New Sonnet Products at 2010 NAB Show

At the 2010 NAB Show, Sonnet Technologies, Inc. will showcase new products that cater to the storage needs of professional users in the film, video, and broadcast industries.

Sonnet will demonstrate the Qio professional universal media reader/writer; the Fusion RX1600Fibre shared storage system optimized for simultaneous use by multiple users; and a redesigned Fusion DX800RAID SATA storage system.

Qio Professional Universal Media Reader/Writer

Designed for in-studio or on-location applications, Sonnet’s Qio professional universal media reader/writer is a convenient, cost-effective alternative to stand-alone card readers.

It features dual P2, SxS, and CompactFlash slots and can transfer data from two cards concurrently, allowing users to offload files more quickly and efficiently. An included adapter handles SDHC cards. Qio moves files between any cards, attached drives, or host computer with aggregate bandwidth up to 250 MB/sec. For quick migration of data, Qio integrates a four-port SATA controller based on Sonnet’s Tempo SATA E4P card, enabling users to connect two Sonnet Fusion F2 portable storage systems, or up to four eSATA drive enclosures for access of up to 20 SATA drives.

Qio connects to a computer through an included cable and interface adapter (ExpressCard/34 for notebooks, PCIe for desktops). The adapter extends the computer’s PCIe bus outside the box, effectively adding expansion slots to the desktop. The reader/writer’s SxS slots also accept ExpressCard/34 adapter cards, including Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, USB, FireWire, and more, while the P2 slots accept CardBus adapters. Qio effectively sextuples the number of expansion card slots available to notebook users, while desktop users may swap adapter cards without opening their computers’ cases.

Fusion RX1600Fibre Shared Storage System

The Sonnet Fusion RX1600Fibre is a high-performance, expandable 16-drive RAID shared fibre channel storage system optimized for video editing.

Available in 16TB or 32TB configurations, the RX1600Fibre can provide direct, high-speed access to assets for up to four users without a dedicated server or an added fibre switch. Employing a four-port 8Gb fibre channel interface, the Fusion RX1600Fibre offers speed and flexibility not found in general-purpose shared storage systems, delivering aggregate bandwidth up to 1000 MB/sec. read, and up to 100 percent more streams to multiple simultaneous users than general-purpose shared storage systems. Integrated SAS expanders allow fast, easy expansion, enabling the user to connect additional RX1600 expansion enclosures without an additional RAID controller card.

Support for RAID 5 and RAID 6 formatting provides data protection in the event of single- or double-drive failure. SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) 2.0 compliance and enhanced S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) data reporting further enhance the reliability of the Fusion RX1600Fibre. Together they provide on-screen alerts, trigger fault LEDs, sound warnings via the system’s built-in alarm and the computer’s speaker, and can send e-mail alerts to designated addresses.

Fusion DX800RAID SATA Storage System

The Sonnet Fusion DX800RAID is a high-performance, expandable, eight-drive RAID direct-attached storage system with an included PCIe RAID controller card.

Available in configurations from 4TB to 16TB, the Fusion DX800RAID provides video editors the speed required for working with uncompressed 10-bit 1080 HD video streams, and the data security and monitoring critical in a large RAID system. With eight 1.5TB drives formatted as a RAID 5 group, the Fusion DX800RAID yields impressive read and write file transfer speeds of up to 815 MB/sec and 715 MB/sec, respectively.

Within its compact enclosure, the Fusion DX800RAID features eight 3.5-inch RAID/Enterprise edition or Sonnet-certified desktop SATA hard drive modules, and a built-in Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) expander that enables up to 16 DX800RAID enclosures to be hosted through a single Sonnet RAID controller. Support for RAID 5 and RAID 6 formatting provides data protection in the event of single- or double-drive failure. The reliability of the Fusion DX800RAID is further supported by SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) 2.0 compliance, and enhanced S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) data reporting for each hard drive installed in the system.