Sonnet Announces Tempo Ultra-High Performance PCIe SSD

Sonnet Technologies is announcing the Tempo PCI Express (PCIe) solid-state drive (SSD) card, containing a 512GB SSD module, becoming the newest offering in the Sonnet Tempo series of high-performance storage cards. The Sonnet Tempo PCIe SSD card represents an ultra-fast alternative to traditional storage devices by mounting a high-performance SSD on a low-profile card that installs into a computer’s PCIe expansion slot.

SSDs have become a key component for systems that require ultra-fast data transfer speeds and large quantities of I/O operations. The Sonnet Tempo PCIe SSD is built around an M.2 PCIe SSD module, with the M.2 interface being the fastest currently available consumer-oriented SSD type, surpassing even the SATA III (6.0GB/s) interface. The Tempo is capable of sequential transfer speeds of up to 1100MB/s, outperforming even two standard 2.5” form factor SATA III (6.0GB/s) SSDs configured in RAID0.

According to Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies, “The Tempo PCIe SSD boasts performance once exclusive to multidrive storage systems with eight or more hard disk drives plus a high-end RAID controller card. Through its wide compatibility and ultra-high performance, our Tempo PCIe SSD provides convenient internal storage expansion through any available PCIe slot.”

Sonnet’s Tempo PCIe SSD is a low-profile PCIe 2.0 card, with its on-board M.2 PCIe SSD providing 512GB of storage capacity. The small form factor means that the Tempo can be installed into any X4 (or larger) mechanical PCIe slot in either a MacPro tower or Windows desktop or server. It can also be easily installed into any Thunderbolt-to-PCIe card expansion setup, such as Sonnet’s Echo Express line, xMAC Pro Server, or xMac mini server. High performance additional storage is now available without taking away additional work surface real estate with an additional external device.

For a MacPro tower or Thunderbolt-to-PCIe card expansion system, OS X can be installed onto the Tempo PCIe SSD to create an extremely fast boot drive. For Windows-based PCs (or Mac-based systems), the Tempo PCIe SSD offers instant access media storage, or can serve as a high-performance scratch disk. It is compatible with OS X version 10.8.5 or higher (including Yosemite), and with Windows 7, 8, Server 2008 and Server 2012.  The Tempo PCIe SSD also supports S.M.A.R.T. attributes drive health reporting.  Full-height and low-profile PCIe brackets are included.  It is AHCI compliant, meaning no additional drivers are required.

The Sonnet Tempo PCIe SSD is currently available at an MSRP of $799, and carries a one-year warranty.  Visit the product page for the Sonnet Tempo PCIe SSD here; and you can view the Sonnet press release announcing the Tempo PCIe SSD here.