Sonnet Announces Echo Shipping

Sonnet Technologies has announced that its Echo™ Express III-D (desktop), Echo Express III-R (rackmount), and Echo Express SE II (desktop) Thunderbolt™-to-PCI Express® (PCIe®) card expansion chassis are the first devices of their kind to ship with 20 Gb/sec Thunderbolt 2 interfaces.
The models are the newest members of Sonnet's Echo Express family of expansion products that enable any Mac computer equipped with Thunderbolt 2 or Thunderbolt ports to interface with PCIe cards originally designed only for use in desktop computers.
The Echo Express III-D, Echo Express III-R, and Echo Express SE II incorporate Thunderbolt 2 technology.
The new expansion chassis support any Thunderbolt-compatible PCIe card available - enabling the use of video capture, audio interface, 16Gb and 8Gb Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, SAS and SATA HBA, and RAID controller cards with Thunderbolt-enabled iMac®, Mac mini, Mac Pro®, MacBook Air®, and MacBook Pro® computers.
Sonnet systems' dual Thunderbolt 2 ports support full bandwidth connectivity with Thunderbolt 2-equipped host computers, full backward compatibility with 10 Gb/sec Thunderbolt-equipped computers and devices, and daisy-chaining of other Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt devices.
Both the Echo Express III-D and Echo Express III-R provide one x16 and two x8 PCIe slots to support three full-length, full-height, single-width PCIe cards.
Both chassis feature a built-in universal 300W power supply with a 75W auxiliary power connector to support PCIe cards with higher power requirements.
The systems integrate two temperature-controlled cooling fans to enable use in noise-sensitive environments. The companion Echo Express III-R Mobile Rack Kit enables users to install one or two mobile rack-form-factor devices inside the Echo Express III-R chassis.
Peripherals such as LTO tape drives, 2.5-inch SSD or HDD drives, 3.5-inch drives, Blu-ray™ burners, and memory card readers can be installed into the kit and connected to the PCIe cards installed in the chassis.
"Sonnet has consistently led the way in delivering high-performance and reliable Thunderbolt-enabled products, beginning with the first-ever suite of Thunderbolt-to-PCIe expansion chassis, and now continuing with the only Thunderbolt 2-to-PCIe solutions available," said Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies.
"Our new Echo Express III-D, Echo Express III-R, and Echo Express SE II not only deliver amazingly fast 20 Gb/sec performance when connected to Thunderbolt 2-equipped computers such as the new Mac Pro, but also are our quietest models yet and are fully compatible with even the earliest Thunderbolt-enabled Macs."
www.sonnettech.com