between iMac Pro and NA611TB3.

[Test 1]

When iMac Pro is at the powered on status, connect iMac Pro’s Thunderbolt 3 cable to NA611TB3’s Port A with Thunderbolt 3 cable connector Side A.

Check if NA611TB3’s front power status LED will turn from blue light to solid amber light? Or NA611TB3’s front power status LED will always show blue light?

 

[Test 2]

When iMac Pro is at the powered on status, connect iMac Pro’s Thunderbolt 3 cable to NA611TB3’s Port A with Thunderbolt 3 cable connector Side B.

Check if NA611TB3’s front power status LED will turn from blue light to solid amber light? Or NA611TB3’s front power status LED will always show blue light?

 

[Test 3]

When iMac Pro is at the powered on status, connect iMac Pro’s Thunderbolt 3 cable to NA611TB3’s Port B with Thunderbolt 3 cable connector Side A.

Check if NA611TB3’s front power status LED will turn from blue light to solid amber light? Or NA611TB3’s front power status LED will always show blue light?

 

[Test 4]

When iMac Pro is at the powered on status, connect iMac Pro’s Thunderbolt 3 cable to NA611TB3’s Port B with Thunderbolt 3 cable connector Side B.

Check if NA611TB3’s front power status LED will turn from blue light to solid amber light? Or NA611TB3’s front power status LED will always show blue light?

 

[Test 5]

There are four Thunderbolt 3 ports on the iMac Pro. One of the Thunderbolt 3 ports on iMac Pro had already been tested.

Please connect NA611TB3’s Thunderbolt 3 cable to each of the rest three Thunderbolt 3 ports on iMac Pro, and check if NA611TB3’s front power status LED will turn from blue light to solid amber light? Or NA611TB3’s front power status LED will always show blue light?

 

[Test 6]

Does the customer have the other Thunderbolt 3 cable? If so, please use the other Thunderbolt 3 cable to connect between iMac Pro and Netstor unit, and check if NA611TB3’s front power status LED will turn from blue light to solid amber light? Or NA611TB3’s front power status LED will always show blue light?

If all the tests not able to identify the issue, then the pins inside port of NA611TB3 need to be cleaned.

The pin cleaning approach to the Thunderbolt 3 port of NA611TB3 is given as follows:

(1)  Prepare several cotton swabs as shown in the attached Picture. And prepare a bottle of ethyl alcohol (ethanol / industrial alcohol).

 

(2)  The hole of the Thunderbolt 3 port of NA611TB3 is small; the cotton of the cotton swab can be squeezed. Wet the cotton swab with ethyl alcohol. Then use the cotton swab to swipe and clean the pins within the Thunderbolt 3 port of NA611TB3. Note the hole of the Thunderbolt 3 port of Netstor unit is small, so just try to clean the pins as much as possible.

 

(3)  After it is cleaned, try connecting Netstor unit to the powered on Thunderbolt 3 Mac by Thunderbolt 3 cable, and see if Netstor unit’s front power status LED can show blue light?

Can Samsung 970 EVO Plus series - 2tb pcie nvme - m.2 internal ssd (mz-v7s2t0b/am) work with NA611TB3?

It’s always suggested to use the M.2 SSDs listed on the NA611TB3 M.2 SSD compatibility page for the NA611TB3 storage. For the M.2 SSD compatibility page, please go to:

https://www.netstor.com.tw/product_info.aspx?PID=PID_171026055872595

And then click on the ‘Compatibility’ tab. Currently the Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD is not listed on the page.

If you go to the forum

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/do-the-samsung-970-evo-plus-drives-work-new-firmware-available-for-testing-5-20-19.270757/

you will see that there have been many worldwide users who have expressed that the Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD does *NOT* work with macOS Mojave and mac OS High Sierra. They have stated that:

“They have tried Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD with Mac computer running macOS Mojave 10.14.x and High Sierra; unfortunately, the Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD is unstable, crashed their system during initialization (APFS, HFS), no boot. But when they have replaced the Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD with Samsung 970 EVO M.2 SSD, then no issue occurs; the Samsung 970 EVO M.2 SSD can work with their Mac computer properly.”

On the other hand, please go to the same forum:

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/do-the-samsung-970-evo-plus-drives-work-new-firmware-available-for-testing-5-20-19.270757/

And then go to page 14 on the forum webpage. You can see the message posted by the user “bootpcanon”. He has given the 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD firmware update solution to resolve the issue of 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD not working with macOS Mojave and mac OS High Sierra:

Quick instructions on how to upgrade your Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD firmware:

2-Write it on the USB drive (I burned through Rufus on Windows 7)

3-Boot the system from the flash drive, you will fall into the installer for updating the firmware

4-Follow the instructions, after a successful upgrade, restart the computer

5-You can install the system on 970 evo plus

So from the above info, it looks like the Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD needs to be conducted with the firmware update through the method given by the user “bootpcanon” at the forum in order to resolve the problem of 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD not working with macOS Mojave and mac OS High Sierra.

Can NA611TB3 cause damage to Thunderbolt card?

Based on the experience, it is not likely to be happen.