LaCie Launches 5TB SATA RAID For Video Professionals

• Massive 5TB RAID in a single, powerful solution
• 10-bit uncompressed HD playback support
• Scalable to up to 20TB for HD multi-stream support


PORTLAND, OR (July 2007) – Today LaCie announced the 5TB Biggest S2S 5-disk RAID designed for digital content creation applications. Thanks to its eSATA 3Gbit/s interface and direct eSATA-to-SATA connection, a single LaCie Biggest S2S is capable of reaching burst transfer rates of over 200MB/s*. For advanced professionals, up to four S2S units can be connected on the included eSATA PCI-X/Express Card to achieve a massive 20TB solution with a burst speed of over 600MB/s*.

“LaCie Biggest S2S 5TB is probably the most cost-efficient solution for HD/SD video editing and post-production,” said Olivier Mirloup, LaCie Hard Disk Drive Business Unit Manager. “It offers fast performance and data integrity in a single unit up to 5TB. In RAID 0, the ultra-fast eSATA interface offers enough speed to edit hours of 10-bit HD uncompressed or play back up to six 8-bit SD video streams. This can even be drastically improved combining several S2S units, revolutionizing a market driven so far by much less cost-effective solutions, such as SCSI/fiber technologies.”

Disks are hot-swappable for instant expandability and the solution is hot-pluggable - no need to power down the computer. Advanced features include the ability to customize email alerts in the event of disk failure and to create unique RAID sets to fit different needs.

LaCie Biggest S2S comes pre-configured in Fast mode (hardware RAID 0), in which the disks are striped together for ultimate speed instantly. The Biggest S2S can be easily configured to Safe (hardware RAID 1); Safe + Fast, (hardware RAID 0+1); Big (hardware concatenation); or JBOD.

LaCie Biggest S2S comes with a 4-port PCI card for immediate use. Users can select the LaCie SATA II 3Gbits/s PCI-Express Card 4E or LaCie SATA II 3Gbits/s PCI-X Card 4E with four ports and a native x8 host bus interface. Thanks to port multiplication, all five disks are connected to a single port on the LaCie SATA II 3Gbits/s PCI-Express Card 4E.


Availability
The LaCie Biggest S2S 5TB is available at the suggested retail prices of $3,699 (with PCI-X Card) and $3,799 (with PCI-E Card). The 2.5TB model is also available via our specialized online and retail dealer network, or through LaCie direct. Disks are shipped with the selected PCI Card and all cables needed for immediate use. Product details can be found at www.lacie.com.

About LaCie
Located in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, LaCie is the leading manufacturer of computer peripherals for PC, Apple and Linux users. LaCie creates external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday people easily manage their digital lives. LaCie has differentiated its products through original designs and leading-edge technology. Established in France in 1989, LaCie is listed on Euronext under FR0000054314 (LAC). For more information, visit www.lacie.com.

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Contact LaCie
Press Inquiries: Barry Katcher, 503-844-4500, bkatcher@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. This maximum sustained transfer rate was achieved in software RAID 0 mode using one or four S2S units in JBOD or in Fast mode (hardware RAID 0) on a current Mac using a PCI-E x8 slot.

1GB (gigabyte) = 1,000,000,000 bytes. 1TB (terabyte) = 1000GB. Total accessible capacity varies depending upon operating environment (typically 5-10% less). Available storage capacity also depends on the RAID level: RAID 0/JBOD/Concatenation = 100%, RAID 0+1 = 50%.

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 or Windows® Vista™ and Windows Server 2003.

Contact Information

Barry Katcher

Public Relations Manager

LaCie

Contact via E-mail