Sonnet Technologies has announced the Fusion F2QR portable two-drive hardware RAID storage system.

Mounted side by side in a tough aluminum enclosure about the size of two stacked CD cases, the diminutive system contains two, 2.5-inch, 1TB hard drives. It's based on the Fusion F2, a portable two-drive RAID SATA storage system. This compact device adds: a built-in hardware RAID controller for configuring the drives; a quad interface with eSATA, FireWire® 800, and USB 2.0 ports for flexible compatibility; and a greater storage capacity.

The Fusion F2QR delivers performance with up to 160 MB/second read and 100 MB/second write data transfer rates. It's bus-powered by a FireWire port on the computer regardless the interface used.

Mounted inside its rugged aluminum shell, the Fusion F2QR's drives are shock- and vibration- isolated to help protect against rough handling, says Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies. The engineered aluminum case efficiently transfers away heat, eliminating the need for a fan, he adds.

The Sonnet Fusion F2QR features a built-in hardware RAID controller that manages its drives, and enables the system to connect to a computer with a single cable. It supports fast (RAID 0), safe (RAID 1), big (Span), and JBOD configurations without relying on OS RAID or a specialized controller card. The included configuration utility software supports Mac and Windows operating systems. 

Fusion F2QR's quad interface offers users three ways to connect the storage system to their computer: eSATA, FireWire 800, or USB 2.0 interface. (The fourth port is a FireWire 800 pass-through port.) Sonnet includes the cables for each interface, so the F2QR can be connected immediately.

Fusion F2QR 2TB is available immediately, with a suggested retail price of US$569. For more information on Fusion F2QR, visit the Sonnet website at http://www.sonnettech.com/product/fusionf2qr.html .