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January 5, 2007
Sonnet Tempo E4P = Mac Pro HD Expansion
A Review of the Sonnet Tempo E4P SATA II Host Adapter used with the Apple Mac Pro 2.66 GHz
Sonnet Technologies is shipping the Tempo SATA E4P ($299.95) four port external serial ATA PCI Express host adapter with a new Mac Pro driver. AMUG previously reviewed the Sonnet Tempo E4P installed in a PowerMac G5 and we thought it would be interesting to see how it performs when used with an Apple Mac Pro 2.66 GHz model. This four port external SATA PM compatible PCI Express host adapter works with the Apple Mac Pro and the PowerMac G5 Dual-Core models. It can also be used with a Windows XP computer. When using up to four, 5-bay port multiplier enclosures the Sonnet Tempo E4P can mount up to twenty SATA hard drives. The E4P is SATA II compliant and supports auto-negotiation with both 1.5Gb/s and 3Gb/s hard drives. It supports Spread Spectrum Clocking (SSC) , hot swap and sleep mode with an Apple computer with PCIe slots. The latest firmware and drivers for the Tempo E4P SATA host adapter are available at the Sonnet web site. The Mac Pro Sonnet Tempo E4P driver version 2.1, which was released December 22, 2006 was utilized during this review.
System Requirements
Mac OS X Version 10.4.8 and later or Windows XP.
Requires a computer with an available PCIe slot.
Supports up to four external SATA hard drives using direct connect method.
Supports up to twenty external hard drives using four, 5-bay PM enclosures.
The Sonnet Tempo E4P provides a cool running, energy efficient, high performance SATA PM host adapter that passes SMART data to Mac OS X so that users can monitor hard drive temperatures and check the SMART status of their hard drives. No other 4-port SATA PM host adapter for the Apple Mac Pro currently provides all of these features. The capability of the Sonnet Tempo E4P to connect up to four SATA PM enclosures and to utilize multiple E4P cards to expand storage performance even further makes it a clear winner for Mac Pro upgrades. Mac Pro users that are looking for a hard working SATA PM host adapter that works well with individual SATA hard drives or large striped RAID sets will find the Sonnet Tempo E4P is an excellent choice.
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Contact Information:Sonnet Technologies, Inc.
8 Autry
Irvine, California 92618-2708 USA
Phone: 1-949-587-3500
sales@sonnettech.com
Copyright 2006
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Disclaimer:
AMUG writers are unpaid volunteers. Readers should understand that all AMUG reviewers have a specific idea of what makes a product great. This same criteria may not always apply to your specific needs. Product that is sent to AMUG for review is either kept by AMUG for on going educational purposes, used to support volunteer activities, used for raffle, general meetings, sold or returned to the company. Links from the AMUG web site to Amazon, Newegg or other vendors may generate a small commission or credit for Arizona Macintosh Users Group, Inc. Should AMUG receive a commision or credit it is used to help fund AMUG services and operations.