HighPoint Goes Crazy with 20Gbps USB 3.0 PCI Express RocketU Card

Posted 08/02/2011 at 3:19pm | by Paul Lilly

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Storage solutions and HBA (Host Bus Adapter) specialist HighPoint Technologies just let us know about its new RocketU 1144A, which is a four-port USB 3.0 add-in card. That in and of itself isn't terribly exciting, but it just so happens that this particular model is the industry's first/only four-port PCI Express Gen 2 x4, 20Gbps USB 3.0 SuperSpeed HBA. That's right, this thing packs four dedicated USB 3.0 ports, each one capable of a full 5Gbps for 20Gbps total.

"Conventional USB 3.0 HBA's impose a performance bottleneck on multi-drive configurations, limiting transfer rates to 5Gb/s. Such controllers limit the potential of today’s high-speed SSD’s and external RAID enclosures," HighPoint explains. "HighPoint has capitalized on recent advances in USB 3.0 connectivity, and has made 5Gb/s per-port performance a reality. No longer limited to the convenience of plug-and-play, USB 3.0 has emerged as a truly viable option for today’s high-speed SSD and hard drives."

Taking aim beyond the general home consumer crowd and targeting professionals, high-performance PCs, and workstations, the RocketU 1144A is best utilized for high-speed external USB 3.0 SSDs and RAID setups that can benefit from this type of multi-port performance. Best of all, it costs less than a C-note with an MSRP of $89.

HighPoint's RocketU 1144A is available now. We're working on getting our hands on one for testing, so keep your eyes peeled for a future impression.

Image Credit: HighPoint