Since the official Thunderbolt cable and first third-party Thunderbolt devices arrived, a few people have gotten a chance to test them. The results? Yes, it really is hugely, obscenely, mind-bogglingly fast.
Both AnandTech and MacWorld got a chance to tinker with some of Promises’s new Thunderbolt RAID units, and were able to generate some pretty incredible results. Using a 6-bay 12TB unit from Pegasus, they have determined several things. First, you can boot from Thunderbolt, which may prove to become significant in the near future.
Additionally, the speeds they have been able to achieve have been truly incredible. Results indicated that they were able to transfer data between 6.8 and 11 times faster than FireWire 800, whilst scoring much better access times. Additionally, copying of a 2GB file showed it to be significantly faster.
While the initial tests already seem promising, it’s important to note that they were using iMacs and MacBook Pros for testing, and that the RAID units they were using were based on 7200RPM rotary drives – It’d be fascinating to see the insane speeds that could be achieved if those were all replaced by SSD’s, and the tests were conducted using a high-end Mac Pro… Mmm.
I’m eager to see prices on the Thunderbolt technology come down, and for it to become much more available, but I see a lot of potential here.
