Sonnet Announces 10GbE and 6Gb eSATA Thunderbolt™ Adapters


IRVINE, Calif. — September, 2012 — Sonnet Technologies today announced the Echo™ Express SE 10 Gigabit Ethernet Thunderbolt™ Adapter and the Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port Thunderbolt Adapter. These new adapters pair Sonnet's just-released Echo Express SE Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis for PCI Express® (PCIe®) cards with either a Sonnet Pro one-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) adapter card or four-port 6Gb eSATA adapter card, respectively, in value-priced bundles that provide high-speed data and storage interfaces to iMac®, Mac® mini, MacBook® Air, and MacBook Pro computers with a Thunderbolt port. The adapters ship with the interface cards preinstalled.

The Echo Express SE 10GbE is a Thunderbolt-to-10GbE adapter that bundles Sonnet's Echo Express SE Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis for PCIe cards and the Presto™ 10GbE PCIe Card with Fibre SFP+, providing a near plug-and-play solution for adding 10GbE connectivity to any computer with a Thunderbolt port. This adapter enables users to connect their computers to high-speed infrastructure and storage without stepping down in speed. Data centers are adopting the 10GbE standard increasingly for wired networking and specialized applications such as HD video editing using high-performance shared storage systems — yet no Mac® computer offers this interface option. Sonnet's solution provides users with a powerfully simple way to add 10GbE connectivity to any computer with a Thunderbolt port.

The Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port is a Thunderbolt-to-eSATA adapter that bundles Sonnet's Echo Express SE Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis for PCIe cards and the Tempo™ SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port eSATA host controller, providing a plug-and-play solution for adding four high-performance eSATA ports to any computer with a Thunderbolt port. This adapter enables users to connect single- and multidrive storage systems to any computer with a Thunderbolt port so that they can take advantage of the 6 Gb/s eSATA interface's superior throughput compared to all FireWire® and USB interfaces. The Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port card was designed for optimum performance over Thunderbolt, and its ability to support aggregate transfer speeds of up to 760 MB/s reflects its optimized design.

Each Echo Express SE value bundle comes with its adapter card preinstalled, so physical setup is as simple as connecting the external power supply plus necessary interface cables among the Echo Express SE chassis, computer, and data or storage devices. Measuring only 5.7 inches wide by 8.8 inches long by 2.9 inches tall and weighing less than three pounds, each chassis takes up very little space wherever it's used. Dual Thunderbolt ports support daisy-chaining of devices, and an automatic temperature-controlled fan quietly cools the installed card. Each Echo adapter conserves energy by powering on/off when the computer to which it is connected powers on/off or wakes/sleeps.

"Echo Express SE 10GbE and Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port adapters provide users with a simply fast way to add the latest high-performance ports to their computers," said Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies. "On its own, each adapter delivers a significant savings over purchasing the Echo Express SE and adapter card separately, but with the inclusion of a five-year warranty, these Sonnet solutions are just great values."

The Echo Express SE 10GbE (part number ECHO-EXP-SE10G) and the Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port (part number ECHO-EXP-SE4S) are now available for USD $999 and USD $599, respectively. More information on these products is available at www.sonnettech.com/product/thunderbolt/index.html.
More information on Sonnet and its other products is available at www.sonnettech.com.


About Sonnet Technologies
Sonnet Technologies Inc. is a leader in providing storage systems, media readers, and Thunderbolt™ technology PCIe® expansion products for professional users of Mac®, Windows®, and UNIX® systems in the film, video, and broadcast industries. The company's product line features a range of high-performance, cost-effective, and reliable desktop and rackmount RAID storage solutions ranging from two- and four-drive portable units, to eight- and 16-drive desktop attached storage with advanced RAID controllers, to 16-drive, 16-port, 8Gb Fibre Channel shared storage systems that are expandable to 384TB. Celebrating 26 years in business, Sonnet has pioneered and brought to market numerous innovative solutions that enhance the performance and connectivity of Mac, Windows, and other industry-standard computers. More information is available at www.sonnettech.com.
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