10GbE ($999) and 6Gb eSATA ($599) Thunderbolt Adapters

Sonnet Technologies Inc. announced the Echo Express SE 10 Gigabit Ethernet Thunderbolt Adapter and the Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port Thunderbolt Adapter.

These new adapters pair just-released Echo Express SE Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis for PCIe cards with either a Sonnet Pro one-port 10GbE adapter card or four-port 6Gb eSATA adapter card, respectively, in value-priced bundles that provide fast data and storage interfaces to iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro computers with a Thunderbolt port.

The adapters ship with the interface cards preinstalled.

The Echo Express SE 10GbE is a Thunderbolt-to-10GbE adapter that bundles Echo Express SE Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis for PCIe cards and the Presto 10GbE PCIe Card with Fibre SFP+, providing a near plug-and-play solution for adding 10GbE connectivity to any computer with a Thunderbolt port.

This adapter enables users to connect their computers to hast infrastructure and storage without stepping down in speed. Data centers are adopting the 10GbE standard increasingly for wired networking and specialized applications such as HD video editing using high-performance shared storage systems – yet no Mac computer offers this interface option. Sonnet’s solution provides users with a simple way to add 10GbE connectivity to any computer with a Thunderbolt port.

The Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port is a Thunderbolt-to-eSATA adapter that bundles Echo Express SE Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis for PCIe cards and the Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port eSATA host controller, providing a plug-and-play solution for adding four eSATA ports to any computer with a Thunderbolt port.

This adapter enables users to connect single- and multidrive storage systems to any computer with a Thunderbolt port so that they can take advantage of the 6 Gb/s eSATA interface’s throughput compared to all FireWire and USB interfaces. The Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port card was designed for performance over Thunderbolt, and the ability to support aggregate transfer speeds of up to 760MB/s.

Each Echo Express SE value bundle comes with its adapter card preinstalled, so physical setup is as simple as connecting the external power supply plus necessary interface cables among the Echo Express SE chassis, computer, and data or storage devices.

Measuring 5.7 inches wide by 8.8 inches long by 2.9 inches tall and weighing less than three pounds, each chassis takes up little space. Dual Thunderbolt ports support daisy-chaining of devices and an automatic temperature-controlled fan cools the installed card. Each Echo adapter conserves energy by powering on/off when the computer to which it is connected powers on/off or wakes/sleeps.

"Echo Express SE 10GbE and Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port adapters provide users with a simply fast way to add the latest high-performance ports to their computers," said Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet. "On its own, each adapter delivers a significant savings over purchasing the Echo Express SE and adapter card separately, but with the inclusion of a five-year warranty, these Sonnet solutions are just great values."

The Echo Express SE 10GbE (part number ECHO-EXP-SE10G) and the Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port (part number ECHO-EXP-SE4S) are available for $999 and $599, respectively.