LaCie unveiled its Biggest S2S 2.5TB SATA II RAID Tower, which is a whopping 2.5GB five-bay RAID tower capable of reaching interface speeds of 3Gb/s with next generation serial ATA (SATA) technology. You want storage for all your digital media files? This baby's got it. You want speed? Well, with sustained transfer rates of 187MB/s, this compact tower is ideal for fast real-time storage of uncompressed video files thanks to its true SATA II-to-SATA II connection. Biggest S2S is the second new RAID solution from LaCie in less than a year, offering an extraordinary combination of up to 2.5TB capacity, RAID security and fast throughput at a fraction of the cost for traditional RAID systems. Ironically, I just ordered the LaCie Biggest F800 1TB version yesterday, which was supposed to TMC's largest and fastest RAID 5 server with around 57MB/s. Now, we're so outdated - slower and less storage. <sigh>

Anyway, the Biggest S2S can be easily configured to Fast (RAID 0) in which disks are striped together for best performance without redundancy; 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.**

“With sustained transfer rates of 187MB/s, Biggest S2S offers the fast throughput needed by video editors,” says Emanuela Boila, LaCie Product Manager. “Biggest S2S is the most secure true SATA II-to-SATA II solution available at the lowest price imaginable. It’s simple to set up with easily identifiable RAID settings, and video editors or IT administrators can instantly get the extra headroom they need for real-time editing or fast backup.”

This all-in-one storage solution comes bundled with the LaCie SATA II 3Gb/s PCI-X Card 4E. Users simply plug the Biggest S2S into this next-generation SATA II 3Gb/s host to achieve sustained transfer rates of up to 187MB/s. Designed with video editors and IT administrators in mind, Biggest S2S satisfies the need for high-volume security and speed at a comparatively cost-effective price.

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
• Comes with the LaCie SATA II 3Gb/s PCI-X Card 4E
• Cross-platform for PC and Mac

• Five bays with hot-swappable drives up to 2.5TB
  
• Next generation SATA II 3Gb/s interface and included SATA II PCI-X Card
  
• Supports uncompressed video editing with 187MB/s throughput
  
• Can be easily configured to RAID levels 0, 0+1, 1, JBOD