IRVINE, Calif. — July 1, 2008 — Sonnet Technologies, a leader in providing local storage systems for professional users of Macintosh®, Windows®, and UNIX® systems in the film, video, and broadcast industries, today announced the 1TB version of its multiple-award-winning Fusion™ F2 portable two-drive RAID SATA storage system. The fastest storage solution of its kind, the enhanced Fusion F2 delivers remarkable performance with up to 134 MB/sec read and write sustained data transfer rates, and is bus-powered to enable its use when grid power is unavailable. The diminutive system consists of two 2.5-inch drives mounted side by side in a rugged aluminum enclosure just a bit larger than two stacked CD cases, features two eSATA data ports for maximum data throughput, and is designed for use with the Sonnet Tempo™ SATA ExpressCard/34 controller for the MacBook® Pro and Windows notebooks.
“The original 640 MB Fusion F2 storage system has been met with great success due to its uncompromising performance and reliability. By offering the system with increased storage and data transfer speeds in the same compact, low-power package, we’ve taken its capabilities for film and video editing applications to a new level,” said Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies. “Fusion F2 has found a home in the equipment cases of many mobile editors.”
Fusion F2 was devised as a high-performance, high-reliability alternative to existing FireWire® and USB portable drive solutions. Fusion F2 transfers data via two eSATA ports, but it draws power from a powered FireWire port for truly portable operation. Fusion F2 handily supports portable video capture in conjunction with an AJA® Video Systems’ Io HD, which requires dedicated use of FireWire bandwidth. To protect priceless field footage, Fusion F2’s drives can be configured in RAID 1 mirrored mode, and still can capture Apple ProRes HQ HD fed from an AJA Io HD. This protected mode also allows safe field transfer of Panasonic® P2, Sony® SxS Pro, or similar memory cards. Footage verification by a MacBook Pro/Fusion F2 system gives users the peace of mind to erase and reuse cards on location.
Each Fusion F2 drive is individually shock-isolated, not only protecting the drives during transport, but also virtually eliminating cross-coupled vibration — a potential source of soft-error-induced skipped frames. Fusion F2 is energy-efficient, and extremely cool and quiet. Side-by-side placement of its drives increases the metal case’s cooling surface area, thereby eliminating the need for a fan.
Like all Sonnet products, the 1TB Fusion F2 enjoys long-term support from a company with more than two decades in the computer performance enhancement business. As a provider of complete solutions, including controller cards, storage chassis, and tested hard drives, Sonnet provides a single point of support, thereby simplifying the purchase and maintenance of advanced storage systems.
Fusion F2 recently won the Best Storage Product award at the Macworld (U.K.) Awards 2008, a NAB Best Choice Award from StudentFilmmakers Magazine, and a 2008 Black Diamond Award from DV magazine. Fusion F2 with 1TB of storage (part number FUS-F2-1000M5) will be available in early July with a suggested price of U.S. $995. Fusion F2 with 640 MB of storage (part number FUS-F2-640M5) is available now with a suggested price of $695. Tempo SATA ExpressCard/34 (part # TSATAII-E342P) has a suggested retail price of U.S. $99.95.
More information about Sonnet Technologies and the company’s products is available at www.sonnettech.com.
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About Sonnet
Sonnet Technologies, Inc. of Irvine, Calif., is a leader in providing local storage systems for professional users of Macintosh®, Windows®, and UNIX® systems in the film, video, and broadcast industries. Since its founding in 1986, Sonnet has pioneered and brought to market innovative solutions that enhance the performance and connectivity of Macintosh and industry-standard computers. Today, the company is a world-leading computer hardware upgrade company with a product line featuring a range of high-performance, cost-effective, and reliable storage solutions, as well as a variety of performance-extending upgrade cards. More information is available at www.sonnettech.com.
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