Sans Digital EliteRAID ER104UT

Sans Digital is introducing 1U 4-bay SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and eSATA hardware RAID 5 storage, the EliteRAID ER104UT+ / ER104UT+B. Based on the EliteRAID hardware RAID series, the ER104UT+ (silver) and ER104UT+B (black) expand the EliteRAID rackmount storage line with their newly embedded hardware RAID engines and USB 3.0 / eSATA support. Both the ER104UT+B and ER104UT+ are 1U 4-bay hardware RAID 5 units providing enterprise class features with affordable pricing.

When the RAID engine is embedded in the external storage enclosure, it provides operating system independence and prevents controller driver or interface incompatibility from the host computer. All complex RAID calculations are offloaded to the embedded hardware RAID engine, reducing CPU utilization from the host computer, consequently increasing the overall system performance. Rated at 3Gbps for the eSATA and 5Gbps for the USB 3.0, the ER104UT+ / ER104UT+ B provides over 200 MB/s of read/write performance under RAID 5, which makes it suitable for SMB or IT environments.

The ER104UT+ and ER104UT+B are designed with features such as the instant RAID availability that allows immediate access to the unit without the need to wait for RAID initialization. A physical RAID mode configuration switch enables quick RAID setup without the need to use a software utility. A new RAID mode, CLONE / N-Way Mirror is also introduced to replicate the saved data throughout each installed hard drive for maximum data protection. Status LED in the front of the unit provides RAID health status while detailed event log and E-mail notification are also available via the included software utility. For computers not equipped with USB 3.0, the backward compatibility for USB 2.0 allows flexible deployment.

With the units priced at $549, users could also opt to purchase an USB 3.0 PCIe host bus adapter (HA-SAN-2U3PCIE) for USB 3.0 interface upgrade. The ER104UT+B and ER104UT+ support RAID 0, 1/10, 3, 5, CLONE (N-Way Mirror) and JBOD, allowing IT administrators to select different RAID mode as needed.

With eSATA and USB 3.0 support as well as backward compatibility with USB 2.0, the new hardware RAID EliteRAID Plus series is compatible with any computer.

"The ER104UT+ and ER104UT+B are proven to be the best hardware RAID solutions in both value and performance," said Stanley Chan, Sans Digital‚s Director of Business Development. "Along with USB 3.0, 2.0 and eSATA interfaces, 6 different RAID modes and optional software monitoring utility, the EliteRAID provides a simple yet feature-rich storage expansion solution."