Newer Technologies has released a pair of RAID controller cards aimed at Mac Pro owners frustrated that their beloved computers can’t fully utilize the increasing numbers of 6Gb/s SATA and SAS drives. The controller cards ship in two configurations: The MAXPower RAID mini-SAS 6G-2e card has two external mini-SAS ports, while the MAXPower RAID mini-SAS 6G-1e1i has one internal and one external port.
Newer Technologies has released a pair of RAID controller cards aimed at Mac Pro owners frustrated that their beloved computers can’t fully utilize the increasing numbers of 6Gb/s SATA and SAS drives. The controller cards ship in two configurations: The MAXPower RAID mini-SAS 6G-2e card has two external mini-SAS ports, while the MAXPower RAID mini-SAS 6G-1e1i has one internal and one external port.
Features:
- High-speed PCIe 2.0 x8 bandwidth for up to 4GB/s data throughput (PCIe1.0-compatible with reduced speed)
- Two mini-SAS ports:
- 1 x SFF-8088 external and 1 x SFF-8087 internal mini-SAS port (6G-1e1i model)
- 2 x SFF-8088 external mini-SAS ports (6G-2e model)
- SAS Expander support for connecting up to 128 SAS/SATA devices
- Multiple RAID level support: 0/1/5/10/50 and JBOD
The cards are compatible with both SAS and SATA drives, though using the card with eSATA enclosures will require the use of a mini-SAS-to-eSATA breakout cable. Since one mini-SAS port can accommodate four eSATA enclosures running at full 6Gb/s speeds simultaneously, the investment in the cable is a minor additional expense. Mini-SAS enclosures will, of course, require only a single cable.
The card ships with a browser-based RAID configuration and diagnostic application. The 6G-2e model has a handy passthrough feature that allows a drive to be mounted as soon as its connected to the controller without the need to be configured through the RAID controller application. It also allows for drives to be set aside in a spare pool for automatic array rebuilding in the case of a drive failure.
Both cards retail for $299.99.
