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SeriTek/6G Direct Connect Performance

SeriTek/6G + 2011 MacBook Pro + miniSwap/ES + 6G SSD's = 391MB/s
The FirmTek SeriTek/6G ExpressCard provides ultra high performance when used with the 2011 MacBook Pro 17-Inch model, the miniSwap/ES and OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G Solid State Drives. With dual 120GB 6G SSD devices mounted on the SeriTek/6G ExpressCard/34 adapter, RAID 0 average read performance of 391MB/sec. can be achieved.

SeriTek/6G performance results with the 3G OWC Mercury Extreme Pro RE can be found here.

Area Full	Write - Read [MB/s]	Write - Read [MB/s]	Write - Read [MB/s]	Write - Read [MB/s]
empty	124 - 370	129 - 391	119 - 143	127 - 276
10%	126 - 372	129 - 391	119 - 142	129 - 265
20%	123 - 372	129 - 392	119 - 139	127 - 257
30%	124 - 371	129 - 392	119 - 137	128 - 248
40%	124 - 371	129 - 390	119 - 133	127 - 244
50%	124 - 371	128 - 392	117 - 129	127 - 232
60%	123 - 372	128 - 391	119 - 115	127 - 222
70%	124 - 371	133 - 392	119 - 120	127 - 207
80%	124 - 372	129 - 391	114 - 108	127 - 193
90%	124 - 372	132 - 390	107 - 102	127 - 172
100%	124 - 373	128 - 392	89 - 85	128 - 149
Average	124 - 372	129 - 391	115 - 123	127 - 224
Configuration	Single Disk 120GB 6G SSD miniSwap/ES	RAID 0 Two 120GB 6G SSD miniSwap/ES	Single Disk Samsung F3 SeriTek/2EN2	RAID 0 Two Samsung F3 SeriTek/2EN2
Volume Size	111.5GB	222.9GB	999.2GB	2TB

Table 1 Testing Detail: The SeriTek/6G ExpressCard was tested with the 2011 Apple 17" MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.6.7. 120GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G Solid State Drive(s) and 1TB Samsug F3 SATA 3.5" hard disk(s) were performance tested while connected to the SeriTek/6G using driver version 6.1.1. DiskTester 2.0 1GB read and write tests were performed using a run area test to provide the results in MB/s.

SeriTek/6G + SeriTek/5PM Port Multiplier Enclosure = Virtually Unlimited Data Storage
The combination of a single FirmTek SeriTek/6G ExpressCard with multiple SeriTek/5PM enclosures can provide large data storage volumes and superior read performance when connected to the 2011 Apple 17" MacBook Pro. With ten 1TB Samsung F1 SATA hard disks mounted in two SeriTek/5PM enclosures, FirmTek obtained RAID 0 average read performance of 377MB/sec.

The SeriTek/5PM enclosure provides several interesting advantages.
1. Reduced cable clutter (a single cable per enclosure)
2. Stable RAID performance as the volume fills
3. Huge storage capacity (5x greater than a direct connect configuration)
4. Up to ten hard disks can be supported with a single SeriTek/6G

# of Drives	5	10	4	4
Area Full	Write - Read [MB/s]	Write - Read [MB/s]	Write - Read [MB/s]	Write - Read [MB/s]
empty	118 - 246	128 - 374	120 - 231	121 - 244
10%	118 - 246	129 - 373	120 - 233	121 - 246
20%	118 - 246	129 - 374	119 - 240	121 - 250
30%	118 - 246	129 - 374	115 - 230	121 - 241
40%	118 - 246	129 - 373	119 - 219	121 - 247
50%	119 - 246	128 - 373	122 - 208	121 - 239
60%	118 - 246	129- 374	120 - 197	121 - 249
70%	118 - 246	129 - 373	120 - 186	121 - 247
80%	118 - 246	128 - 373	120 - 155	121 - 205
90%	118 - 245	129 - 373	120 - 151	121 - 205
100%	119 - 245	131 - 374	120 - 117	121 - 156
Average	118 - 246	129 - 374	120 - 197	121 - 230
Configuration	SeriTek/5PM 5-Samsung F1 1TB RAID 0	2-SeriTek/5PM 10-Samsung F1 1TB RAID 0	Oxford 936QS 4-Hitachi 1TB RAID 5	Oxford 936QS 4-Hitachi 1TB RAID 0
Volume Size	5TB	10TB	3TB	4TB

Table 2 Testing Detail: The SeriTek/6G ExpressCard/34 adapter was tested with the 2011 Apple 17" MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.6.7. Samsung F1 hard disks were mounted in the FirmTek SeriTek/5PM enclosure(s). RAID 0 configurations were created with Disk Utility. Hitachi 1TB hard disks were installed in the 936QS based enclosure. DiskTester 2.0, 4GB read and write tests were performed using a run area test to provide the results in MB/s.

Why FirmTek is Excited About This New ExpressCard
The SeriTek/6G ExpressCard adapter provides impressive read performance capabilities when matched with the 2011 Apple 17" MacBook Pro. In addition, the SeriTek/6G is bootable with the 2011 MacBook Pro. These two features offer some interesting opportunities. Consider using a fast external SSD or SATA RAID boot volume for special high performance applications like uncompressed 1080i 10-bit RGB 4:4:4 video playback, amazingly quick external boot drive read performance, creating ultra fast bootable backups and more!

With Read performance capabilities in excess of 380MB/s, the SeriTek/6G ExpressCard offers a new performance standard for the eSATA ExpressCard/34 category. Add Boot capability, high quality SATA 6G hardware, third party S.M.A.R.T application support, a native eSATA interface, Boot Camp support, Time Machine compatibility and SiI-3726 port multiplier enclosure support to round out this huge product feature set, only found on the FirmTek SeriTek/6G.

2010-2009 MacBook Pro Users: The SeriTek/6G is optimized for the 2011 MacBook Pro. While the SeriTek/6G can be used with 2010 and 2009 MacBook Pro models, boot support is not available and Read performance will be less than 200MB/s with any enclosure configuration.

This information was produced by FirmTek, LLC for Macintosh users desiring an in-depth analysis of the performance options available with the FirmTek SeriTek/6G. We hope you find this data helpful. Results will vary with third party enclosures and different hard disk models.