In this article and the accompanying video, we're going to take a look at two new G-Tech Thunderbolt 2 solutions in different form factors that provide excellent solutions for video studios in need of RAID storage.

The G-Speed Studio is a 4-drive RAID 5. This compact unit houses four 3TB drives for a total of 12TB. For a smaller form factor, the G-RAID Studio is a 2-drive RAID 0 unit. It has two 4TB drives. Both the G-Speed and the G-RAID have removable drives mounted vertically with quick-release levers and include a short Thunderbolt 2 cable. The drive modules slip into place with a solid click.

Powering Up

Once you have them in place, then press the power button. When either unit powers up the indicator lights will glow. Now it's time to connect the Thunderbolt 2 cable from the computer to one of the two Thunderbolt 2 ports on the back of either the G-Speed or the G-RAID.

Speed Testing

If this is your first time using either the G-Speed or the G-RAID, you might need to use Disc Utility to format the drives. It can be used to create RAID 0, 1 or 5. RAID 0 stripes content across the drives making the overall throughput much faster than a single drive. We use the G-Speed for several days replacing our USB 3.0-based drive array. You can see that the G-Speed and RAID 0 was impressively able to achieve over 457 MB/sec writes and very impressive reads.

We also tested the G-RAID Studio alongside the G-Speed. Again, the results were impressive, with the G-RAID yielding about 200 MB/sec of throughput on both reads and on writes.

Look and Feel

We have to say we especially like the look of the G-Speed Studio. It screams Mac-compatible product to sit along your Mac Pro, the newer 5k iMac, or even an HP-based PC workstation.

OK, that's our review of the G-Speed Studio and the G-RAID Studio. We hope you've enjoyed this brief Braintrust Digital walkthrough of two solid Thunderbolt 2 devices from G-Technology. Either of these can be yours (as configured here, with other storage-capacity options available) for $849.95 (the 8GB G-RAID Studio) or $2,199.95 (the 12GB G-Speed Studio) from videoguys.com.

G-RAID Studio Thunderbolt 2 RAID System The G-RAID Studio is a high-performance storage system with hardware RAID, enabling digital content-creation workflow. User-selectable in RAID 0, RAID 1 or JBOD, the G-RAID Studio features Thunderbolt 2 technology and has transfer rates up to 360MB/sec for editing high-resolution photos or multiple streams of compressed 2K and 4K projects. The G-RAID Studio ships with two removable enterprise-class 7,200 RPM hard drives for total capacities up to 12TB, complete in a sleek black enclosure. Starting at $699.95

G-Technology G-SPEED Studio RAID Thunderbolt 2 Storage Solution The G-SPEED Studio with hardware RAID is a four-bay Thunderbolt 2 storage solution that supports user selectable RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 for ultimate flexibility and speed. The G-SPEED Studio boasts sustained transfer rates of up to 660MB/sec in RAID 0 and can be daisy-chained via dual Thunderbolt 2 ports. This G-SPEED Studio solution ships with four removable enterprise-class hard drives, designed to support multi-stream compressed 4K and 2K workflows. In a RAID 5 (data redundant) configuration, the G-SPEED Studio RAID can easily handle up to 30 hours of 4K footage in ProRes 4444 and can seamlessly edit three streams of compressed 4K. Starting at $2,199.95

Click here for more information about G-Technology products or call a Videoguys' Expert at at 800-323-2325.