Sonnet Technologies Inc. on Thursday announced updates to its Tempo-X Serial ATA (SATA) host controllers for the Macintosh. The company has added hot-swap functionality to the controllers, and has also announced a new model: The Tempo-X SATA 4+4.
SATA is a serial link high-speed interface that Apple uses on the Power Mac G5 for its internal hard disk drive connectivity. Devices communicating over SATA can transmit data up to 150MB/sec. Sonnet’s Tempo-X host controllers are PCI-X expansion cards that enable Power Mac G5s to support additional SATA drives internally or externally, as well as older Power Mac G4 systems.
Hot-swap support means that you can now connect and disconnect SATA drives from Tempo-X equipped Macs without needing to power down the computer first. This feature is now built on to all Tempo-X cards and can be added to existing Tempo-X cards using a downloadable firmware upgrade.
The new Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 controller is an eight port SATA host controller that replaces the Tempo-X SATA 4+4. Most notably, this card includes eSATA connectors used to attach external SATA drives. Sonnet says that eSATA connectors and cables offer better shielding and electromagnetic interference (EMI) characteristics and have better retention than internal SATA cables.
The Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 controller is compatible with Mac OS X v10.2 or higher and works with Power Mac G3 blue and white, Power Mac G4 (all systems except the Power Mac G4 Cube) and Power Mac G5 systems. It costs US$199.95.