Clint Milby & Jake Fruia
Akitio created some of the first Thunderbolt 3 products and we have used their drives for years for their reliability and how much they improve our workflow. So we made sure to stop by at NAB 2018 to see what Akitio had to show as they expand their Thunderbolt 3 support.
Thunder3 Quad X – $379.99
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.
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
AKiTiO Thunder3 PCIe Box – $259.99
The Thunderbolt™ 3 PCIe expansion box 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.
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
- 1 PCIe (x16) slot supporting half-length, full-height, double-width cards
- 4 lane PCI Express 3.0 compliant interface
- Removable back panel for double-width cards
- Daisy-chain up to 6 Thunderbolt devices
- Durable and rugged aluminum casing
- No tools required for installation
Thunder3 RAID Station – $369.99
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.
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
For more information on all these and more Akitio products, click the respective links above as well as visit Akitio.com
