A Look Inside

It isn't hard to take the D5 apart—you just need to shoot some photos as you do so in order to remember where the screws go.


This is the PCB that hosts the LED indicators and power button.


The Highpoint RocketRAID 2720SGL controller. As you can see, it is passively cooled. This part costs over $150.


Not much to see at the back of the RocketRAID 2720SGL board.


The Thunderbolt card utilizes an Intel JHL6540 controller, which costs less than $9. On the same PCB, we also find a pair of TPS65983 USB Type-C and USB PD controllers.


The SATA card hosts a couple of voltage-regulation modules.


The cooling fans are provided by Hong Sheng, and their model number is A8025L12S. They most likely use a sleeve bearing, which is not the best choice for longevity under tough operating conditions (high ambient temperatures). Higher quality fans should be used in a $700 DAS. Thankfully, it is easy to replace these if they go bad.