Sonnet’s Award-Winning Fusion F2 Now Offered With 1TB of Storage and Even
Faster Performance
IRVINE, Calif. — July 1, 2008 — Sonnet Technologies, a leader in
providing local storage systems for professional users of Macintosh,
Windows, and UNIX systems in the film, video, and broadcast industries,
today announced the 1TB version of its multiple-award-winning Fusion F2
portable two-drive RAID SATA storage system. The fastest storage solution
of its kind, the enhanced Fusion F2 delivers remarkable performance with up
to 134 MB/sec read and write sustained data transfer rates, and is
bus-powered to enable its use when grid power is unavailable. The
diminutive system consists of two 2.5-inch drives mounted side by side in a
rugged aluminum enclosure just a bit larger than two stacked CD cases,
features two eSATA data ports for maximum data throughput, and is designed
for use with the Sonnet Tempo SATA ExpressCard/34 controller for the
MacBook Pro and Windows notebooks.
“The original 640 MB Fusion F2 storage system has been met with great
success due to its uncompromising performance and reliability. By offering
the system with increased storage and data transfer speeds in the same
compact, low-power package, we’ve taken its capabilities for film and video
editing applications to a new level,” said Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet
Technologies. “Fusion F2 has found a home in the equipment cases of many
mobile editors.”
Fusion F2 was devised as a high-performance, high-reliability alternative
to existing FireWire and USB portable drive solutions. Fusion F2 transfers
data via two eSATA ports, but it draws power from a powered FireWire port
for truly portable operation. Fusion F2 handily supports portable video
capture in conjunction with an AJA Video Systems’ Io HD, which requires
dedicated use of FireWire bandwidth. To protect priceless field footage,
Fusion F2’s drives can be configured in RAID 1 mirrored mode, and still can
capture Apple ProRes HQ HD fed from an AJA Io HD. This protected mode also
allows safe field transfer of Panasonic P2, Sony SxS Pro, or similar memory
cards. Footage verification by a MacBook Pro/Fusion F2 system gives users
the peace of mind to erase and reuse cards on location.
Each Fusion F2 drive is individually shock-isolated, not only protecting
the drives during transport, but also virtually eliminating cross-coupled
vibration — a potential source of soft-error-induced skipped frames.
Fusion F2 is energy-efficient, and extremely cool and quiet. Side-by-side
placement of its drives increases the metal case’s cooling surface area,
thereby eliminating the need for a fan.
Like all Sonnet products, the 1TB Fusion F2 enjoys long-term support from a
company with more than two decades in the computer performance enhancement
business. As a provider of complete solutions, including controller cards,
storage chassis, and tested hard drives, Sonnet provides a single point of
support, thereby simplifying the purchase and maintenance of advanced
storage systems.
Fusion F2 recently won the Best Storage Product award at the Macworld
(U.K.) Awards 2008, a NAB Best Choice Award from StudentFilmmakers
Magazine, and a 2008 Black Diamond Award from DV magazine. Fusion F2 with
1TB of storage (part number FUS-F2-1000M5) will be available in early July
with a suggested price of U.S. $995. Fusion F2 with 640 MB of storage (part
number FUS-F2-640M5) is available now with a suggested price of $695. Tempo
SATA ExpressCard/34 (part # TSATAII-E342P) has a suggested retail price of
U.S. $99.95.
More information about Sonnet Technologies and the company’s products is
available at (http://www.sonnettech.com)
About Sonnet Technologies
Sonnet Technologies, Inc. of Irvine, Calif., is a leader in providing local
storage systems for professional users of Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX
systems in the film, video, and broadcast industries. Since its founding in
1986, Sonnet has pioneered and brought to market innovative solutions that
enhance the performance and connectivity of Macintosh and industry-standard
computers. Today, the company is a world-leading computer hardware upgrade
company with a product line featuring a range of high-performance,
cost-effective, and reliable storage solutions, as well as a variety of
performance-extending upgrade cards. More information is available at
(http://www.sonnettech.com)