2 Port eSATA ExpressCard for MBP, REDStation and SATA Drives?

[Jarek Zabczynski]

Hey guys, any opinions on a 2 Port eSATA ExpressCard for a MBP?

Would be using this to transfer from REDStation to Raid1 Drive over eSATA.

I currently have a Sonnet Tempo Edge that works well but it's only one port. There are a lot of mixed reviews on the 2 port ones. I want something reliable.

Thoughts? Was looking at the following:


http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/TSATAIIE342P/

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/TSATAIIE342P/

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/SATAIIIE2E34/


Amazon has all these cheaper but these are better links.

[Ryland Jones]

I have had great success with the Sonnet Tempo Sata Pro! It's a tad bit more expensive, but is really reliable. I have used a few different brands and models.

https://secure1.sonnettech.com/product_info.php?cPath=127_129&products_id=264&osCsid=4ba36dd415e5fbf0f4b1c4c526bc42da

Hope that helps!

[Brian Iannone]

I've heard that Sonnet cards frequently have compatibility issues. I'd recommend CalDigit's FASTA-2ex (http://www.CalDigit.com/FASTA-2ex/).

Amazon.com → (http://www.amazon.com/CalDigit-FASTA-2ex/dp/B005X8NWUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325130481&sr=8-1)

[Ryland Jones]

I've heard that Sonnet cards frequently have compatibility issues. I'd recommend CalDigit's FASTA-2ex (http://www.CalDigit.com/FASTA-2ex/).

Amazon.com → (http://www.amazon.com/CalDigit-FASTA-2ex/dp/B005X8NWUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325130481&sr=8-1)

To each his own.

I'm sure the caldigit one is good too. I can only speak from experience. eSATA seems to always be the hardest connection when it comes to compatability and hot swapping. Even after updating to Lion, sonnet has been very good about new drivers and addressing issues. All the RAIDS and REDMAG readers I used worked great with it.

[Kemalettin Sert]

bought sonnet from amazon but having problems with it..

[Ryland Jones]

bought sonnet from amazon but having problems with it..

Which model?

[Brian Iannone]

Read this post by Jeff Kilgroe: http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?67539-How-long-does-it-take-to-empty-a-64gb-red-ssd-card&p=881492&viewfull=1#post881492

[joe hedge]

Hey guys, any opinions on a 2 Port eSATA ExpressCard for a MBP?

Would be using this to transfer from REDStation to Raid1 Drive over eSATA.

We usually back up to 2 drives...going to a MBP, the card reader goes to FW 800, and the Express34 card handles the 2 backup drives

Unless, of course, you have a Thunderbolt 17" MBP, and one of these

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpresscard34thunderbolt.html

In which case, you now have room for 2 Express34 cards, and 4 eSata ports

[Ryland Jones]

I read that thread too. Sonnet put out new drivers on Dec 20th. Most times I run all my stuff through my QIO too. 4 ports!

[Jarek Zabczynski]

bought sonnet from amazon but having problems with it..

Thus my reason for this thread. I've generally been pretty nervous when using these eSATA cards. Connections never feel secure and I constantly feel like something's gonna fail. Thunderbolt or USB3 REDStations would be ideal.

[joe hedge]

Also might be good to make sure you're up to date on drivers and system compatibility

http://www.sonnettech.com/support/kb/kb.php?cat=445&expand=_a2_b603&action=b622#b622

http://www.sonnettech.com/support/kb/kb.php?cat=445&expand=_a2_b603_b622_b623_b627&action=b628#b628

[Sierra Haworth]

I've also had decent luck with the Sonnet Tempo eSata Pro, though when Lion first came out I had issues getting RED SSD cards to read, but Sonnet's customer service was awesome and they were totally on it, even calling me with follow up questions days later.

[Tim Whitcomb]

I've also had decent luck with the Sonnet Tempo eSata Pro, though when Lion first came out I had issues getting RED SSD cards to read, but Sonnet's customer service was awesome and they were totally on it, even calling me with follow up questions days later.

+ 1 Sonnet makes great stuff

[Jack Shanahan]

I just bought the Sonnet 2 Port Card:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet Technology/SATAIIIE2E34/

It works fine on my Drobo S and Mid 2010 i7 17'' Macbook Pro w/ OSX 10.7.2

Still waiting on my Scarlet X package to check on mounting the SSD's via the Redstation.

Anyone done this yet?

Also anyone know how to check what version Pci is on a macbook? Im curious if I have 1.0 or 2.0....

Thanks,
Jack

[Tom.Wong]

i have problems with my tempo pro, it's great at mounting 1 drive. but add a second one to the equation it gets funky. sometimes that second drive just won't mount, and I have to do a variety of reboots, turning the drive on and off, etc until it finally gets into a sweet spot and the drive stays mounted. but if I reboot, or turn off the drive and turn it back on, it won't guarantee the drive will mount again and I have to start the process all over again. when both are going it's nice and fast, but I have better compatibility with a simple 35 dollar rosewill esata card off newegg, and the speed difference is only maybe 15%

[Jack Shanahan]

i have problems with my tempo pro, it's great at mounting 1 drive. but add a second one to the equation it gets funky. sometimes that second drive just won't mount, and I have to do a variety of reboots, turning the drive on and off, etc until it finally gets into a sweet spot and the drive stays mounted. but if I reboot, or turn off the drive and turn it back on, it won't guarantee the drive will mount again and I have to start the process all over again. when both are going it's nice and fast, but I have better compatibility with a simple 35 dollar rosewill esata card off newegg, and the speed difference is only maybe 15%

Can you tell me what cpu, drives, exact sonnet card, osx etc?

Thanks,
Jack

[Andrew clemson]

Ive not hany issues with the sonnet tempo sata pro connecting two esata drives, but when I try to go RED station esata to Thunderbolt (pegasus R4) the copy will crash every time. Bizarre.

[Tony Lorentzen]

Ive not hany issues with the sonnet tempo sata pro connecting two esata drives, but when I try to go RED station esata to Thunderbolt (pegasus R4) the copy will crash every time. Bizarre.

You should check if the Sonnet card uses a chip that isn't supported by the RED stations. I had to swap out the Sonnet Tempo card in my Mac Pro with a Caldigit FASTA-4 card to make it reliable enough for use.

[Tony Lorentzen]

Guys - I literally just saw this one: http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/08/ces-2012-lacie-hub-connects-esata-drives-to-thunderbolt-macs/

A LaCie hub that allows Thunderbold equipped Macs to connect to eSATA drives. Sweet!

[Andrew clemson]

You should check if the Sonnet card uses a chip that isn't supported by the RED stations. I had to swap out the Sonnet Tempo card in my Mac Pro with a Caldigit FASTA-4 card to make it reliable enough for use.

Hmm fair point actually, I was using Reader>FW800-Sonnet>2XEsata Drive

Might have to pick up a caldigit.

[Tom.Wong]

Can you tell me what cpu, drives, exact sonnet card, osx etc?

Thanks,
Jack

17 inch 2011 macbook pro, snow leopard 10.6.8, 2.4 ghz, 8 gb ram

sonnet tempo pro (the 200 dollar one)

drives? all kinds, g raids, g drives, custom enclosures (macally, wiebetech, owc) glyph, caldigit.

i encounter this problem no matter what. and I have several colleagues who have the same issue. with my experience with the echo, and what I've heard from the qio, i'm weary of anything sonnet. I'm gonna stick with my generic card for awhile, and see if caldigit or firmtek seem to offer anything faster. firmtek has so far been the most rock solid company for me, i've had their 4 port esata card for my mac tower since 2008, and has never failed me. I'll probably see if their expresscard is just as worthy.

[Jack Shanahan]

17 inch 2011 macbook pro, snow leopard 10.6.8, 2.4 ghz, 8 gb ram sonnet tempo pro (the 200 dollar one) drives? all kinds, g raids, g drives, custom enclosures (macally, wiebetech, owc) glyph, caldigit. i encounter this problem no matter what. and I have several colleagues who have the same issue. with my experience with the echo, and what I've heard from the qio, i'm weary of anything sonnet. I'm gonna stick with my generic card for awhile, and see if caldigit or firmtek seem to offer anything faster. firmtek has so far been the most rock solid company for me, i've had their 4 port esata card for my mac tower since 2008, and has never failed me. I'll probably see if their expresscard is just as worthy. Cool thanks. I have the cheaper 2 port esata express card: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet Technology/SATAIIIE2E34/ (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/SATAIIIE2E34/) I will test results as soon as my redstaion shows up...

Edit: The attached image shows the message regarding drivers for my particular card. Apprently OSX 10.7.2 has the right drivers for my card already. Not sure about other cards/osx's...

[Russ Campbell]

I've also had decent luck with the Sonnet Tempo eSata Pro, though when Lion first came out I had issues getting RED SSD cards to read, but Sonnet's customer service was awesome and they were totally on it, even calling me with follow up questions days later.

Hi Sierra. Have you managed to get your Tempo Pro card to recognize RED SSD's in Lion? I've updated the drivers and still have problems asking me to initialize. This isn't the case with my normal Sonnet Tempo or the newer 6G card.

[Jack Shanahan]

Cool thanks. I have the cheaper 2 port esata express card: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet Technology/SATAIIIE2E34/ (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/SATAIIIE2E34/) I will test results as soon as my redstaion shows up...

Edit: The attached image shows the message regarding drivers for my particular card. Apparently OSX 10.7.2 has the right drivers for my card already. Not sure about other cards/osx's...

EDIT (1/12/12): I just mounted a Red 64 GB SSD formatted as FAT (no Scarlet yet) via the Redstation through the above Sonett Esata card.

[Corey Robson]

I haven't tried this with Redstation but for what it's worth I've had no problems with these cheapo adapters and various eSATA drives on any of my 2011 Macbook Pros:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839328027

Make sure you download the latest non-raid sil3132 driver for OSX and you're good to go. If it gives you issues you're only out $20.

[Jack Shanahan]

Scarlet came in today. Formatted the SSD - shot on it - and mounted/transfered succesfully with this card:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet Technology/SATAIIIE2E34/

Transferred 13GB in a couple minutes max. How is that speed wise compared to Thunderbolt? I need to do a real timed test...