OWC Intros Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 RAID Box

OWC has been on a roll of late with system upgrades, but today it's introducing a standalone product that will definitely catch the eyes of storage junkies everywhere. The Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 is a quad interface plug-and-play desktop hardware RAID solution which easily handled FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA.

Like most average, consumer-level RAID setups, this one too boasts four drive bays for up to 8TB of storage (using a foursome of 2TB internal hard drives). There's also four selectable hardware RAID settings (0, 1, 5, 10, as well as a Span [NRAID] setting), and OWC promises that users will see data transfer speeds up to 300MB/second. We're also told that it's well suited for A/V, HD-video, digital photography, professional music, graphics, and redundant backup, and naturally it functions just with Mac and PC platforms. Of note, the device has been designed with a heat dissipating aircraft-grade brushed aluminum housing, and the front-panel LEDs give owners quick, at-a-glance system status.


The Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 is now shipping in capacities from 2TB to 8TB, priced starting at $699.99. Exact configurations that are available are as follows:

·  2TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 (500GB x 4 w/64MB cache) & 3 year warranty - $679.99

·  3TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 (750GB x 4 w/128MB cache) & 3 year warranty - $849.99

·  4TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 (1TB x 4 w/128MB cache) & 3 year warranty - $979.99

·  6TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 (1.5TB x 4 w/128MB cache) & 3 year warranty - $1149.99

·  8TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 (2TB x 4 w/128MB cache) & 3 year warranty - $1899.99

·  Enterprise Class 2TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 (500GB x 4 w/64MB cache) & 5 year warranty - $799.99

·  Enterprise Class 4TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 (1TB x 4 w/128MB cache) & 5 year warranty - $1149.99

Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 Technical Specifications:

 

• Oxford 936QSE chipset

• Data buffer up to 128MB

• Speeds up to 10,000RPM

• Data transfer speeds up to 300MB/s

• 2 FireWire 800 ports, 1 FireWire 400 port, 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 eSATA port

• 4 Front panel selectable Hardware RAID settings: 0, 1, 5, 10 or Span (NRAID)

• LEDs for RAID selection and hard drive status

• 4 hot swappable hard drive bays

• Smart Fan automatically regulates fan speed

• Fan and power supply warning buzzer

• Front panel lock with keys for drive security

• All interface connection cables

• Internal US/International 100/240V, 50Hz/60Hz, 12V/6A Auto Switching power supply

• Measurement:  5.31" (W) x 9.65" (D) x 6.96" (H), weight: 8.6 pounds (base case)

• Warranty: 3 year complete solution warranty, 5 year complete solution warranty

for Enterprise Class models

• Mac and PC compatible
• Includes $200 retail value disk utility software bundle: Carbon Copy Cloner, ProSoft Engineering® Data Backup 3, NovaStor NovaBACKUP®, and Intech® SpeedTools Utilities™