FirmTek SeriTek/i6G Review or
How To Build A Fast 8TB Volume

Originally posted October 21st, 2015 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist

How would you like to create an 8TB RAID 0 volume inside your Mac Pro tower? Or a fast 8TB flash volume connected to the Thunderbolt 2 port of your Mac Pro tube? We created our 8TB volume by using two FirmTek SeriTek/i6Gs and four Trans International 2TB Tiger SSDs.

GRAPH LEGEND
cMP PCIe = 2010 Mac Pro 6-core with two SeriTek/i6Gs (PCIe slots 3+4) each with two Tiger 2TB SSDs on each i6G
nMP TBbridge = 2013 Mac Pro 8-core with two SeriTek/i6Gs (each with two Tiger 2TB SSDs) mounted in two ThunderTek/PX PCIe-to-Thunderbolt expansion boxes and bridged across two Thunderbolt 2 buses
nMP TBpx = 2013 Mac Pro 8-core with two SeriTek/i6Gs (each with two Tiger 2TB SSDs) mounted in two ThunderTek/PX PCIe-to-Thunderbolt expansion boxes connected to two Thunderbolt 2 ports on the same Thunderbolt 2 bus
nMP TB22 = 2013 Mac Pro 8-core with two SeriTek/i6Gs (each with two Tiger 2TB SSDs) mounted in one ThunderTek/22 PCIe-to-Thunderbolt expansion box connected to one Thunderbolt 2 port

LARGE SEQUENTIAL TRANSFER TEST
We used AJA System Test to benchmark file level sequential transfer speed using a 16GB test file (and 4K frame size). LONGEST graph bar means the fastest overall in Megabytes per Second.

SMALL RANDOM TRANSFER TEST
We used a range of 4K to 1024K blocks in the Standard Random test in QuickBench as a predictor boot volume 'house keeping' performance and a simulation of an application that does multiple small random transfers. LONGEST graph bar means the fastest overall in Megabytes per Second.

INSIGHTS
There are other PCIe cards for mounting a one or more solid state drives. What is unique about the SeriTek/i6G is that it fully supports the 2TB Tiger SSDs. And it is cost effective. (See WHERE TO BUY below.)

NOTE: By bridging the ThunderTek/PX Expansion Boxes across two Thunderbolt 2 buses in the 2013 Mac Pro, the large sequential READ speeds rose above the 1350MB/s real-world limit of a single Thunderbolt 2 bus.

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WHERE TO BUY THE SeriTek/i6G and ThunderTek/PX

• Order the SeriTek/i6G and/or ThunderTekPX direct from FirmTek.

  The FirmTek Store is offering two introductory specials for a limited time. SPECIAL BUNDLE #1: includes one ThunderTek/PX expansion chassis and one SeriTek/i6G for the amazing low price of $199.95. SPECIAL BUNDLE #2: FirmTek Store customers can purchase two SeriTek/i6G cards for $150. That's 50% off the second card purchased at the same time.

• For the ThunderTek/22, OEMs can contact FirmTek

WHERE TO BUY THE TIGER 2TB SSD

• Order the Tiger 2TB SSD direct from Trans International.

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copyright 2015 Rob Art Morgan
"BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS"
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