Sonnet Echo Express III Thunderbolt

[Jarek Zabczynski]

I guess this would be a must have for the new MacPro, that is if Apple doesn't have their own solutions. Not sure if this is Thunderbolt 2 though.
I like the two 5.25" bays on the side for rackmount.


http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpressiii.html

 

[paul engstrom]

I guess this would be a must have for the new MacPro, that is if Apple doesn't have their own solutions. Not sure if this is Thunderbolt 2 though.
I like the two 5.25" bays on the side for rackmount.


http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpressiii.html

Wow -- I missed that one. Very useful!

 

[Jordan Livingston]

My hope, my prayer, is that Sonnet modify this product to be Thunderbolt 2.

Big fan of Sonnet. Use lots of their tools. We need a tool just like this in the Thunderbolt 2 realm.

Next challenge: who will figure out how to rack-mount the new MacPro? Sonnet solved this problem amazingly well for the MacMini...

- Jordan

 

[Matt Ryan]

I don't understand why more users don't have this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281046968127?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Supports up to three(3) full-length PCIe cards
Thunderbolt interface with 10Gbps of throughput in both channels
Stylish high quality aluminum housing with solid metal structure
Built-in a big & quite Fan cooling for self-contained ventilation
Ease-of-adjusted Fan speed control board for various working environment
Internal IPC-grades Ultra-quiet 250W power supply
Dedicated 250 watts PSU ensuring any combinations of PCIe cards workable within the NA211TB
Two PCIe 2.0 x8 (One slot is available for PCIe x16 card)
One PCIe 2.0 x4
Thunderbolt Expansion Up to Six Thunderbolt devices

Will be available with the new Thunderbolt 2 interface soon...

 

[joe hedge]

Way overpriced, and you can't put GPU's in it

Needs PCIe 3, TB 2, GPU compatibility and it'll be a must-have

 

[Alex Kiritz]

I don't understand why more users don't have this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281046968127?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Supports up to three(3) full-length PCIe cards
Thunderbolt interface with 10Gbps of throughput in both channels
Stylish high quality aluminum housing with solid metal structure
Built-in a big & quite Fan cooling for self-contained ventilation
Ease-of-adjusted Fan speed control board for various working environment
Internal IPC-grades Ultra-quiet 250W power supply
Dedicated 250 watts PSU ensuring any combinations of PCIe cards workable within the NA211TB
Two PCIe 2.0 x8 (One slot is available for PCIe x16 card)
One PCIe 2.0 x4
Thunderbolt Expansion Up to Six Thunderbolt devices

Will be available with the new Thunderbolt 2 interface soon...

Because if you use two separate enclosures you can plug one into each TB port and have twice the bandwidth.

 

[Matt Ryan]

Because if you use two separate enclosures you can plug one into each TB port and have twice the bandwidth.

That makes no sense because the Sonnet is the same thing....

You can use one for the Redrocket-X and one for a GPU or 2 or even a 4K output card. I'm just saying for the price the Netstor is a better bargain.

 

[Alex Kiritz]

That makes no sense because the Sonnet is the same thing....

You can use one for the Redrocket-X and one for a GPU or 2 or even a 4K output card. I'm just saying for the price the Netstor is a better bargain.

The bandwidth is not there so splitting it between two or three devices just makes no sense. You are paying a premium for that third slot because the Sonnet Echo Express Pro is listed for $679 on B&H.

 

[Patrick Tresch]

Does any one know if T2 is a software upgrade or hardware?

Thanks

Pat

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Does any one know if T2 is a software upgrade or hardware?

Hardware. Not only that, but you will need new cables too, otherwise you'll cripple yourself to TB1 operation. The active electronics in current TB cables only support two data channels, TB2 uses all 4 channels. Intel has been rather vague on the intended Thunderbolt roadmap, but TB2 is the upgrade that enables all 4 originally promised channels, each still operating at 10Gbps, but we're now at 40Gbps aggregate per port and TB2 allows multiplexing of channels and ports, which original TB1 does not. We do know that Intel's next plan is to upgrade the per-port bandwidth to at least 100Gbps. So I'm guessing TB3 will push the channel speed from 10Gbps to at least 25Gbps. And that's probably 2 years out at this point.

 

[Jack Stenner]

I have been waiting to decide whether to stick with Mac or jump ships, and had my eye on the ThunderRAID if going Mac Pro. If TB2 is a hardware upgrade, what does "Thunderbolt 2 Ready!" mean here:

http://www.maxxdigital.com/thunderraid-380.html

I would assume they mean it will work with TB2 interfaces, but of course it will be no faster than the TB1 spec allows...correct? Essentially, anything Thunderbolt out now is a dinosaur waiting to be replaced with TB2 (unless you're happy w/10Gbps).

I wonder why Sonnet doesn't mention TB2 with respect to the EEIII (unless I'm missing it)?

 

[M Most]

Essentially, anything Thunderbolt out now is a dinosaur waiting to be replaced with TB2 (unless you're happy w/10Gbps).

Well, cince 10Gb is faster than any other current storage interface (eSATA tops out at 6Gb, USB3 about the same, SAS at 8Gb, and FibreChannel about the same) I don't see why you wouldn't be "happy" with 10Gb. I know of a number of cases where SAN implementations (usually FibreChannel connected) have been replaced with 10Gig Ethernet setups in part for that reason.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I would assume they mean it will work with TB2 interfaces, but of course it will be no faster than the TB1 spec allows...correct? Essentially, anything Thunderbolt out now is a dinosaur waiting to be replaced with TB2 (unless you're happy w/10Gbps).

I wonder why Sonnet doesn't mention TB2 with respect to the EEIII (unless I'm missing it)?

Your assumption is correct.

You won't see much in the way of Thunderbolt 2 marketing for another month or two. Intel has not officially launched it yet. And with that, there's nothing wrong with 10Gbps, as M Most points out. Sure, there are faster solutions out there and there will be faster solutions available for Thunderbolt as well. The ThunderRAID is a nice product, but in terms of performance the Promise Pegasus has it beat. The ThunderRAID is built more rugged and would be my choice if I were placing the unit on a cart or taking it places. I like my Pegasus units, but they belong firmly planted on a solid desk where they won't get bumped.

The Pegasus R6 is a 6-drive unit, capable of up to 24GB of storage and it sustains 800MB/s reads and 720MB/s writes over one Thunderbolt cable. You can chain up to 6 of them on a single TB port. If you chain two of them, and just two, they will each occupy one Thunderbolt channel for bandwidth and each deliver that 800MB/s performance. Do a RAID-0 between the two and you'll be getting speeds in excess of 1.4GB/s over a single TB cable. Adding more units gives more space, but not more bandwidth. Just something to think about there... Thunderbolt, especially the upcoming Thunderbolt 2, is very ideal for small to mid-range storage solutions. Sure, for enterprise level stuff where you're talking about hundreds of TB's or even PB's, then there are other solutions. ...Much larger and vastly more expensive solutions.

Thunderbolt 2 moves us from two channels to four and allows direct multiplexing of those channels. So double the bandwidth in the same connector and up to 4X the bandwidth per device with the new ability to utilize multiple connectors to a single device if it were designed that way.

 

[Jack Stenner]

Thanks Jeff/M Most,


Yeah, I have been waffling between the R6 and the ThunderRAID. I'd forgotten about reading you could do RAID-0 between two R6s and exceed the 800MB/s. From what I understand, the magic number is ~1.2GB/s for realtime 4K. That's why I'm nervous to buy into TB1 knowing that TB2 will get me there in just a few months (assumption), say for example, with a single TB2 R6 or ThunderRAID.

If the goal is realtime 4K and that necessitates 1.2GB/s, then waiting a few months might make me "happier" than the "happy" I would get from TB1 and 800MB/s

...makes sense on the lack of Sonnet advertising for TB2...

 

[Ryland Jones]

Quick Update from Sonnet:

"The currently shipping Echo Express products (Echo Express SE, Echo Express II and Echo Express Pro) are not upgradable to Thunderbolt 2.
Our recently announced Echo Express III and Echo Express IIIR (http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpressiii.html) are designed to Thunderbolt 2 and beyond. In other words, they will be continuously upgradable with a simple, economical card swap." - Sonnet Tech