The first external 4 port PCI-x SATA 3G host adapter card compatible with Power Mac G5 (Early 2005, Late 2004), G4 and PC. FASTA-4x features high speed SATA 3G connection at 3Gbps bandwidth and allows users to connect upto 4 external SATA devices to the computer. With the Port Multiplier functionality, FASTA-4e can support up to 20 hard drives (like CalDigit's S2VR 5-drive Hardware RAID).

With FASTA-4x, you have the potential to actually use the greatest speeds and the best STR (Sustainable Transfer Rate) that are available with SATA 1.5Gb/s and 3Gb/s interfaces, when you begin to stack SATA drives together in RAID (like SATA dumb box, Port Multiplier-aware enclosure or CalDigit S2VR Hardware RAID series).

Supporting high capacity and sustained data transfer, FASTA-4x is ideal for connecting to video and photo editing "scratch disks", huge photo/MP3/movie libraries and small to medium business file servers.

FASTA-4x will free up the FireWire bus of your G5 or G4 to allow video capture devices such as DV camcorders, VCR, AJA Io, LA, LD, etc that require the full bandwidth of FireWire and high speed access to external hard drives.

FEATURES:

• 4 External SATA 3G Ports.

• Connect up to 4x S2VR HD or 2x S2VR Pro

• Connect up to 20 SATA hard drives

• 3.0 Gbps bandwidth transfer speed

• Stable transfer data rate

• Port multiplier capability

• Plug and Play

• Downward compatible with SATA I device

• Supports Mac OSX and Windows OS RAID

• Compatible with a variety of capture cards, like AJA, BMD, Matrox

• 3-year warranty

Sustained Transfer for Video Editing:

Not all SATA cards built the same. FASTA-4x provides the most stable data transfer rate that any other SATA card cannot offer to you.

FASTA-4x's Outstanding Performance and Sustainable Transfer Rate optimized for a variety of high bandwidth applications, including Photo editing, High Definition (HD) video editing and capture.

Test 1:

FASTA-4x with 5-bay Port Multiplier-aware Enclosure

• Machine: Power Mac G5
• CalDigit FASTA-4x SATA card
• 5-drive Port Multiplier Enclosure
  connecting to one SATA port on FASTA-4x
• 5 drives OS stripped
• AJA KONA System Test (Version 2)
• Result:
  Read - 233MB/s Sustained
  Write - 205MB/s

Test 2:

FASTA-4x with S2VR Duo 2-bay Hardware RAID Enclosure

• Machine: Power Mac G5
• CalDigit FASTA-4x SATA card
• 5-drive Port Multiplier Enclosure
  connecting to one SATA port on FASTA-4x
• Hardware RAID
• AJA KONA System Test (Version 2)
• Result:
  Read - 148MB/s Sustained
  Write - 149MB/s

Enhance your editing experience

If you are a video editor working with FinalCut Pro on a G5, this card is designed for you. FASTA-4x can easily handle multiple streams of a variety video formats such as 10 bit uncompressed HD, 8 bit uncompressed HD, DVCPro HD, 8 bit SD, 10 bit SD, HDV, etc. It allows you to connect up to 4 external S2VR with up to 20 drives and with 3Gbps bandwidth for each port for the fastest data transfer.

No more Costly Fibre Channel or SCSI

At 450+ MBps**, editors can easily handle 10 bit uncompressed HD footage with real time effects without waiting for rendering or spending money on expensive Fibre Channel or SCSI solution. This is the most affordable solution for video editors who work in a small to mid sized studio with a budget.

**450MBps was tested under Mac OSX 10.4 with S2VR Pro 2.5TB

Right Gear to Digital Darkroom

Being a photographer, loading or searching through thousands of pictures via USB or FireWire interface may not be practical or efficient. CalDigit FASTA-4x is based on PCI-Exteded SATA architecture, which is an ideal and easier way for storing photo libraries. Comparing to the 2-drive FireWire800 RAID solution at 75MB/s, FASTA-4x can reach 148MB/s when connecting to a 2-drive SATA RAID storage. (Like CalDigit's S2VR 2-drive Hardware RAID).
By populating 20 SATA drives in one FASTA-4x, you can reach more than 900MB/s.
This is more cost- and time-effective solution for digital image processing.

Why choose SATA HBA for video editing?

SATA is an evolutionary replacement for the PATA storage interface. It provides affordable pricing, high performance data transfer rate, expandable and friendly configuration. It is the latest technology to replace FireWire, USB and Fibre channel, etc.

FASTA-4x is the only SATA PCI-x card that is designed for Video Editing. This adapter supports 10 bit uncompressed HD, 8 bit uncompressed HD, DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD, 8-bit and 10-bit SD video..., etc workflows.

What is SATA 3G?

SATA 3G is the latest SATA technology that supports up to 3G bit per second. SATA 3G is double the speed/bandwidth of the original SATA I (1.5Gb/s).

Fibre Channel VS. SATA 3G?

For editors that need to share the same content data in the same storage pool, Fibre Channel is a good choice. A Fibre Channel solution requires an expensive RAID storage box, SAN management software such as Apple's Xsan, a Fibre Channel switch, and Fibre Channel HBA. The initial investment will be over $10,000. SATA 3G is the alternative solution for editors and studios that do no require sharing the same content in the same storage pool but need high performance and data integrity.

What is FASTA?

FASTA is the series of CalDigit SATA 3G host cards that utilize the PCI-e/PCI-x interface to offer huge bandwidth for data throughput. It is dedicated to video editors that require high performance and reliability.

Port Multipiler

The port multiplier design allows connectivity for up to 5 drives per port/channel and up to 20 drives per our FASTA host adapter (FASTA-4e, FASTA-4x). No complicated cabling needed.