FirmTek Debuts USB 3.0 Trayless Enclosure

FirmTek, LLC, in storage solutions for Apple Macintosh and PC systems, announces the miniSwap/U3.

For 2.5" SSD and HDD, the it provides trayless, hot-swap, USB 3.0 external enclosure support for Mac and PC computers.

Performance up to 440MB/s with a single SSD:
The miniSwap/U3 was created to provide 2.5" storage devices with fast 5Gbps bandwidth, simple disk mounting and quiet operation.

The small, yet rugged, miniSwap/U3 can be integrated as a portable on-the-go 2.5" enclosure, or as a space saving performance trayless 2.5" desktop drive mounting station. Multiple miniSwap/U3 enclosures can be connected to provide RAID performance, expanded capacity, and simple or complex storage configurations.

The trayless bay design supports standard 2.5" SATA SSD or HDD 9.5mm height devices along with 7mm, 12.5mm and larger disks up to 14.9mm.

Do Away with the Tray:
The miniSwap/U3 silver aluminum chassis features a design made from aluminum to keep weight at a minimum while maintaining firm structural rigidity.

"Loading a 2.5" HDD or SSD is as easy as inserting a bare drive into the miniSwap/U3 and closing the bay door. That’s it. No tray, no screws and no tools required to gain incredible performance," said Chi Kim Stanford, VP of business development. "The high quality, detailed construction of the miniSwap/U3 allows each 2.5" drive to connect with the FirmTek direct-connect backplane and instantly communicate with the computer. Each miniSwap/U3 bay is tied to the computer with its own dedicated USB 3.0 data cable. This connection method maximizes performance while providing superior compatibility."

Instant Data Access:
The miniSwap/U3 is compatible with virtually every USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port. In addition, the enclosure supports transfer rates of 500MB/s or 5.0Gb/s. The trayless, direct-connect miniSwap/U3 enclosure is designed for audio/video editing, computer animation, digital photography, portable computing, storage expansion, backup and any application where external, flexible, trayless, hot-swap, performance storage is desirable.

miniSwap/U3 Features and Benefits:

• Durable, bus-powered, portable trayless enclosure supports 2.5" SATA SSD or HDD
• Quiet, fan free, aluminum heat dissipation cooling system
• Easy to set up: No screws, no drive tray required, swap drives in seconds
• Easy to operate: Open the door to insert or remove the storage device for virtually unlimited capacity
• Supports 7mm, 9.5mm, 12.5mm and 14.9mm drive heights
• Performance design – Integrated Direct Connect SATA backplane; no internal cabling
• 5G/s bandwidth design with power and activity LED
• Supports SATA 1.5Gb, 3Gb or 6Gb HDD or SSD 2.5" form factor with any capacity
• Can be configured as RAID when used with multiple miniSwap/U3 enclosures – Mac OS X
• Aluminum case for durability and heat dissipation
• Performance can handle multiple projects simultaneously
• For both storage-hungry and speed-sensitive applications
• Cross-platform, PC and Macintosh compatible, OS independent
• Works with Macintosh or PC with shielded USB 3.0 or 2.0 ports running Mac OS X, Windows or Linux
• Kensington security slot

The FirmTe miniSwap/U3 will be available soon from authorized resellers (Part# MS-U3). Specially priced build-to-order miniSwap/U3 bundles with custom pre-installed SATA hard disks or SSD configurations will also be available.