FirmTek Debuts SeriTek/6G ExpressCard/34 Adapter ($120)

FirmTek, LLC announced their bootable, 2-port, SeriTek/6G eSATA 6Gb/s ExpressCard/34 adapter.

Available now, the SeriTek/6G provides a new level of performance by offering recorded read transfer rates of over 380MB/s when matched with the new 2011 Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro. This 6 gigabit-per-second eSATA ExpressCard/34 adapter is designed to expand the external storage options available for the 2011 Apple 17" MacBook Pro and Windows PC notebooks with an available ExpressCard/34 expansion slot. Mac OS X 10.6.x "Snow Leopard" 64-bit and 32-bit modes are supported along with Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.

"With a single OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G Solid State Drive (SSD), the FirmTek SeriTek/6G can provide over 340MB/s average read performance, or for maximum storage capacity customers can connect up to ten hard disks using SeriTek/5PM enclosures," said Chi Kim Stanford Vice President of Business Development.

For use with external storage enclosures, the SeriTek/6G supports features like Mac OS X boot capability, port multiplication with SMART diagnostics support, and Mac OS X 10.6.x Snow Leopard compatibility.

The SeriTek/6G is for audio/video editing, photography, large media content libraries, storage expansion, backup and any application where speedy external data storage is desirable. The new FirmTek 64-bit SeriTek/6G driver is built to support Snow Leopard while providing a performance native PCI to Serial ATA 6G interface. With built-in SATA 6G, 3G and 1.5G speeds for 3.5" and 2.5" SATA hard disks and SSDs, the SeriTek/6G is an external notebook storage solution which also provides legacy storage device compatibility.

Performance
2011 MacBook Pro 17" and Windows notebook customers with expanding data storage needs will appreciate the addition of external 6G eSATA ports. During FirmTek performance trials, two direct-connect 3.5" SATA hard disks attached to the SeriTek/6G provided RAID 0 read performance of over 270MB/s, while two Solid State Drives (SSD) provided over 380MB/s. Hard disks installed in the SeriTek/5PM external enclosure can be formatted as individual disks, multiple RAID sets or as one large RAID set. The SeriTek/6G ExpressCard supports an array of storage configuration options and features.

Configuration Options
The SeriTek/6G and SeriTek/5PM combination supports up to five hard disks on each port, for 20 terabytes of total storage across a total of ten hard disks. Performance-minded users looking for speed can combine the SeriTek/2EN2 two-bay external enclosure with the SeriTek/6G. This option offers a performance dual direct-connect hard disk configuration. As both direct-connect and port multiplier enclosures are supported, customers can select the SeriTek/6G configuration option. JBOD, striped RAID sets (RAID 0) and mirror (RAID 1) volumes are supported. The SeriTek/5PM allows users to backup one RAID to a second RAID in the same enclosure, backup a four disk RAID to an individual hard disk or backup an individual hard disk to another hard disk. The FirmTek SeriTek/6G provides customers with a number of hard disk configuration options for data creation, manipulation, distribution and backup.

Think SMART
With S.M.A.R.T application support, the SeriTek/6G delivers performance and diagnostic data to Macintosh Disk Utility as well as third-party utilities such as Hardware Monitor. With this capability, users can keep an eye on hard disk temperatures and the overall health of drives attached to the FirmTek adapter.

FirmTek SeriTek/6G Key Features:

• Provides Mac OS Boot Support with Apple 2011 MacBook Pro 17" (8,3)
• Two-port eSATA 6G ExpressCard/34 adapter with 64-bit and 32-bit "Snow Leopard" compatibility
• Compatible with Mac OS X 10.6.6 and later
• Compatible with Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP
• Reduced compatibility with Apple 2010/2009 MacBook Pro 17" (6,1 & 5,2) models
• Onboard SATA 6Gb/s PCI-Express to Serial ATA controller chip
• Supports Disk Utility RAID 0, 1 and JBOD configurations
• S.M.A.R.T application support for third party Macintosh utilities
• SATA 6Gb/s compliant, backward compatible with SATA 3.0 and SATA 1.5 Gb/s
• Provides external PM support for MacBook Pro with an ExpressCard/34 slot
• CRC error checking, for all bits transmitted, offers enhanced data protection
• Bus Mastering off-loads data I/O handling from CPU
• User-upgradeable firmware
• Utilizes standard eSATA connectors
• 6G ExpressCard/34 with SMART application and Macintosh Port Multiplier support
• Port multiplier support: Connect up to 10 drives using SeriTek/5PM enclosures
• Direct connect support: Connect up to 2 drives with a SeriTek/2EN2 enclosure

Pricing and Availability
The FirmTek SeriTek/6G 2-port eSATA ExpressCard for 2011 Apple 17" MacBook Pro and PC notebooks is available now with an estimated retail price of $119.95 USD. The SeriTek/6G (SATA-6G) can be purchased from FirmTek distributors, resellers, or directly from FirmTek. The SeriTek/6G is also available bundled with the SeriTek/5PM (SATA-5PM-6G).