Sonnet Introduces New 10G Thunderbolt Adapters

By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC

Sonnet Technologies sells adapters that help enable such activities as HD video editing with high-bandwidth shared storage systems. Now the company has expanded its portfolio with some new adapters that allow for easy connections between Mac and Windows computers, and high-speed network infrastructure and storage systems, via 10GbE over copper or fiber. These new offerings, the company says, are a match for various workflows and environments.

The Twin (News - Alert) 10G Thunderbolt 3 adapter has two RJ45 ports. It lets users connect their computer to a switch or other 10GbE interface via CAT-6 or CAT-6A copper cables.

A separate product, the Twin 10G SFP+ Thunderbolt 3 adapter, features two SFP+ sockets. One is for short-range reach, of up to 300 meters, and uses Twinax direct-attach copper cables. The other is for long-range applications, at up to 10 kilometers, and leverages fiber optic cables.

(Thunderbolt, by the way, is a peripheral connection technology developed several years ago by Intel in partnership with Apple. It combines data, video, audio, and power in a single connection. It’s based on the PCI (News - Alert) Express and DisplayPort architectures. And it allows for high-speed connectivity to such peripherals as hard drives, network interfaces, RAID arrays, and video-capture solutions.)

Both of the new Sonnet Technologies products have dual 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 ports supporting daisy chaining of up to five more Thunderbolt peripherals. Both feature Intel (News - Alert) 10 Gigabit Ethernet controllers. And both can be configured through the macOS network control panel or Windows device manager.

Each of these new adapters from Sonnet Technologies is available now for $669

The transceivers, meanwhile, sell for $69 (for the short-range version) and $149 (for the long-range version).

In addition to selling the line of Thunderbolt card expansion systems, Sonnet Technologies offers pro media readers; RAID storage systems; and storage, network, and other interface cards for pro users in the audio, broadcast, and video industries.