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Blackmagic Multidock with Thunderbolt 2
Thunderbolt 2 is not only capable of carrying a 4K video signal, but it's fast for storage too. Here's Blackmagic's latest effort to bring Thunderbolt 2 goodness to your SSD workflow
Blackmagic is never slow at spotting a trend, and then getting behind it and giving it a positive push. They've obviously noticed that video cameras, especially the ones that record raw video, are moving towards using SSDs as their storage medium.
In the case of this particular trend, it probably wasn't hard for Blackmagic to identify: it's their cameras that are probably accounting for a very large proportion of SSD in film making!
Multidock
SSDs were never intended to be used like storage cartridges. There are relatively few peripherals around for attaching them to a computer as removable storage. That's where the new MultiDock comes in.
The idea is to provide a way to transfer data from up to four SSD devices using the new, fast Thunderbolt 2 protocol. Although Thunderbolt is a rare sight in the PC world (upgrade cards are available) it's now pretty much universal in the Macintosh domain.
Which means that if you're an Apple user you now have access to a staggeringly fast, but easy to use, way to connect storage to your computer. With the Multidock, you'll even be able to "edit in place" without even having to copy your material across.
RAID
But there's more to the MultiDock than that. Because it can also be part of a RAID system.
You can not only RAID up to four SSDs within a single MultiDock, but you can daisy-chain them together (there are two Thunderbolt 2 connectors on each Dock) for a total of twenty four disks on a single connection.
Blackmagic has provided drivers for Windows and OS X.
Price for the new MultiDock (which replaces the previous one) is US$595
Read the Blackmagic Press Release in full after the break
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic MultiDock with Thunderbolt 2™ Technology
Blackmagic Design today announced a new model of the Blackmagic MultiDock with super fast Thunderbolt 2 technology. The new Blackmagic MultiDock replaces the previous model and is available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for only US$595.
Blackmagic MultiDock is a 4 disk docking solution and high speed disk array featuring an attractive machined metal rack mount design with an easy to access “cartridge” style design that enables customers to work more efficiently with high capacity solid state drives. Each disk dock features an independent SATA interface chip for extremely fast data transfer speeds. MultiDock is fully compatible with SSD’s recorded in HyperDeck broadcast recorders, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and more.
Compatible with existing Thunderbolt computers, MultiDock features advanced Thunderbolt 2 technology for blazingly fast transfer speeds at up to 20 Gb/s. This means customers get super responsive editing and color correction directly from source disks and avoid slow file copying. The new Blackmagic MultiDock also includes a loop thru so users can connect up to 6 devices with a single Thunderbolt connection. This means customers can build SSD docking stations with up to 24 slots or incredibly fast disk arrays consisting of up to 24 disks all striped together on a single Thunderbolt connection to the computer.
Blackmagic MultiDock uses Mac OS X and Windows driver support so SSD’s will mount like regular built in hard disks. That ensures 100% compatibility with popular software tools including DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, Avid, Smoke and more. Customers can even stripe multiple disks together and build a super fast SSD RAID array.
“The Blackmagic MultiDock is a fantastic solution to managing storage in a busy broadcast or post production environment. Now with Thunderbolt 2 technology you get amazingly fast transfer speeds of up to 20Gb/s, that’s enough bandwidth to easily handle the highest resolution video formats. It’s fantastic when using disks independently or when striping them together as a large disk array ,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “Blackmagic MultiDock is an incredible solution to the problem of managing disks and the amazingly fast transfer speeds will make editing, design and color correction even faster!”
Tags: Technology
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