Proavio MiniSAS Storage Receives MacWorld Magazine's 5 Mice Rating!

June 08, 2008

High Performance Storage - Not so much about space, but about time
Sometimes it's not so much a matter of storage space, but how quickly you can fill the space with data. This particularly the case with video editing. You still need lots of space but more importantly you need to be able to get the video on and off the drive at a high speed.

To the rescue comes this flock of external add-on drives with a speed advantage. They all use an interface that is much faster than even FireWire800. Most are based on the same interface found inside your Mac, known as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), but one uses a Mini Serial Attached SCSI (MiniSAS) cable to support four SATA connections with just one cable.

Just in case you thought all SATA controllers are the same, our tests proved that the HighPoint RocketRAID 3522 included with the Proavio EB8MS is in a different league. The Proavio/HighPoint combination whipped all the other drives to a virtual standstill in comparison, beating the next best drive by a factor of six in RAID-5 configuration. In fact, the Proavio running in RAID-0 mode was still three times as fast as the next fastest RAID-5 drive.

The performance king in this line-up was the Proavio EB8MS 8-bay tower. This impressive box isn't exactly portable, expect in a road case of the type favored by musicians and film crew, but certainly performs when teamed with the HighPoint RocketRAID 3522 controller. Once setup, this combination can move data at speeds up to 650MB/s, which is over nine times faster than the Mac's internal disks can manage. For video editing of large projects this drive and controller combination is far and a way better value than Apple's offering of a SCSI RAID controller and four 300GB internal drives. That will set you back $4700 and provide 1.2TB of storage operating at 250MB/s. The Proavio EB8MS gives you more than double the storage, more than double the throughput and costs under $4000. You just need the extra room alongside your MacPro to park the eight-bay mini-tower. Unless your real estate costs are very high, this one is what they call a no-brainer. - Ian Yates, Australian MacWorld Magazine.

Originally Printed in Australian MacWorld, June 08, 2008. Courtesy of Niche Media Pty Ltd.



About EditBOX EB8MS
World-class SATA/SAS storage solution designed for high resolution uncompressed HD & 2K Production. Get performance and reliability in a high-quality 8-disk MiniSAS array with new SFF8088 MiniSAS interface. EditBOX EB8MS models are available in capacities ranging from 2.0TB to 8.0TB and now available as a complete solution through authorized dealers world-wide.

About Australian MacWorld Magazine
Australian Macworld is the premier Australian source for news, reviews, help and how-to, and podcasts for the Australian Apple market, including the Mac, Mac software, Mac OS X, the iPod and iTunes. Both in print and online, Australian Macworld is your source for your Mac-related lifestyle. To learn more about Australian MacWorld vist www.macworld.com.au

About Proavio
Proavio (www.proavio.com) designs and manufactures high performance storage systems and products for the digital content creation, post production, and broadcast markets. Product line includes Ultra320 SCSI, 3Gb SAS/SATA, 4Gb Fibre Channel, desktop FireWire and IP-SAN storage. To learn more about Proavio call (562) 324-6500 or visit the Proavio website: www.proavio.com