FirmTek announced last week the availability of a new SSD PCIe card that allows for the mounting of two 2.5-inch HDD, SSD, or SSHD SATA drives on a single half-length PCIe card, which can be bundled inexpensively with FirmTek’s Thunderbolt expansion chassis. The company’s new SeriTek/i6G card is aimed at saving space by cutting down on the need for separate enclosures, power supplies, and cabling.
FirmTek’s SeriTek/i6G has two mounting points for multiple drive types on a half-length PCIe card, and it is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS. A Windows PC or legacy Mac Pro with a PCIEe 2.0 4-lane or higher slot should be compatible with the SeriTek/i6G, and users can pair the device via a Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis.
The new drive interface card boasts real world storage performance results “in excess of 500MB/s,” with speeds up to 760MB/s. FirmTek representatives say it will be ideal for audio and video editing, photography, media content storage, storage expansion, and data backup. The SeriTek/i6G is compatible with SATA 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, and 1.5 Gb/s drives. It also supports Disk Utility RAID and JBOD configuration, and the device’s firmware is user-upgradeable.
FirmTek’s SeriTek/i6G is currently available for Mac OS and Windows, with a retail price of $100. For $200, the device comes with the ThunderTek/PX Thunderbolt expansion chassis. Customers buying in FirmTek stores can purchase two SeriTek/i6G cards for $150. Other configurations are available at FirmTek distributors and resellers.
