WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo gives pro speed

Western Digital gave a more formal debut to its first Thunderbolt-equipped drive at Macworld|iWorld on Thursday. The My Book Thunderbolt Duo uses the fast 10Gbps port to feed two 3.5-inch hard drives at speeds that would be impractical for FireWire 800. On a 6TB Thunderbolt Duo, peak transfer speeds can hit over 250MBps (2Gbps), making the only bottleneck the drives themselves.

The speeds are potentially vital for video and 3D editors, even on the MacBook Air. WD estimates that a full HD movie can shuttle to or from the drive in 30 seconds. At such speeds, it's comparable to a mid-tier solid-state drive like the MacBook Air's own and can create a seamless effect where working from the external drive is as quick as built-in flash storage.

Both 4TB and 6TB capacities will be available, each using a RAID 0 stripe to get the extra speed and continuous space. Although it technically wouldn't require a Mac, Windows-based PCs using true Thunderbolt connectors were only just announced at CES and leave Apple's systems as the only immediate options. Prices and ship dates haven't been fixed.

My Book Live Duo (Thunderbolt Duo expected to be similar)

By Electronista Staff

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computers, digital imaging, upgrades/storage, Western Digital, MacBook Air, WD, My Book, Thunderbolt