Sonnet offers new RAID 5 storage systems

Sonnet Technologies has announced the release of its Fusion D400QR5 desktop and R400QR5 rackmount four-drive hardware-based RAID 5 storage systems. They’re priced at $1,335 for a 2 terabyte (TB) model to $1,675 for a 6TB model.

The new Fusion RAID storage systems employ Serial ATA (SATA) hardware that supports RAID 5 formatting — good for data protection if a drive fails — and RAID 0 striping, better for maximum speed and capacity. The system sports its own RAID controller card, and features four interfaces: external Serial ATA (eSATA), FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0.

The drives include all four interface cables. FireWire 400, 800 and USB 2.0 are supports on most Macs; eSATA can be added to expandable Macs like the Mac Pro and some MacBook Pro models with the use of a third-party controller card.

The new drives look very similar to Sonnet’s D400Q and R400Q models. The systems sport a chassis design that complements Apple’s Pro line; the rack unit occupies 1U of standard rack unit space. Drive bays are hot-swappable.

The units sport LCD displays that show operating performance, and controls let users select RAID modes and configure individual SATA drive modules. The systems support Mac OS X, Windows, and various flavors of Linux.