OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2: 12TB of super-flexible storage
OWC knows how to tease us: slap a huge amount of speedy storage into a shiny aluminum box, and give it a glamorous name. The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 is a good example, up to 12TB of RAID storage, four SATA-I/II bays and up to 300MB/s data transfer rates with four different ports to choose from.
There's no ethernet – this isn't a NAS – but you do get a choice of FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA. We're a bit disappointed not to see USB 3.0 in there, but then again OWC do generally have a soft spot for Apple machines and we're yet to see a Cupertino computer with a USB 3.0 port.
RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and Span setups are supported, and OWC promise two million MTBF with their 12TB model. The Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 kicks off from $299.99, as long as you don't mind supplying your own drives, but of course the 12TB version is a hefty $1,279.99.
Press Release:
OWC ANNOUNCES MERCURY ELITE-AL PRO QX2
MASSIVE 12TB ENTERPRISE RAID STORAGE DRIVEHighly Reliable 2 Million MTBF for Critical 24/7 Applications
Plug & Play Desktop-Sized Hardware RAID Storage/Backup Drive
5 Year Warranty Protection for Macs & PCs
February 22, 2011, Woodstock, IL — Other World Computing (OWC®) http://www.macsales.com, a leading zero emissions Mac® and PC technology company, announced today the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 hardware RAID storage drive with massive 12TB of storage/backup in a desktop-sized brushed aluminum enclosure. Featuring four 3TB high performance hard drives in four hot swappable drive bays, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 12TB RAID storage drive offers the flexibility of a "Quad Interface" of FireWire® 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0, and eSATA; four selectable Hardware RAID settings of 0, 1, 5, 10; and 300MB/s data transfer rates for high speed, Plug & Play storage and redundancy for Macs and PCs.
Built for Demanding Performance-Intensive Applications
The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 is built for demanding performance-intensive applications, such as:
· Cloud storage
Massive Scale Out (MSO)
Data warehousing & mining
Disk-to-disk backup & archiving
RAID arrays
Network Attached Storage (NAS)
Audio/Video/HD-video editing.
Digital photography/graphics.
Professional music.
Redundant backup.
2 Million MTBF for Enterprise-Class High Reliability
Designed for 24/7 enterprise-class capacity-optimized applications, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 offers two million MTBF, nearly double the MTBF of consumer class drives, for unsurpassed reliability for critical enterprise applications. Pre-configured in Hardware RAID 5 mode to provide data redundancy for uninterrupted access and protection against data loss, the drive can also be automatically configured to use the other hardware RAID settings: 0, 1, or 10, as well as a Span (NRAID). Selecting and visually confirming the RAID setting is performed by a recessed selector switch safely located behind the lockable front panel.
Comprehensive "Burn-in" Testing Ensures Highest Reliability – Includes Five Year Warranty
Unlike most other brands that are shipped with little or no testing, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 12TB as well as the full Qx2 line undergoes a multi-hour "burn in" performance certification procedure to ensure that the unit is operating properly and ready for demanding use. With this unmatched commitment to quality, OWC backs the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 with an industry leading five year warranty.
OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 12TB desktop hardware RAID Features:
Four 3TB high performance hard drives for 12TB capacity.
Four separate interfaces: FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB, & eSATA.
Four selectable hardware RAID settings: 0, 1, 5, 10.
Fast 300MB/s data transfer rates.
Two million MTFP for high reliability.
Extensively pre-tested for demanding use.
Front panel LEDs offer quick, at-a-glance system status.
All connection cables are included.
Removable Key Lock for extra security.
Five year warranty.
Pricing & Availability and Additional Drive Capacity Models
The 12TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 is available immediately, priced at $2,219.99. It includes cables for eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0/1.1, power cord, two keys for front panel lock, Backup and Utility software CD: Intech® SpeedTools Utilities™ OEM, Prosoft Engineering® Data Backup, NovaStor NovaBACKUP®, Carbon Copy Cloner©, and Freeware/Shareware/Public domain software pre-installed. For more information on the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 12TB, see: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/RAID/Desktop/
In addition, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 is also available with various drive capacity options from 0TB (no drive included) to 12TB, starting from $479.99 see http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/RAID/Desktop/ for more info.