Thunderbolt 2 storage with new Mac Pro demos at CES 2014
LaCie this week at 2014 International CES Show in Las Vegas announced a updated version of its mobile Little Big Disk series, now with a Thunderbolt 2. The company demonstrated a 4K video workflow with the storage device, due to ship this quarter, LaCie said.
The Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 is a small, portable RAID 0 array device using a pair of second-generation 500GB PCIe solid-state disks. The company is aiming them at mobile professional workflows with features such as a low-noise, thermoregulated fan that will only run when necessary.
LaCie reengineered the Little Big Disk to be even more reliable and much quieter than ever, so you can focus on the creative process. Since overheating is the primary cause of hard drive failure, cooling is essential for reliability. The LaCie Little Big Disk’s interior was therefore completely redesigned to improve its heat dissipation system. As a result, the fan is only occasionally necessary. And the fan itself is now much quieter because it is larger and adjusts its speed according to temperature. The net effect of the cooling system is a nearly silent product with a longer lifespan.
CES 2015 Preview
The drive comes with a limited 3-year warranty. Pricing wasn't announced.
In a suite at a Vegas hotel, LaCie showed a Mac Pro video workflow for editing 4K video. Performance measured with AJA Video's System Test utility showed 2.51GB- and 2.08GB-per-second read and write performance, respectively, on 10-bit video with 3,840-by-2,160 pixel resolution, and a file size of 16GB.
This is good news for customers of the new Mac Pro. It took ages for the first generation of Thunderbolt devices to be rolled out into the market. There are already 4K displays on the market and now we see storage devices due to ship this quarter.