Integrate Tools — Medéa

RAID with extras

Buyers looking for low prices on fast storage know to keep their eye on the full picture, since added hubs, cables, and other necessary gear add to the cost. That's reason enough to check out Medéa, a long-time manufacturer of cost-effective RAID gear. The company builds in either four- or eight-port Fibre Channel hubs into its new VideoRaid FCR2 and FCR2X Fibre Channel arrays. Each employs speedy 2Gbps FC interfaces while keeping data safe with level 3 RAID. By lashing five drives together, the FCR2 supports up to seven streams of uncompressed SD video, while fitting neatly on a desktop. Meanwhile, the two-channel FCR2X employs 10 FC drives to enable realtime work with two streams of 10-bit 1080i HD.

Price: Under $6,000 (FCR2X; 640GB)
Calabasas, Calif.; (818) 880-0303;

www.medea.com