The 640GB Fusion F2 Portable eSATA Hard Drive Array from Sonnet is a high-capacity portable RAID that features two 5400rpm drives striped together in a hardware RAID 0 configuration. It connects to a computer via eSATA, requiring 2 available ports for operation. The drive is powered by your computer's FireWire-400 bus, even though it does not transfer data via FireWire. Optional batteries are available for systems that lack FireWire.
The drive is housed in a durable external casing that features passive cooling for quiet operation. It delivers transfer rates fast enough to play back multiple streams of high-definition video simultaneously, making it an ideal solution for editing on the go. It can be used with Windows, Mac, and Linux computer systems.
Remarkable Performance, Diminutive Package
Speed, reliability, ruggedness, and convenience—these are the essential qualities of a storage system for on-location video capture. When you need to travel light, choose a Sonnet Fusion F2 portable SATA RAID storage system. Providing 640GB of storage in a small enclosure, Fusion F2 uses eSATA connections to deliver the fastest performance yet from a 2-drive portable storage system, with data transfer rates up to twice as fast as FireWire. By connecting Fusion F2 through a SATA host adapter like Sonnet's Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard/34, your notebook's FireWire-800 port is left open for use by an AJA Video Systems ioHD, which requires dedicated use of FireWire bandwidth. Fusion F2 is cool, quiet, and energy-efficient: side-by-side placement of its drives increases the metal case's cooling surface area, thereby eliminating the need for a fan, and allowing it to be bus-powered so it can be used even when no grid power is available
RAID to Go
Connected to a Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard/34 installed in a MacBook Pro, and with its drives configured as a RAID 0 striped volume, the compact Fusion F2 is capable of up to 190MB/sec sustained read and write data transfers, fast enough to handle multiple streams of ProRes 422 (HQ)! Compared to the slower 66MB/sec performance from a pair of drives connected via FireWire-800, the advantage is clear -- Fusion F2 provides you the capability to capture and play more streams of compressed video for field editing. With its drives configured as a RAID 1 mirrored volume, Fusion F2 still can capture Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) HD fed from an AJA ioHD. This protected mode also enables you to safely transfer data from Panasonic P2, Sony SxS Pro, or similar memory cards in the field. Verifying captured footage on a MacBook Pro/Fusion F2 system will provide you the peace of mind to erase and reuse cards on location
Two Data Connections
Fusion F2 features two 3Gbps eSATA data ports. By connecting via a direct SATA II interface with no bridge chip between the F2's case and SATA II drives, there is no resulting communication slowdown, just the fastest data transfers possible
Flexible Power Options
Fusion F2 can be powered by your computer through a spare FireWire port using an included FireWire-to-power cable. For longer field work, Fusion F2 is compatible with all models of myPower ALL batteries from Tekkeon at an 8-19V setting. Sonnet recommends model MP3450i, which at a 56 Watt-hour capacity, should provide up to 9 hours of F2 run time. Other power options include another FireWire device, powered hub, or Sonnet's optional World Travel Power Adapter
Driving Force
Fusion F2 employs two 5400rpm, 2.5" mobile hard drives that offer an optimal balance between speed, power consumption, and reliability. Sonnet chose these high-performance drives because they offer greater areal density than other mobile hard drives (that is, they pack more data per platter), use the 3Gbps SATA interface, and deliver astonishing performance. Simply put, they are the fastest 2.5" mobile hard drives available today. Fusion F2's drives are also extremely quiet and very rugged, making the Fusion F2 a great travel companion for your mobile studio
Rugged for a Reason
Fusion F2 was devised as a high-performance, high-reliability alternative to existing portable drive solutions. Encased inside a thick aluminum shell, each of Fusion F2's drives is individually shock-isolated, not only protecting the drives during transport, but also virtually eliminating cross-coupled vibration -- a potential source of soft-error-induced skipped frames
Versatile Performance
Fusion F2 is ideal for use on location as well as the office—various operating systems, editing applications and output demands requiring the flexibility and interoperability that Fusion F2 provides. Fusion storage systems support Mac OS X, Windows Vista, Windows XP Professional, and Linux. It is compatible with capture cards from AJA, Blackmagic Design, Matrox, and Bluefish444, and works with all mainstream video editing applications including Apple Final Cut Pro, and Adobe Premiere Pro
Ultra-Portable
Two 2.5" SATA drives mounted side-by-side inside a 5.9 x 6.2 x 0.72" aluminum case are bus-powered for the ultimate in portability
Remarkably Fast
With its drives formatted as a RAID 0 volume, Fusion F2 delivers sustained data transfer rates up to 190MB/sec read and write, more than twice as fast as a pair of FireWire-800 drives
Field Video Certified
With its SATA data interface, Fusion F2 is the perfect storage companion for a portable video capture system that may saturate a notebook's FireWire bus
Rugged and Reliable
Both drives are individually shock-isolated, virtually eliminating cross-coupled vibration, which, unchecked, can induce soft errors -- a potential source of skipped frames
Cool and Quiet
Because of its efficient fanless design, if not for the cool blue LEDs, you may not even know that Fusion F2 was running
Compliance
RoHS compliant
Compatibility
Compatible with Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard/34, Tempo SATA E4P, Tempo SATA X4P, and Tempo SATA E2P host controllers