Small Tree Communications on Wednesday announced the availability of fiber optic-based Gigabit Ethernet cards for Power Mac and Xserve G5 systems. The cards are paired with Small Tree’s drivers and feature one, two or four ports. Small Tree claims to be the only company to offer multiport fiber optic Ethernet adapters for the Mac.
The cards are Intel Pro/1000 Server Adapters, and are 133MHz, 64-bit capable PCI-X cards. They single and two-port cards work with Power Mac G4 and G5 systems, as well as Xserves; the four-port card works with G5s and Xserve G4s. The cards use multimode optical fiber that can span up to 550 meters without repeaters and work with any existing fiber infrastructure.
Mac OS X v10.2.7 or higher is required. The single-port card costs US$649 and the two-port card costs $999 — pricing on the four-port card hasn’t been announced. The The single and two-port cards are expected to begin shipping later this month; the four-port card will ship in the fourth quarter of 2004.