LaCie Bundles SATA II PCI-Express Card 4E With Biggest S2S 5-Bay RAID Subsystem

• Compact 5-bay SATA II RAID subsystem up to 2.5TB
• Best for real-time video editing on PCIe-equipped Macs or PCs
• Fast throughput of up to 187MB/s in RAID 0
• Comes with next-generation SATA II PCI-Express Card 4E

PORTLAND, OR (July 2006) – Today LaCie announced it will bundle a next-generation SATA II PCI-Express (PCIe) Card 4E with its Biggest S2S 5-bay SATA II RAID subsystem. The new LaCie SATA II 3Gb/s PCI-Express Card 4E has four ports and provides a native x8 host bus interface for use with Apple® Power Mac® G5s or PCs with PCIe architecture. Thanks to port multiplication all five drives can be connected to a single port on the LaCie SATA II 3Gb/s PCIe Card 4E. Up to four Biggest S2S units can be connected for ultimate capacity and speed. LaCie Biggest S2S is also equipped with a new graphical user interface (GUI) and an advanced RAID configuration mode.

LaCie Product Manager Emanuela Boila said, “S2S is the most compact, fast and affordable video RAID solution for those working with SD or HD. In RAID 0 it offers enough throughput to edit 10-bit uncompressed HD 720p or 6 streams of 8-bit uncompressed SD video. Even in RAID 1 the LaCie S2S will offer enough throughput to comfortably edit about 4 streams of uncompressed SD. It’s the best, most reliable alternative to high-priced SCSI or fibre channel RAID.”

LaCie Biggest S2S with PCIe achieves a maximum throughput of 187MB/s in RAID 0. Drives are hot-swappable for instant expandability and the unit is hot-pluggable so can be removed without having to power down the computer. New advanced features include the ability to create unique RAID sets to fit different needs, and the ability to customize email alerts in the event of drive failure. LaCie also offers a Biggest S2S bundled with a PCI-X card.

LaCie Biggest S2S comes pre-formatted in Fast mode (RAID 0) in which the disks are striped together for ultimate speed right out of the box. Biggest S2S can be easily configured to Safe (RAID 1) in which all data is mirrored on duplicate disks for ultimate redundancy; Safe + Fast, (RAID 0+1) a combination of striping for speed and mirroring for redundancy; Big in which drives are strung together or concatenated and treated as one large volume for maximum storage; or JBOD in which each physical disk is independent and mapped completely to its logical volume.*

Features
• Huge scalable capacities of up to 2.5TB
• Supports uncompressed video editing
• Easy setup - simply plug into a SATA host
• Automatic on-line rebuilding and email notification
• Comes with the LaCie SATA II 3Gb/s PCI-X or PCIe Card 4E
• Cross-platform for PC and Mac

Availability
LaCie Biggest S2S is available immediately via LaCie websites and widely available through LaCie’s specialized dealer network in July at the suggested retail prices below. LaCie Biggest S2S ships with the selected PCI card and all necessary cables for immediate use. Additional product information can be found at www.lacie.com.

LaCie Biggest S2S with PCIe 1.25TB $1699
LaCie Biggest S2S with PCIe 2.5TB $2799

LaCie Biggest S2S with PCI-X 1.25TB $1499
LaCie Biggest S2S with PCI-X 2.5TB $2699

About LaCie
LaCie creates external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday users easily manage their digital lives. Powerful technology combined with unique designs by the internationally acclaimed Philippe Starck, Neil Poulton, Porsche Design GmbH, Ora-Ïto and Karim Rashid make LaCie the world leader in storage innovation. Established in France in 1989, LaCie is now headquartered in North America, Europe and Asia and listed on the Paris Nouveau Marché (code 5431). For more information, visit www.lacie.com.

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Contact LaCie
Press Inquiries: Melissa Logan, 503-844-4500, mlogan@lacie.com
Sales Inquiries: Direct Sales, 503-844-4502, sales@lacie.com
Reseller Sales, 503-844-4500, sales@lacie.com

Sustained transfer rates can vary depending upon the selected RAID configuration. The maximum sustained transfer rate of 187MB/s was achieved in Fast mode (RAID 0).

1GB (gigabyte) = 1 billion bytes. 1TB (terabyte) = 1000GB. Total accessible capacity varies depending upon operating environment (typically 5–10% less).

* A Windows XP partition limitation does not allow the configuration of Big with more than 2TB. This limitation does not exist for Mac OS X.

Contact Information

Melissa Logan

PR Specialist

LaCie

Contact via E-mail