One of the announcements that you might have missed from this year’s IBC trade show in Amsterdam is related to the professional RAID line of portable hard drives that Sony recently launched along with the flagship Sony PXW-FS5 and Sony A7S II cameras. Positioned as part of the company’s 4K production workflow, Sony unveiled the PSZ-RA4T and PSZ-RA6T units providing 4TB and 6TB of data storage capacity respectively.
   

Both drives feature 1x USB 3.0 and 2x Thunderbolt 2 ports and can be configured in RAID-0, RAID-1, and JBOD modes. The PSZ-RA4T and PSZ-RA6T also provide transfer speeds of up to 440MB/s which greatly reduces transfer times and contributes to an efficient 4K workflow. The robust and shock-resistance design with built-in handle ensures safe and reliable storage in the field, plus both units support PC and Mac systems.

Furthermore, the drives have an internal and external damper function protecting the RAID storage which makes them an efficient and reliable storage option. As an alternative, these storage units are also compatible with the large-capacity SxS PRO+ D Series memory cards providing users with a high-speed data transfer solution.

You can also utilize the Memory Media Utility dedicated PC software with both drives as the app provides easy media management and can be downloaded from Sony’s website at no additional cost. In essence, it allows you to see device information such as remaining capacity, file system, RAID mode, as well as check the disk status to know optimum replacement time, and to reformat for quick data erasure and before re-use.

The PSZ-RA4T and PSZ-RA6T Highlights

• Capacity – 4TB, 6TB
  
• 2 x 3.5 inch/7,200rpm hard drives
  
• 1 x USB 3.0 port, 2 x Thunderbolt 2 ports
  
• Preconfigured RAID 0, Hardware RAID 0 / 1 / JBOD
  
• Read/Write: Up to 440MB/s*2 in RAID 0 mode
  
• Shock resistance – MIL 20G/11ms (in operating mode), 50G/11ms (in non-operating mode)
  
• Size – Approx. 156 x 100 x 241 mm (without protrusions) / 2.9kg
  
• Supports both Mac and Windows OS

In addition to the PSZ-RA4T and PSZ-RA6T RAID units, Sony has also announced a new 256GB memory card called the SxS PRO+, which is also aimed at the 4K video shooters and capable of handling roughly 40 minutes of compressed 4K video footage.