FireWire peripheral and accessory maker FirewireDirect.com Inc. is now offering its FireWire 800 Vanguard III Hardware Raid Series.
The Vanguard III is an independently hardware-controlled RAID storage system equipped with both a single USB 2.0 and two FireWire 800 interfaces. It’s compatible with Mac OS X, Mac OS 8.6 and higher, and various flavors of Windows (as well as other operating systems that support FireWire).
The Vanguard III can be configured to support either RAID Level 0 (striping) or Level 1 (mirroring), so users can set it up either for optimal performance or data redundancy. It contains connections for two drive mechanisms and can be ordered in configurations ranging from an enclosure only to up to 500GB of storage (using Level 0 RAID).
The Vanguard III features an aluminum chassis, and uses Oxford Semiconductor’s Oxford 922 bridge for its FireWire connectivity. The drive door bays lock with keylocks and feature a suspended tray design that minimizes vibration. Because the system uses independent hardware controls, it features auto-rebuilding capabilities.
Prices for the Vanguard III range from US$469.00 for the basic enclosure to $1,259.95 for the fully-populated 500GB system.