FirmTek (http://www.firmtek.com) has announced the SeriTek/e6G 2-Port eSATA 6G host adapter is shipping. Mac OS X 10.6.x (Snow Leopard) 64-bit and 32-bit modes are supported along with Mac OS X 10.5.x, 10.4.11, Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.
This new PCI-Express 2.0, one-lane (1x), 6G, eSATA controller is designed to expand the external storage options available for the Mac Pro, late 2005 PowerMac G5 and Windows PC’s with an available PCI-Express expansion slot. The ultra small, high quality, 2-port, 6G, eSATA FirmTek SeriTek/e6G can provide 255MB/s average read performance with a single OWC Mercury Extreme Pro RE Solid State Drive or for maximum storage capacity customers can connect up to ten hard disks, says Chi Kim Stanford vice president of Business Development.
The SeriTek/e6G can be used without installing a driver with Mac OS X 10.5.x or 10.6.x systems. However, if the FirmTek driver is installed customers can take advantage of advanced features like port multiplication with SMART application support, optimized enclosure performance, hot plug support for Oxford 936 based enclosures and Mac OS X 10.4.11 compatibility.
The SeriTek/e6G is designed for audio/video editing, photography, large media content libraries, storage expansion, backup and any application where external, hot swap, data storage is desirable. The new FirmTek 64-bit SeriTek/e6G driver is built from the ground up to take advantage of Snow Leopard while providing an ultra low power, high performance native PCIe 2.0 to Serial ATA 6G interface, says Stanford.
With built-in SATA 6G, 3G and 1.5G support for 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch SATA hard disks plus solid-state drives (SSD), the SeriTek/e6G future-proofs computer hard disk connections while also supporting legacy storage devices, he adds.
The FirmTek SeriTek/e6G 2-port eSATA controller for the Mac Pro, late 2005 PowerMac G5 and PC is now available at an estimated retail price of US$99.95. The SeriTek/e6G (SATA-e6G) can be purchased from FirmTek distributors, resellers or directly from FirmTek. The SeriTek/e6G is also available bundled with the SeriTek/5PM (SATA-5PM-6G).