“From multi-bay RAID solutions to single desktop drives, G-Technology continues to adapt to demanding storage needs“

G-Technology

Check out Western Digital’s press release announcing the news below

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Jul 23, 2020

Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) announced it is extending the industry’s highest capacity Ultrastar® HDDs to a selection of its G-Technology products, empowering professionals with powerful, ultra-reliable solutions to manage massive volumes of content for optimized creative workflows. A first for the consumer and professional markets, the 18TB enterprise-class Ultrastar drives are available in three G-Technology brand product families, including G-DRIVE, G-RAID with Thunderbolt 3®, G-SPEED Shuttle with Thunderbolt 3 and G-SPEED Shuttle XL with Thunderbolt 3.

The commercially available enterprise-class 18TB Ultrastar HDDs deliver the industry’s highest areal density by leveraging innovative new technologies including Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording technology, the industry’s first Triple Stage Actuator, and a 9-disk HelioSeal platform. The powerful 7,200 RPM drives come with a 2.5M hours MTBF rating* and a 5-year limited warranty.

“Over the course of my career as a commercial and fine art photographer, director, and director of photography with a specialization in aerial photography, I’ve captured over 300TB of content. Peers often inquire about my digital storage best practices and I point them in the direction of G-Technology’s RAID-configurable G-SPEED Shuttle family for their heavy-duty archival storage needs. The massive capacities available significantly cuts the overall costs for my storage needs and allows me to be incredibly efficient when I’m in the field,” said Vincent Laforet, G-Technology G-TEAM ambassador.

The G-SPEED Shuttle range of studio-ready storage solutions were designed with one purpose in mind – to meet the workflow needs of today’s industry demands and asks of its media production creatives. Available in 4-bay and 8-bay form factors, the G-SPEED Shuttle and G-SPEED Shuttle XL are configurable in RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, and JBOD and 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, JBOD, respectively. The products are engineered to run fast and around the clock making them perfect for super-fast transfers, consolidated master backups, and scalable workflows. The range is built tough and transportable with an available Pelican case. These high-throughput solutions utilize high-capacity, high-performance enterprise-class hard drives that can be user-configured into a wide range of RAID options weighted toward speed or additional data protection and are now available in massive capacities up to 144TB in one system.

G-RAID with Thunderbolt 3 is a desktop solution designed for rigorous applications and multi-stream HD, 2K, 4K, and HDR workflows. The dual drive bays of the G-RAID device support hardware-controlled RAID 0 and RAID 1. The default RAID 0 stripes the two drives together, providing enhanced read and write speeds, but no data redundancy, while RAID 1 mirrors the content of one drive to the other, providing 1:1 data redundancy at the cost of performance. Additionally, G-RAID offers the ability to daisy chain up to five additional devices using the Thunderbolt 3 interface. For those who do not need the benefits of a RAID, JBOD is also supported. With the inclusion of the 18TB drive, G-RAID now offers up to 36TB of data storage.

G-Technology’s G-DRIVE solution is available with USB 3.0, USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. These external HDD offerings are built for storage-intensive applications like audio/video editing and digital photography. The G-DRIVE external drive products provide up to 18TB of enterprise-class storage, a rotational speed of 7,200 rpm, and an interface to meet the standards of the creative enthusiast or professional. The drives are encased in an attractive all-aluminum enclosure that is macOS-compatible and Time Machine-ready. The G-DRIVE USB-C external drive can support up to 45 watts of USB power delivery through the USB-C port, this drive can charge your compatible MacBook or MacBook Pro without having to take a separate MacBook charger out of your bag.

“We understand the value of digital content, and we create products that match the passion of the digital creators. G-Technology products improve the efficiency of digital workflows and protect high-value media with a wide range of storage solutions that enable creators to push the boundaries of what’s possible. We are excited to be able to offer this innovative, best-in-class technology to help simplify workflows and assist with archival consolidation,” said Jim Welsh, SVP and general manager, Content Solutions Business Unit, Western Digital.

Check out the full press release HERE

LaCie has a new portable SSD drive that should remove some of the confusion around USB-C connectivity. It’s called the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro and promises compatibility with modern computers featuring Thunderbolt 3 ports with USB-C connectors, and those with non-Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports. The ports look the same, but they don’t act the same. The Rugged SSD Pro removes all the guesswork.

And because it has “Pro” right in the name you just know that this portable SSD’s gotta be good.

LaCie’s new drive is built around a Seagate FireCuda NVMe SSD with a claimed transfer speed up to 2800 MB/s when connected over Thunderbolt 3. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t list a transfer speed when connecting the drive over plain ol’ USB. It did however announce another drive — the cheaper Rugged SSD — that uses the same FireCuda NVMe SSD but claims a max USB 3.1 Gen 2 speed of just 950 MB/s.

The port magic on the Pro model is enabled by Intel’s JHL7440 Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 controller, announced way back in January of 2018. “The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro is the first portable device in the market to feature the latest Thunderbolt 3 technology,” said Intel’s Jason Ziller alongside the drive’s introduction. “The JHL7440 controller enables LaCie to offer industry-leading performance through Thunderbolt 3-based PCs and compatibility with legacy computers.”

Still not clear why this SSD is useful? Well, imagine you’re a filmmaker / creator and you’ve just shot hours of 8K footage which you’ve edited on your new MacBook Pro — a laptop equipped with nothing but Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports. You arrive at a client site where you want to transfer the footage off your portable SSD to their Surface Book 2 — it has USB-C… but it doesn’t support Thunderbolt 3. No worries if your footage is stored on a Rugged SSD Pro. The LaCie SSD will mount just fine when connected to the USB-C port on the Surface Book 2, whereas other fast Thunderbolt SSD drives won’t.

The Rugged SSD Pro is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance making it dust tight and able to withstand immersion in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes. LaCie says that’s an industry first for Thunderbolt 3 storage. It can also withstand 3-meter drops. The drive lists for $399.99 (1TB) and $699.99 (2TB) and should start shipping next week.

And yes, a Thunderbolt 3 USB-C cable is included in the box. You’ll need to hang onto it at least until USB 4 arrives.

Check out the full article HERE

Learn more about LaCie HERE

A while back I reviewed the G-Drive Mobile SSD, which I praised for it’s “straight-up sexy” design and very good performance. Compared to the field, it’s still one of the best options for both high-end looks and top-tier performance. With a 519 MB/s read speed and 339.9 MB/s write speed, it’s up there at the top of the USB-C solid state drives available today.

But boy, you may notice that the word “Pro” was left off that product descriptor, and what G-Tech has done when they put it on a product really shows why. The G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD crushes the non-pro device with some of the most insane transfer speeds I’ve ever seen on any device.

I am starting here talking about transfer speeds, which I usually leave for the end of a review, because these ones are just so gosh-darned good. Like, stupid good. Look at these:

USB-C to USB-C Speed Test

Thunderbolt 3 Speed Test

Even with just USB-C, the speed scores are more then three times faster than the standard Mobile SSD, but with Thunderbolt we tested well above 2000 MB/s. For comparative purposes, this is the speed test with my MacBook Pro’s built-in SSD:

MacBook Pro w/ Touchbar Internal SSD Speed Test

This SSD is significantly faster than the SSD that came packaged with my computer. That’s incredible. This is probably the first device I’ve tested since Thunderbolt 3 came out that makes me feel like it is truly taking advantage of the bandwidth capabilities of the platform. With this type of speed, even 8K video is supported.

I will say that G-Technology promised on the box that we would be seeing speeds “up tp 2800 MB/s” and as you can see from our tests above, we didn’t really come anywhere near that. But the speeds we are seeing are still so much higher than anything else we’ve tested thus far that it’s hard to be particularly upset. Very rarely do we actually hit the numbers promised by storage manufacturers, and these discrepancies can occur for a variety of reasons with no ill intent meant by the makers.

So aside from absolutely demolishing the competition when it comes to speed, the G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD additionally looks and feels great. In my review of the original standard model, I commented that the design was “sexy as hell” and I stand by those words here in the Pro iteration. Though larger by at least double, the Pro SSD shares as close a resemblance to the original standard model as possible while still being much wider, thicker and a fair bit taller. The result is two clearly different products that share a very nice design aesthetic.

I mentioned the Pro SSD is larger, and it is. Though SSDs themselves don’t vary a lot in size, so why is this one bigger? The answer lies in Thunderbolt.

G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD (left) along side the G-Drive Mobile SSD R-Series (right).

Because the Pro SSD has significantly higher performance than the original, it generates more heat. To address this, G-Technology installed a larger aluminum core to support and dissipate the heat and allowing them to sustain the Pro SSD’s performance. Thanks to the larger core, they can keep the performance of the drive consistent through its use without throttling it.

While the Pro SSD is much bigger, it’s by no means ungainly or “large.” It will still easily fit into bag pockets or pouches and will minimally expand a travel kit.

There is a note I want to make regarding the Pro SSD’s switch over to Thunderbolt, and that’s its compatibility with USB. If you didn’t notice, I didn’t test the Pro SSD using USB-A to USB-C, a common speed test I run with our other storage media reviews. The reason I did not do it in this case is because USB-A to USB-C cables don’t work with this drive. I was unable to confirm why prior to publication (but will update if I hear otherwise), but I am guessing this is due to the necessary power it takes to run the Pro SSD. Though USB-C to USB-C works, USB-C can also transfer a fair bit more power to the devices it’s connected to. So because this drive doesn’t seem to work with older USB-A connections, that means it’s a bit less versatile than other storage media on the market.

If there is one other small thing I could complain about with regard to this SSD, it’s that we can’t take full advantage of Thunderbolt’s capabilities because there is only one Thunderbolt port on the device. Thunderbolt, in addition to a much bigger bandwidth pipe, also allows for Daisy Chain, or connecting a set of Thunderbolt devices together and piping them into one computer port. It’s a very efficient method of connecting a host of products together without taking up more than one port on your computer, and having a second Thunderbolt 3 port on the Pro SSD would allow it to fit into a Thunderbolt 3 ecosystem more effectively.

Pros:

• Insanely fast transfer rates, the fastest we have ever tested
• Ruggedized exterior makes it durable and shock resistant
• Works with both Thunderbolt and USB-C
• Totally silent operation
• Still relatively small and compact

Cons:

• Pricey at $229 for 500GB and $629 for 1 TB
• Does not work with USB-A to USB-C cables

In the above cons list, you probably noticed those price points. Yeah, brand new the G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD is $229 for 500 GB and $629 for 1 TB, which is pretty expensive if you’re judging it based just on capacity. But the Pro SSD isn’t really a capacity-centric device: you’re paying for raw speed. If you need this kind of horsepower, it’s going to cost you and honestly the $629 isn’t that much for a working professional. This device will make video editors’ lives a lot better, and that right there is going to be worth it to them. And to me, yes. This is worth it. It’s an absolute hot rod of a storage device, and that kind of performance is something my business demands.

Check out the full article HERE

Learn more about G-Technology HERE

The G-Speed Shuttle EV is a 4-bay RAID Thunderbolt 3 storage device capable of transfer speeds up to 500MB/s. It is offered in robust 20TB and 24TB sizes taking care of all your storage needs.

Bas Goossens from Ministry of Frames has been giving the G-Technology G-Speed Shuttle EV a thorough testing in production environments for RedShark, and he shares his thoughts in his extensive video review below.

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

The G-Speed Shuttle EV is a 4-bay RAID storage system designed for the rigours of video editing and storage.

High-Performance, Dual-Drive Storage

The G-RAID with Thunderbolt 3 is a high-performance, dual Enterprise-class 7200RPM hard drive storage system featuring Thunderbolt 3, USB–C (supports USB 3.1 Gen 2) and HDMI® connectivity for ultimate flexibility. With removable drives, this ultra-fast, high-capacity storage solution is designed for the most demanding applications while easily supporting multi-stream HD, 2K, 4K and HDR video workflows.

Available in 5 capacities: 8TB | 12TB | 16TB | 20TB | 24TB

KEY FEATURES

• Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports and a single USB-C port with support for USB 3.1
• Daisy chaining for up to 5 additional devices
• Dual removable, Enterprise-class 7200RPM hard drives
• High-speed data transfers
• Hardware RAID 0 (performance), RAID 1 (mirroring), or JBOD
• HDMI® port supports HDR and 4K video pass through
• 5-Year limited warranty

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

From cinema5d.com

G-Technology booth here at NAB 2018 tells us their new Pro SSD line consists of three different products. First of them is the redundant and serviceable, high capacity, transportable RAID SSD solution called G-SPEED Shuttle SSD. Second drive is the high endurance desktop SSD in a minimalistic aluminium case called G-DRIVE Pro SSD. Last product is a rugged shock-resistant portable drive called G-DRIVE Mobile Pro SSD. Let’s take a short look at each of them.

G-SPEED Shuttle SSD 

Starting with the bulkiest product of the new lineup, the G-SPEED Shuttle SSD is a high-performance solid-state storage device. Equipped with up to 16TB of SSD storage and fast Thunderbolt 3 technology it lets users edit 4K, 8K, VR, high dynamic range (HDR) or multi-camera footage in real time and quickly export projects either on location or at the studio… read more

From HDVideoPro

I like storage. I really do. Most of the projects I work on are shot in 4K and beyond, so storage is important. It doesn’t help that directors don’t have much incentive to say “cut” as they might have done when they shot on film. A recent project tied up nearly 18 terabytes of storage during finishing.

I’m always on the lookout for more storage. The more I have, the easier my job becomes—less time managing media, more time cutting. When I go to NAB, storage is one of the first things I look at. And when I visited LaCie’s booth this past April, I was excited to see their new storage options, specifically the 2big Dock Thunderbolt 3. And I’m excited all over again, because LaCie sent a unit out for a test drive.

“2big” in the name 2big Dock indicates that it’s a 2-drive array that can be configured as one large drive with no data protection (RAID 0) or as a “mirrored” array where data is protected by duplicating it across both drives (RAID 1). You can also configure it as two separate drives.

The RAID control is via hardware, not software, which helps with performance and portability across other systems. LaCie RAID manager software is used to configure the unit. It also allows you to set up email notifications to help you monitor the health of the array. If there’s a problem, it sends you an email….[continue reading]

From BestTechie

…Setting up the LaCie Thunderbolt 3 2big Dock is easy–in fact, it’s mostly just unbox and plug in. LaCie also offers some RAID manager software that you can install to help manage the drive arrays. By default the drive comes in a RAID 0 configuration and formatted in HFS+, you can however, choose a RAID 1 or independent drive (JBOD) configuration if you wish (just remember that may affect performance). One thing of note: when I received the drive, macOS High Sierra had just been released which features the new APFS (Apple File System) so I decided to format the 2big Dock with APFS as well….

Ever since moving most of my computing to a MacBook Pro and away from a desktop computer I’ve been storing my entire music collection on an external drive. Prior to receiving this 20TB Thunderbolt 3 2big Dock, I had been using a Thunderbolt 2 8TB 2big drive to store my music and movies and had iTunes configured to play the files off of the external drive. That setup worked well enough, there was sometimes a little lag going on between songs or starting up a movie, but overall, it worked. That being said, I was really happy to see (and hear) when I moved my music and movie libraries over to the new Thunderbolt 3 2big Dock that small amount of lag was eliminated. This is likely a combination of the faster drives and the faster Thunderbolt 3 connection. Sometimes it’s the tiny things that matter most…..[continue reading]

A transportable, 8-bay hardware RAID solution with Thunderbolt 3 technology for colossal capacity and high-definition performance. Includes two (2) Evolution Series bay adapters and supports 4K workflows and multiple RAID configurations. Along with transfer rates up to 1500MB/s2, Enterprise-class hard drives and a 5-year limited warranty, it’s the ultimate storage solution for demanding workflows on location and in the studio.

A transportable 8-bay hardware RAID solution with Thunderbolt 3 technology for colossal capacity and high-definition performance. Supports 4K workflows and multiple RAID configurations. Along with transfer rates up to 2000MB/s2, Enterprise-class hard drives and a 5-year limited warranty, it’s the ultimate storage solution for demanding workflows on location and in the studio.

G-DRIVE with Thunderbolt 3 – An ultra-fast, high-performance storage solution featuring Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1 Gen 1 interfaces in an all-aluminum enclosure. The G-DRIVE desktop storage solution is perfect for storage-intensive applications like audio/video editing or digital photography. With a high-capacity, Enterprise-class 7200RPM hard drive, the G-DRIVE device is plug and play on Mac and easily reformatted for Windows®.