122 MacDirectory
PROFILE
CALDIGIT > BRINGING INNOVATION TO MEDIA PRODUCTION
Based in Southern California, the company
CalDigit continues to strive to be the "go-
to" supplier for the music Industry,
photographers, and video editors. In fact,
the company engineers and manufactures
all of its own products. And if customers
have any technical questions or concerns,
CalDigit can provide the
answers. Their superior technical support
is offered even after a warranty expires.
Innovative Products
The company strives to stay ahead of its
competition by developing new techno-
logies that will be beneficial to its end
users. As such, all products, which
incidentally all can be configured to RAID
0, RAID 1, and JBOD, are exclusively
designed with its customers in mind.
"CalDigit is based upon innovation; we
are not a 'me-too' storage company,"
says Lauren O'Grady, a marketing assis-
tant at CalDigit. "When we design our
products, CalDigit doesn't make cost of
material an issue. We only think of how
to make the best products in the industry
to help users."
In order to ensure that its products
function at an optimal level, CalDigit uses
only the highest-quality components.
After all, if a product does not function,
end users will suffer from a loss of
productivity. Along similar lines, every
CalDigit product undergoes real world
testing – so as to ensure a top-notch end
product. Of course, the products are
aesthetically pleasing – namely with a
sophisticated modular design.
CalDigit HDOne
One of the more popular products at
Caldigit is the HDOne, which supports
RAID levels 0,1,5, 6 and JBOD. The HDOne,
itself, is essentially a pared down version
of the original HDPro.
"All of our users loved the HDPro but it
had features that not all of our users
needed," explains O'Grady. "As a result, we
trimmed down our HDPro and created the
HDOne -- a more affordable product that
still gives the users the performance and
protection they need."
More specifically, the HDPro is an 8-drive
RAID storage unit with a PCIe interface.
The company utilizes PCIe as it is a cutting
edge technology that offers the fastest
speed. In fact, this technology is five
times faster than a fiber channel, and in
RAID 5, users can reach sustained speeds
of up to 450 MB/s.
The company developed technology
called Active Sustained Transfer
Technology that keeps your data in check
– and prevents the high and low peaks
that can cause dropped frames.
Additionally, the unit, like all of the
company's units, has a modular design.
Further, the unit's drives are hot
swappable, and the fan and power supply
are cool swappable as well.
"What is also nice about this product is
that it can also be used with our eLane-
1ex ExpressCard 34mm to edit up to 8 bit
uncompressed HD on a laptop at
hardware RAID 5 speeds of 190 MB/s,"
says O'Grady. "The express card is also a
popular request."
Recent Product
One of the more recent items that
CalDigit created is a product called the
CalDigit VR. "CalDigit wanted to create a
high end disk RAID technology that
everyone could afford and we came up
with the CalDigit VR," says O'Grady.
The VR is a two drive, quadruple interface
(USB, FW 400, FW 800 and eSATA) storage
solution. The product is unique as it
comes with an environmental monitor
that regulates a system's ambient
temperature, fan RPM, and hard drive
health status. Further, this information
can be viewed through the Graphic User
Interface or the LCD panel on the front of
the VR. The Graphic User Interface also
provides password protection, an error
log, an event log, firmware updates and
RAID configuration. The LCD displays the
hard drive health status, drive capacity,
RAID level, fan RPM, ambient temperature
and users are able to configure the RAID
through the display as well.
"The LCD panel gives a nice visual
reference of what's going on within your
system. If anything were to occur, such as
fan failure or over heating, an event
notification via email or an audible alarm
will alert the user," explains O'Grady.
Visit for more information.
WORDS BY LARISA REDINS
