I've Been DREAMING of this Day - UnifyDrive UT2 Mobile Backup Solution Review

[@jayjayasuriyainfo]

Excellent review friend and we can totally relate to you as a Photo + Video husband and wife duo Wedding Production company. Thank you for taking the time to put this together and share with us. We cannot wait to get our hands on this!

[@TheHawkMaverick]

For me as a photographer producing a lot of pictures on my trips with limited possibilities to save files this type of gear is what I need. You're right when you say that this kind of product is very rare, unfortunately. I backed this UT2 also on KS. When I get it it will be the 5th of this kind. I started with the hyperDrive UDMA 2, DFI Flashporter, Nextodi NPS-10. I'm currently using Clouzen Tainer V2 which is also a solid product. In my pov it's not important to have fastest most current hardware. It has to be reliable, if it's like you say, software is stable and reliabke, then this is a big point. Gnarbox like you sadi, was never really available and had a horrible price, never saw any in real live. But ... to be honest, I don't know many colleges or fellow photographers using this type of gear, which I don't understand. Most likely they're not cheap and maybe a lot of them invest more in memory cards than into this tools. I'm pretty exited about UT2 will perform against Tainer V2 😀 Thank you for your review, very interesting.

[@mvillar24]

Great review. Liked how you compared it to the other options that used to be in this space, including the NextoDI and GNARbox. When you mentioned the potential risks of the product given the small company, it got me thinking that I really didn't get that good of support for the old Nexto DI devices, hyperdrive, etc. that came out before. Hopefully the OS, smartphone app and its docker support are good enough I can use this in my media backup workflow and my travel router.

[@kennyadvocat]

These were very common back in 2006 or so. "Photo banks" or "portable storage device" you'd pop a cf card In and hit the backup button.

[@coolcat23]

Very similar to the Jikongjian T2. The Zspace T2 is also very similar. Both are established products. Crowdfunding appears to have been chosen for marketing purposes (appealing to "fear of missing out" w.r.t. to "never to return" initial crowdfunding prices).

[@WesPerry]

This seems to be a beefed up version of those. 2x the ram, better cooling system, and CFE card slot.

[@CarlosMartinez-mj6cu]

Just what I was looking for.

[@mediamechanic403]

Tbh as ive had gear bags stolen when travelling id just be happy with a 4G dongle on the camera to sync to the cloud. Maybe not terabytes though

[@WesPerry]

If only major camera manufacturers would get their acts together and support this… Or not just support but integrate. So old fashioned…

[@ManBikeSwag]

This would be very useful for my channel! A fantastic idea for travelling creators.

[@brynforbes2050]

Thanks for the review. So to mount as a usb drive you mentioned you have to create a separate partition. Does this mean the files you backup from the memory cards are not available when mounted via usb? I always use folder match to verify my backup copies are identical or use a duplicate deleted to remove identical files from portable devices after they have been fully backed up and organized.

[@TiagoWolf]

Nice review. Wondering why they didn't think about offering a second slot dedicated to mini sd cards... Carrying and an adapter in almost 2025 is really cumbersome specially with most action/ insta360 camera files that need to be backed up

[@WesPerry]

You mean a Third slot? 😏 And I think that’s the reason right there. 3 is a lot, unfortunately. They include a CF-B to CF-A adapter as well. I’d imagine it’s tough to decide what to squeeze in and what to leave out. Would be nice if this produce is successful enough to warrant some variations on it, such as what you mentioned.

[@zenphotocraftmedia8326]

can it multi backup different media at the same time when you have a team of photographers

[@WesPerry]

I doubt its processor would allow for this to be much faster than just doing consecutive media backup. You Can plug in external readers through the UBC C port (compatibility dependant, can't guarantee All of them), and/or two cards at once into the body itself (SD and CFE), though.

[@rjrgjr]

I know that the AI functionality does not require internet connectivity to scan through and organized files. Which is dope. What im curious about is what happens when it connects to the internet in the future? Does the AI model train itself off of user data?

[@WesPerry]

The AI model wouldn't ever connect in that way, no. Ironically the AI is absolutely trained on Someone's user data, but that's a dataset that's been harvested by someone else and then purchased for use for the development of this software.

[@chrisbale11]

Hey Wes, thanks for the awesome videos! Let me introduce myself. I'm a travel photographer and I'm on the lookout for a portable backup solution that's not as bulky as lugging around my laptop. I came across this product on Kickstarter and thought it might be just what I need. I'm not too familiar with NAS, but all I really need is a device that can handle on-the-go backups. I have a few questions. I'm not sure if this NAS is the right fit for me. I simply want to back up the photos from my memory card to a hard disk and then transfer them to my workstation when I'm back home. Can this device do that? I'm hoping for a one-click backup solution. 11:30 Do I really need to create two partitions for this? And if I only use the device for a flash drive, can I convert the whole thing to a flash drive? Also, as a travel photographer, I'm wondering if the device can intelligently detect which photos have already been backed up and only back up new files. Or will it end up duplicating files if I plug in the memory card multiple times?

[@chrisbale11]

Also, I'm really hoping that the performance of this device isn't being held back by the slow card reader/writer. Have you had a chance to test the read/write speed of the SD card slot and CF Express card slot? How's the performance looking?

[@WesPerry]

I haven’t tested the speed of the CFE slot, but the SD slot will reach 300MB/s Mine wasn’t steady on that, though, as the m.2 drive I put in it is pretty cheap. (I think I mentioned that in the video). Will have to test again once I get around to putting better drives in it.

[@WesPerry]

@@chrisbale11 and yeah, it needs to be partitioned for the usb functionality. I find that frustrating as well. I’ll look into the intelligent detection thing later and get back to you. I Think it does, but not Sure

[@chrisbale11]

@@WesPerry Hey Wes, hope you're doing well! I used to have the Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro, but it stopped working due to a hard disk failure. It was a simple product, even simpler than the UT2, but it did the job of providing portable backup on the go. I was really happy with WD, but unfortunately, the product has been discontinued. Now, I'm on the lookout for a replacement. The WD can detect which photos have already been backed up and only back up new files. I was wondering if UT2 has a similar feature, as it's quite important for travel photographers.

[@Cary_mac]

Great review but no one notes the generation of nvme you’re able to use. Many of these devices out nvme accessibility but there’s only access to X1 lane which in many instances is 1,000MB/s speed.

[@rjrgjr]

What are the security concerns if a company like this ends up closing its doors after it has shipped the product? I'm mostly thinking of using this as a portable media server and in the field photo backup. But I'm still concerned about linking this to my ProtonDrive once cloud storage comes online... Or even plugging this into my router could have security implications, right?

[@WesPerry]

The biggest 'belly up' security concern is that they won't be able to patch a massive security hole that is later discovered. Which seems to happen pretty regularly these days. I don't have much intention of using any NAS in a cloud config, though.

[@wayanbarre]

Do you think there is a way to connect this to a wifi when on the field, and auto backup files to a Synology NAS at home? This would be such a safe option for me. Otherwise I don't really see the point. I can just keep my SD cards in a waterproof box and backup once I get home.

[@ChaitanyaShukla2503]

I will wait for them to deliver actual product before buying it, also Clouzen Tainer is another on the fly memory card backup tool that photographers can actually purchase though it has single M.2 Sata ssd slot.

[@WesPerry]

Can’t say I blame you But I can say you haven’t made it to the end of the video (yet?), as I did mention the Tainer ;)

[@ChaitanyaShukla2503]

@@WesPerry no, watched till 13min mark and had to wait for internet connection to be restored again before I could watch rest of it(though that point of SSD compatibility is quite a big design compromise on Clouzen's part as those M.2 SATA SSDs are harder to find these days). I remember Seagate(Lacie Dji) also used to offer external drive that allowed for quick backup of memory cards(no network support). I think that also has been discontinued now.

[@WesPerry]

@ChaitanyaShukla2503 yeah none of the bigger brand ones (like WD) ever seemed to last long for some reason.

[@ChaitanyaShukla2503]

@@WesPerry indeed, both WD and Seagate are traditional drive manufacturers with little to no experience in software development. Both these used to offer NAS and they were the worst network storage drives I have come across.

[@WesPerry]

@ChaitanyaShukla2503 (with terrible security implementation)

[@edwardv54]

The feature I want is the ability to backup from the camera directly to the device via wifi. It was unclear from your video if this was possible.

[@WesPerry]

@@edwardv54 that’s something camera manufacturers would have to be willing to engage in an open standard to implement - so that’s a big nope, unfortunately.

[@TheKobeBryantism]

Does anyone know the price for this? Seems cool, but I’d like to know before signing up lol

[@markintosh13]

Fredericton says "hi" Wait, you're in NB?

[@WesPerry]

From Nova Scotia, live in the Moncton area ;)

[@markintosh13]

@@WesPerry very cool. from antigonish, now on freddy beach.

[@WesPerry]

Not far off at all ;)

[@jcben]

In the meantime we have smartphones with fast USB ports that do the job with a USB C hub and an SSD.

[@flamonaut]

Exactly but Android allows just 1 USB device at once.

[@WesPerry]

I generally pack in about 80-120GB on a wedding day for photos, 200 if it’s a video day. Don’t really have that kind of space on my phone 🥴

[@croquis24]

ihave the flle hub a pre narbox its batery pwerd prtable router /nas sd card slot wit aut cpy fnction wifi hot spot and wfi conectn t a network +eternet port usb a that suport my 1 to 5 port + sdcard dongle i wan this so mutch

[@croquis24]

also i wish the made one wit a single sata ssd

[@WesPerry]

Seems a little old fashioned these days

[@IMDABROWN]

ugh. crowd funded/sourced. 👎

[@PatrikKlein-o4q]

I would never (!) buy a storage device like this. SSDs like the ones needed can become extremely hot, and if you don't have integrated thermal management tailored to the parameters of the specific SSDs used, you risk frying them. If the SSDs overheat and become unusable, there is no guarantee of paying for the damage because the SSDs' manufacturer will point to the case's sub-par thermal management and state that it was the SSDs' malfunctioning. When it comes to external storage devices with fast SSDs, the safest option is to invest in an integrated system. This means purchasing a device where the case and SSDs are from the same manufacturer, or at least from a company that offers a complete system with a guarantee. Trust me, I tried it two times the other way around and paid a high price, as these ultrafast SSDs are expensive.

[@WesPerry]

This has quite a bit of cooling, though. The air gets sucked in with a fan through the SSD cover then out the side.

[@PatrikKlein-o4q]

@@WesPerry That doesn't change the fact that you will be left alone if one or both of the SSDs becomes too hot and is damaged. By the way, it is much more effective to dissipate heat via heat pipes or fluid than via air. The tiny fan won't stop a modern SSD from writing with high speed.