Sonnet: 3-Slot Thunderbolt-to-PCIe Expansion Chassis

Sonnet technologies Inc.
announced that the Echo
Express III-D desktop and Echo Express III-R rackmount
Thunderbolt-to-PCIe Expansion chassis, the new members of the Echo
family of Thunderbolt expansion chassis for PCIe cards, to ship on
September 23 and include a coupon for a free upgrade exchange to
Thunderbolt 2 when it becomes available this fall.

echo3r

Featuring three PCIe slots, a 300W power supply, and a 75W
auxiliary power connector, both expansion chassis enable the use of a
variety of high-performance PCIe cards – designed for use in desktop
computers – with any Mac computer with a Thunderbolt port. These
products support every Thunderbolt-compatible PCIe card available.

When first announced, they were designed with 10Gb/s
Thunderbolt interfaces. Since then, Intel announced 20Gb/s
Thunderbolt 2, and Apple announced the new Mac Pro with six
Thunderbolt 2 ports.

The company will ship the current expansion products equipped with
10Gb/s Thunderbolt, and will include a coupon for a free exchange
to 20Gb/s Thunderbolt 2 (the customer pays only shipping and
handling costs).

Both rackmount chassis feature dual Thunderbolt ports to support
daisy-chaining of devices, and are designed for users needing a solution for connecting three PCIe cards to their computer.
Each chassis supports up to three full-length, full-height,
single-width PCIe 2.0 cards with one x16 and two x8 PCIe slots. The
III-D is suited for use in most workflows and small enough to fit in
many travel bags. The III-R mounts in a 2U tall (3.5-inche) rack
space, and its enclosure is just 16 inches deep, making it tailored
for use in mobile racks, carts, and rack cases, and
server rooms.

The III-R saves space for other equipment. Utilizing the optional
Echo Express III Mobile Rack Kit, users can install two 5.25-inch
form-factor mobile rack devices in the III-R’s enclosure. The mobile
rack supports an array of devices – ranging from an internal LTO tape
drive plus four swappable 2.5-inch SSDs, to an optical drive plus a
Sonnet Qio MR pro universal media reader, to three swappable 3.5-inch
HDD drives – without taking up additional rack space. The Mobile Rack
Kit installs into the Echo chassis’ enclosure and houses one
full-height (3.2 inches) or two half-height (1.6 inches) mobile rack
devices up to 8 inches deep. A separate 250W power supply inside
the Mobile Rack Kit powers the installed devices while its internal
fan works to keep things cool.

Each new chassis integrates a universal 300W power supply and
includes a 75W PCIe power connector for cards that require
supplementary power, such as the Avid Pro Tools|HDX or the RED
ROCKET-X. The Echo chassis was designed to be quiet so that it can be
used in noise-sensitive environments. The rise of air through the
PCIe cards via natural convection is assisted by dual top-mounted,
quiet, temperature-controlled fans, and air exits through a custom
Venturi opening with low-form drag grills. The unit’s
air-flow-control features combine to reduce air velocity, turbulence,
and, consequently, fan noise. The chassis’ components remain cool,
and because the fans speed up and slow down as needed, there is no
guesswork in setting a switch position, and no need for tools to
change settings. The Echo Express III-D and III-R are the quietest
Echo chassis yet. They also conserve energy by powering off when the
computer to which they are attached sleeps or is disconnected.

The Echo Express III-D and Echo Express III-R enable iMac, Mac
mini, new Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro computers equipped
with a Thunderbolt port to use Thunderbolt-compatible professional
video I/O, audio interface, SAS and SATA HBA, 16GB and 8GB FC, 10GbE,
and RAID controller cards. The list of compatible cards is available
on the website and is expanding as more cards are tested and
certified. Both were designed, engineered, and built by Sonnet in
California. The systems are backed with five-year
warranty.

"The new line of PCIe chassis products with Thunderbolt 2
from Sonnet is going to be a game changer for media creators,"
said Jason Ziller, director of marketing for Thunderbolt, Intel
Corp. "For the first time, on-the-go media creators can
capture, edit, and display 4K or multistream HD in real time through
a single compact port."

"We are proud to release the Echo Express III-D and Echo
Express III-R," said Robert Farnsworth, CEO, Sonnet. "These quiet Echo chassis deliver outstanding
performance and value and, when equipped with Thunderbolt 2
technology, will ensure that even the most demanding cards will
perform at their peak with the new Mac Pro and other Thunderbolt 2
technology-equipped computers. We are especially pleased to be
delivering our most advanced Thunderbolt-to-PCIe expansion chassis in
a slim 2U rackmount configuration, with room for mobile rack devices.
This is exactly what our customers have been asking for since we
began shipping Thunderbolt technology-equipped products over a year
ago."