Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 14, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Sonnet Technologies, a leading provider of professional storage solutions for Macintosh, Windows and Unix users in film, video and broadcast, is presenting the Fusion F2 at Macworld 2008. The mobile RAID system operates without mains power. High speed, reliability and a robust design also make Fusion F2 an ideal storage solution directly on location or for post-production on the move. In a robust, exceptionally flat housing, two side-by-side 2.5-inch hard drives provide a total capacity of 640 GB in a device measuring 14.9 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm. Thanks to its eSATA interface, Fusion F2 is nearly twice as fast as a comparable setup of two FireWire 800 hard drives.
“Uncompromising performance and reliability for film and video post-production and content storage are the premise for all products in the Fusion series. With Fusion F2, we show that a portable product for mobile use can also meet these requirements,” says Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies. “At only 1.8 cm high, Fusion F2 is easy to transport. The absence of a mains plug makes it practical almost anywhere.”
Fusion F2 has two eSATA ports. An adapter card such as Sonnet’s Tempo SATA ExpressCard/34 can serve as an interface to MacBook Pro and Windows laptops. Used with an ioHD box from AJA Video Systems, it creates a mobile capture solution: the ioHD box connects to the laptop via FireWire, while further data transfer takes place via eSATA.
To provide optimal protection for valuable raw material, Fusion F2 drives can be mirrored in a RAID 1 configuration. Even in this configuration, capture of Apple ProRes HQ HD from the AJA ioHD remains possible. Data from Panasonic P2, Sony SxS Pro and similar cards can also be transferred securely in RAID 1. Users can therefore view material directly on location or while traveling and erase the storage cards for reuse.
Fusion F2 achieves maximum speed in RAID 0 (striped) configuration. At 126 MB/sec in read and write mode, it reaches almost twice the speed of FireWire 800 (66 MB/sec), enabling multiple streams of compressed video material to be played back and stored for mobile post-production.
Both Fusion F2 drives are individually protected against shocks and other stresses. This not only prevents damage during transport but also reduces storage errors caused by hard-drive vibration in operation.
Fusion F2’s flat housing form is achieved by arranging the hard drives side by side. A positive side effect is that this construction enlarges the housing surface used as a heat sink, so no fan is required. Its power-supply concept is equally clever: Fusion F2 connects to the FireWire 400 port. This connection serves only for power and eliminates the need for a mains plug.
Like all Sonnet products, Fusion F2 benefits from extensive, long-term support from a manufacturer established among professional users for more than two decades. With an extensive product portfolio of interface cards, storage housings and tested hard drives, Sonnet provides professional storage accessories for the media sector from a single source.
Further links:
- Further product information
