G-Technology Ships the Industry’s Highest-Capacity, Two-Drive, Raid 0, Thunderbolt Storage Solution

National Association of Broadcasters Show (NAB 2012), Booth SL11105 – Taking a giant leap for “Mac-Kind,” G-Technology is now shipping its 8TB G-RAID with Thunderbolt drive – the extremely fast and highest-capacity, two-drive, RAID 0 external drive in the world. Incorporating 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) Thunderbolt technology by Intel® and two 4TB, 7200 RPM Deskstar™ hard drives, the new G-RAID with Thunderbolt drive sets a new capacity and performance standard for RAID storage.

8TB G-RAID with Thunderbolt by G-Technology -- the industry's first 8TB, two-drive RAID 0 Thunderbolt solution. (Photo: Business Wire)

Aimed at the professional audio/video (A/V) market, the G-RAID with Thunderbolt drive delivers blazing speed and massive capacity, helping Thunderbolt-enabled laptops and desktops morph into full-fledged video editing workstations. It features two Thunderbolt ports, enabling the connection of up to six Thunderbolt peripherals such as additional G-RAID drives, a high-resolution display and professional video capture devices. The G-RAID with Thunderbolt drive delivers up to 280MB/sec sustained throughput for handling multi-stream compressed HD workflows, including REDCODE, DVCPro HD, XDCAM HD and ProRes 422. It can also transfer a full-length, high-definition, internet-ready H.264 movie in less than a minute.

Leveraging the strengths of G-Technology’s A/V storage experience, and the capabilities of Intel’s Thunderbolt technology, highlights of the new G-RAID with Thunderbolt family include:

• Ultra high performance with up to 280MB/sec sustained throughput
• Two-drive, RAID 0 designed specifically for professional content creation applications
• Supports multi-stream HDV, DVCPro HD, XDCAM HD, ProRes 422 and uncompressed SD workflows
• Dual Thunderbolt ports for daisy chaining up to six Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals
• Time Machine® ready, plug-and-play setup on Mac OS
• 8TB, 6TB and 4TB capacities
• Two, high-speed 7,200 RPM Deskstar hard drives
• Solid all-aluminum case for ultimate durability
• Kensington® Lock slot for security
• Smart-cooling fan technology for cool, quiet operation
• Three-year limited factory warranty

“We’re making digital production faster, super-sized and affordable for post-production workflows,” said Mike Williams, vice president and general manager, HGST Branded Business. “G‐Technology has built its reputation and business on serving creative professionals and prosumers that demand performance, capacity and quality. Continuing this tradition, we’ve leveraged our popular G-RAID design to deliver amazing sustained throughput for post production workflows, and with 8TB you can easily store hours of clips, composites, digital intermediate (DIs), proofs, effects and more.”

“Thunderbolt technology brings speed and versatility to the PC, letting people connect high-speed products and high-resolution displays over a single cable,” said Jason Ziller, director of marketing for Thunderbolt technology at Intel Corporation. “Products like the new 8TB G-RAID drive are using Thunderbolt technology to redefine what’s possible with external PC devices, giving media creators and enthusiasts even more freedom to create.”

“From their superior products to their amazing team, I back everything G-Technology stands for and is doing,” said Lucas Gilman, president of Lucas Gilman Productions, a photography and video productions company specializing in adventure, travel, sports, portraiture and commercial projects. “G-Technology is known in the industry for its high-quality drives, and I exclusively use them for all of my projects. As one of the first to receive a new G-RAID with Thunderbolt drive, I can now quickly offload the massive amounts of data I collect in the field to the G-RAID drive, saving countless hours and speeding up the workflow.”

“I just received the G-RAID with Thunderbolt drive and look forward to utilizing it,” said Independent Film Director Vincent Laforet. “The balance it offers between blazing RAID 0 performance, increased data transfer rates, and G-Technology’s known quality and reliability will no doubt prove to be an immense help with the projects we're working on.”

"Using the G-Technology G-RAID with Thunderbolt drive makes me feel like I stepped into the future. Its speed is simply mind-blowing. This changes everything,” said Celebrity Photographer Jeremy Cowart.

First in a family of solutions, G-Technology’s new G-RAID with Thunderbolt drive family is currently available in Apple Stores. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the 8TB drive is $999.99, 6TB is $849.99 and 4TB is $699.99.

Driving Creativity at NAB 2012:

• G-Team: G-Technology today announced its new G-Team, a select group of cutting-edge producers, cinematographers and photographers that will share stories, inspiration and workflows behind their creative process. To kick off the G-Technology-sponsored program, come visit Vincent Laforet, Alex Buono and Lucas Gilman at the G-Technology NAB booth #SL11105 for a meet and greet, and to ask questions about their profession, the industry and their workflow.
• April 16 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. & April 17 from 4 to 5 p.m. – Vincent Laforet will talk about HD DSLR shooting and post production on his short film “M�bius.”
• April 17 & 18 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. – “Saturday Night Live’s” Alex Buono will discuss shooting on the run
• April 18 & 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Lucas Gilman will “tell all” about adventure and extreme sports shooting
• A/V Up in the Cloud?: Mike Alexenko, director of Cloud and Mobility at G-Technology/HGST, is participating in the Cloud Computing Conference at NAB. He will be on a panel toady, April 16 at 10:50 a.m. PT (North Hall, #N232) titled, “Advanced Capabilities, New Features, Cost Advantages of Cloud Computing Solutions.” This panel will discuss the latest ways that cloud computing is being applied throughout the creation and distribution chain for television and radio programming, motion pictures, corporate A/V production, and user-generated content (UGC).

Stay connected with G-Technology:

G-Technology drives are engineered specifically to meet the needs of the content creation and Apple Mac communities, including heavy users of multimedia content, Final Cut Pro® digital audio/video specialists and other pre/post production professionals. From rugged portable drives to ultra-fast, multi-drive RAID storage, G-Technology’s USB, FireWire, eSATA, and SAS storage solutions support virtually all levels of A/V production and can be found in post-production facilities worldwide.

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About HGST

HGST (formerly known as Hitachi Global Storage Technologies or Hitachi GST), a Western Digital company, develops advanced hard disk drives, enterprise-class solid state drives, innovative external storage solutions and services used to store, preserve and manage the world’s most valued data. Founded by the pioneers of hard drives, HGST provides high-value storage for a broad range of market segments, including Enterprise, Desktop, Mobile Computing, Consumer Electronics and Personal Storage. HGST was established in 2003 and maintains its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California. For more information, please visit the company’s website at http://www.hgst.com.

One GB is equal to one billion bytes and one TB equals 1,000 GB (one trillion bytes). Actual capacity will vary depending on operating environment and formatting.

G-Technology external hard drives serve as an element of an overall backup strategy. It is recommended that users keep two or more copies of their most important files backed up or stored on separate devices or online services.

G-Technology, G-RAID and Deskstar are trademarks of HGST, a Western Digital company. Western Digital, WD, and the WD logo are registered trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Hitachi trademarks are authorized for use in countries and jurisdictions in which Hitachi has the right to market the brands. Hitachi is not liable for third parties’ unauthorized use of Hitachi trademarks.

Thunderbolt and the Thunderbolt logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

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