FirmTek ships 5-drive eSATA enclosure
updated 11:00 am EST, Wed January 16, 2008
FirmTek eSATA enclosure
FirmTek has unveiled the SeriTek/5PM SATA enclosure with Port Multiplier technology. The storage device houses up to five hot-swappable drives, each with transfer rates as high as 3Gbps for total aggregate performance beyond 220MB/sec with one cable. When configured with three additional SeriTek/5PM enclosures -- for a total of 20 drives -- RAID 0 performance can exceed 700MB/sec. FirmTek's new SeriTek/5PM SATA enclosure is already shipping for $550, with optional host adapter bundles available from $610-$700.
The new drive enclosure is constructed from aluminum, includes a temperature management system with two quiet fans that offer three adjustable speeds, and features a front-panel power switch that carries a multi-second delay to prevent accidental power-down. The enclosure also includes a fault LED and a mutable temperature/fan failure alarm.
The SeriTek/5PM is compatible with most Port Multiplier capable eSATA controller cards, according to FirmTek, as well as all SATA 3.5-inch hard drives. Port Multiplication is supported by most Macs running Mac OS X 10.4 or later with a SATA PM host adapter installed. The enclosure is system independent, and will work with any Mac or Windows computer with a controller that correctly follows the eSATA II specifications for Port Multiplication.
