Portable Storage Devices: Data on the Go

“Location, location, location” is the mantra for real estate agents. And extra real estate is essential for high-volume video editors and post studios. So what if you want to take your real estate on the road? Some high-capacity portable storage systems for digital media assets — including graphics, photos, and digital audio and video — have been announced or released recently, bringing the ability to move large amounts of digital data easily, reliably, and conveniently.

LaCie

LaCie, long known for its stylish storage devices, has just announced its biggest, littlest such device yet — the Little Big Disk (LBG) Quadra.

With storage capacity up to 1 terabyte (TB) and transfer speeds of up to 110 megabytes per second (MB/sec) via eSATA or 80MB/sec over FireWire 800, the LBG is a terrific answer to the question, “How fast, and how much, storage do I need for professional content creation?”

There are already 500GB and 400GB (7,200 RPM) versions, so this new portable Little Big Disk really ups the ante with two 2.5″ hard disks that work together in a built-in RAID 0 configuration. The unit also has one eSATA 3Gbits, two FireWire 800 (FireWire 400-compatible with included adapter), and one TJSB 2.0 interface, so it can work with cross-platform compatibility in almost any production environment.

In spite of the two disks inside, the unit is powered entirely by the FireWire interface. It has a proven heat sink design, developed by Neil Poulton, and it operates quietly, without a fan. It weighs in at a little more than 1.4 pounds, so it can be a very portable storage solution.

Fully plug-and-play with Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (including Time Machine) and Windows Vista, the Little Big Disk Quadra comes preloaded with the LaCie Setup Assistant, a utility that optimizes the drive according to your needs (Mac, Windows, or…