On Monday, MicroNet, a storage developer catering to the small and medium business community, unveiled its new RAIDBank5 storage solution. Boasting a 10TB capacity with the reliability of RAID 5, the RAIDBank5 is designed for creative professionals looking for a fast, low-hassle RAID solution.
The RAIDBank5 offers quad interface connectivity including FireWire 800, FireWire 400, eSATA, USB 2.0, and USB 3.0. Unfortunately, as USB 3.0 connectivity is not supported by Apple at this time, Mac users cannot enjoy this latter connection type. But they can enjoy all four other connection types and the RAIDBank5’s RAID architecture that MicroNet claims can deliver more than 200 MBps.
According to MicroNet’s press release, the RAIDBank5 can achieve read and write speeds of 218 MBps and 220 MBps, respectively, when configured for RAID 5 operations. This makes the RAIDBank5 an ideal solution for small business owners and creative professionals who have high-end needs for digital audio editing and video production. The RAIDBank5 supports multi-stream High Definition Video, DVCPro for broadcasting use, Apple’s Pro-Res 422 for post-production on Final Cut Studio, as well as uncompressed Standard Definition and High Definition video workflow.
As high-end as the MicroNet’s features and performance is, the interface isn’t just designed for IT professionals. Instead, the RAIDBank5 is designed with small business owners in mind who lack a dedicated IT staff. Even non-professionals can enjoy the RAIDBank5’s one-button backup, USB plug-in encryption key (that ensures data security thanks to an AES-256 encryption), hot-swappable disk drives, and a plug-and-play RAID configuration enabled through a graphical, visually-simplistic user interface.
The RAIDBank5 is also one very secure unit. RAID levels of 0, 1, 10, 2, and 5 are supported, ensuring data redundancy for all your sensitive files. And even though the RAIDBank 5 offers hot-swappable modules, MicroNet claims that the unit will still operate with no data loss or interruption of data availability when a user pulls out a module. The MicroNet press release also assures users that, “The noise-free fan module with SMART thermal sensor is also user-replaceable without any downtime, eliminating the need for costly maintenance contracts or on-site service calls.”
The MicroNet RAIDBank5 starts at $799 for a 2.5 TB array and goes up to $1799 for a 10TB configuration. While likely out of the price range of many consumers, audio/visual professionals and small businesses may consider such sums paltry when compared to the security and speed offered by the RAIDBank5.
RAIDBank5 5TB
RAIDBank5 10TB
RAIDBank5 2.5TB