Clint Milby & Jake Fruia
Akitio has led the industry in Thunderbolt 3 compatible drives, releasing a long line of products that help secure a Thunderbolt 3 workflow. Those very products were the subject of our latest visit with Akitio’s Richard Wright, including their exciting new Intel partnered External Thunderbolt 3 Intel Optane SSD 905P Storage Solution.
External Thunderbolt™ 3 Intel® Optane™ SSD 905P Storage Solution – Price TBD – June 2018
AKITIO, in a partnership with Intel will be releasing a special edition of the popular Node Lite PCIe box, bundled with the recently announced Intel Optane 905P, 960GB SSD as well as other higher capacity drives as they become available.
The Intel Optane 905P SSD is a new technology that is different from NAND flash memory. The Optane is a hybrid between DRAM and typical storage memory. By connecting the Intel Optane drive inside the Akitio Node Lite via Thunderbolt 3, we are able to fully utilize the Thunderbolt 3 bandwidth to achieve incredibly fast performance of up to 2200MB/s in both read and write. Unlike NAND flash based SSD’s that provide fast performance in only large sized random read/write operations, the Optane drive provides the same phenomenal speeds in both large and small file transfers.
“We are very excited about this new product.” Said Richard Wright, Vice President of Akitio. “The combination of the ultra-compact Thunderbolt 3 Akitio Node Lite and the Intel Optane drive creates an extremely portable storage solution that makes it possible to transfer files at incredible speeds both at the office and on site.”
The Optane drive comes with an impressive 5-year warranty that allows for 10 complete drive read/writes per day. The portability along with the reliability and warranty makes the Node Lite with Intel Optane SSD 905P ideal for the daily workflow of content creators as well as for engineering design, scientific simulation, high resolution rendering, and game development.
The new Node Lite with Intel Optane SSD 905P will be available for pre-order in June 2018.
Thunder3 Dock Pro – $359.99 – August 2018
Features
- Thunderbolt 3 for lightning fast transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps
- Second Thunderbolt 3 port supports Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps), USB 3.1 (10 Gbps), and DisplayPort devices
- Power delivery provides up to 60W of power to recharge compatible laptops and other devices
- Three USB 3.1 Gen 1 host ports with Type-A connectors for legacy USB devices
- 10 Gigabit Ethernet port supporting auto-negotiation for 10G, 5G, 2.5G, 1G, 100M
- Cooling fan with power switch for noiseless operation
- Dedicated DisplayPort for additional 4K monitor
- eSATA host port supporting port multiplier
- Built-in CFast 2.0 and SD 4.0 card reader
Packed full of features, this Thunderbolt™ 3 docking station comes with all the essential interfaces you will need to connect your peripherals and more. Plug in just a single Thunderbolt 3 cable to your computer and you can gain access to a 10GbE network, an extra monitor, a card reader, an USB hub, an eSATA drive and recharge your laptop at the same time.
Node Pro – $359.99 – Available Now
Features
- Thunderbolt™ 3 for lightning fast transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps
- Dedicated DisplayPort for additional monitor to expand the workspace
- 2nd Thunderbolt port supports Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1, and DisplayPort devices
- USB power delivery provides 60W of power to recharge compatible laptops
- Built-in 500W SFX power supply with an extra pair of 8-pin PCIe power connectors
- 1 PCIe (x16) slot supporting full-length, full-height, double-width cards
- 4 lane PCI Express 3.0 compliant interface
- Wire mesh panel to dissipate heat from cards with on-board fans
- Retractable carry handle to easily transport the device
- No tools required for installation of PCIe card
The Node Pro provides an additional PCIe slot for Thunderbolt 3 computers (e.g. laptop computers) where installing an internal expansion card is not an option and for systems where there is not enough space for more PCIe cards. The Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) connection not only makes adding an external PCIe card easy but it also allows you to take the device with you to use on location and move it from one system to another. Installing and replacing the PCIe card is a simple matter of removing a few thumb screws and does not require any tools.
Thunder3 RAID Station – $369.99 – Available Now
Features
- Thunderbolt 3 for lightning fast transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps
- Second Thunderbolt 3 port supports Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps), USB 3.1 (10 Gbps), and DisplayPort devices
- Power delivery provides up to 27W of power to recharge compatible laptops
- Two USB 3.1 Gen 1 host ports with Type-A connectors for older USB devices
- 1 Gigabit Ethernet port supporting auto-negotiation for 1G, 100M, 10M
- Hardware RAID controller (RAID 0, RAID 1, SPAN, Non-RAID)
- Tool-less drive installation for 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives
- Cooling fan with power switch for noiseless operation
- Dedicated DisplayPort for additional 4K monitor
- Built-in SD card reader
Expand the capabilities of your laptop and declutter your workspace with the Thunder3 RAID Station. This solution combines four essential functions every laptop user needs into one product, giving you additional storage space, providing you with important interfaces such as Gigabit Ethernet, USB and DisplayPort, recharging your battery and reading your SD cards. All this is built into a single product that connects to your laptop with a single Thunderbolt 3 cable.
Thunder3 Quad X – $379.99 – Available Now
Features
- Thunderbolt 3 interface for lightning fast transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps
- Second Thunderbolt 3 port supports Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 (10 Gbps), and DisplayPort devices
- Power delivery provides up to 27W of power to recharge compatible laptops
- Dedicated DisplayPort for additional monitor to expand the workspace
- Holds up to four 2.5” or 3.5″ drives with SATA 6Gb/s interface
- Removable trays for easy SSD and HDD installation
- Two big handles makes it easy to carry the device
- Large fan for active cooling with power switch
- Kensington security slot
This 4-bay storage enclosure is designed to house up to four 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch drives. With Software RAID, four striped SSDs can reach data transfer speeds of up to 1480 MB per second while the Thunderbolt 3 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for additional 4K video signal streams and data transfers at the same time. An ultra durable aluminum casing provides efficient heat dissipation, plus an extra large rear fan keeps your drives cool during long hours of operation.
SK-2520 U3.1 – $119.99 – Available Now
Features
- Configurable hardware RAID controller (Non-RAID, RAID 0, RAID 1, SPAN)
- SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps (USB 3.1 Gen 2) interface
- Supports Universal Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP)
- USB power delivery provides 15W of power to compatible laptops
- Bus powered when external power supply is not connected
- Designed for two 2.5″ SATA drives up to 15mm
- Supports SATA 6Gb/s (SATA-III) drives
- Reversible USB Type-C connector
- Durable all aluminum enclosure
- Fanless
The SK-2520 U3.1 is a dual-bay storage enclosure with hardware RAID, designed for two 2.5-inch SATA drives. In combination with two striped SSDs and its fast SuperSpeed USB 3.1 10Gbps (USB 3.1 Gen 2) interface, this bus powered storage drive can deliver speeds up to around 800-900 MB/s.
NT2 U3.1 – $99.99 – Available Now
Features
- Configurable hardware RAID controller (Non-RAID, RAID 0, RAID 1, SPAN)
- SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps (USB 3.1 Gen 2) interface
- Supports Universal Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP)
- Backwards compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0
- Extremely compact dual-bay design for two 3.5″ drives
- Active cooling fan with ON/OFF switch
- Security lock slot
The ultra compact design of the NT2 makes this dual-bay RAID storage enclosure one of the smallest in the market, yet it still packs a punch when it comes to flexibility and performance. The incorporation of the latest USB 3.1 Gen 2 technology provides users with super fast transfer rates of up to 10Gbps. At the same time, it is still backwards compatible with the widely used USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 technology.
Thunder3 10G Network Adapter – $279.99 – Available Now
Features
- Thunderbolt 3 interface with reversible USB-C connector
- Ethernet port supports auto-negotiation for 10Gb/s, 5Gb/s, 2.5Gb/s, 1Gb/s and 100Mb/s Base-T
- Large gaps for air flow and heatsink for passive cooling
- Bus powered 10GbE network adapter
- Jumbo frame support (9K)
- Durable, compact and portable
- Protective rubber sleeve
The Thunder3 10G Network Adapter offers a portable, bus powered, fanless and low-cost 10GbE solution enabling 10GBase-T and NBASE-T (IEEE 802.3bz-2016) connectivity for Apple® OS X® and Microsoft® Windows® environments over Thunderbolt™. This network adapter is ideal for Thunderbolt 3 capable notebooks like the MacBook Pro (late 2016) and professional workstations that require reliable, accelerated access to external storage and networks for I/O demanding applications.
For more on each product, simply follow the links above. For more on all Akitio products and more, visit Akitio.com
