HighPoint RocketU 1144CM 4 Port

HighPoint RocketU 1144CM 4 Port Dedicated 5 Gb/s USB 3.0 PCI Express 2.0 x4 RAID HBA for Mac Support Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion... 3.5 out of 5 stars CONSUMER REVIEWS(6) Super Speed USB 3.0: 5 Gb/s per USB port (Up to 20Gb/s) PCIe 2.0 x4 Host Interface Four USB 3.0 ports with Type-A connectors for easy data access Supports RAID 0, 1 and JBOD Supports OS x 10.8, 10.7 & 10.6 Backwards compatible with USB 2.0 & 1.1 storage devices Compliant with xHCI (Extensible Host Controller Interface) Specification Supports up to 4 external USB 3.0 HDD/SSD drives or enclosures Deal Price: $149.00

Description HighPoint's RocketU 1144CM: 3rd Generation PCI-E 2.0 x4 USB 3.0 HBA designed for Apple Mac Pro's and Mac OS X. The RocketU 1144CM is a PCI-E 2.0 x4 USB 3.0 HBA designed for Apple Mac Pro's and Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion RocketU HBAs benefit from a 2 ounce (oz) copper PCB layer for robust transfer performance and improved energy efficiency. The four Dedicated 5Gb/s USB Ports deliver 20Gb/s of transfer bandwidth, and are optimized for todays fastest USB 3.0 HDD and SSD's, storage docks, and enclosures. Built-in RAID technology and an intuitive Web-based Management interface support a variety of storage configurations including RAID 0, 1, and JBOD. RocketU 1144CM for Mac Pro’s integrate HighPoint’s industry proven hardware assisted RAID technology, and where designed specifically for workstations and high ‐performance applications. The intuitive Web browser based management interface that allows administrators to quickly create and manage storage configurations. RocketU 1144CM for Mac Pro’s support RAID levels 0, 1, and JBOD, as well as single- disk configurations. This was purchased as an upgrade to the manufacturer's older 2-port model (which does not have driver support for OS X 10.8) The original card was purchased a few years back, but had to be moved to an older system after the 10.8 upgrade.The RocketU 1144CM works great out of the box - the included drivers DO support 10.8.x. (for those confused about the other comments for this model)! Plug it in, run the installer, reboot, and done!Avoid the "BM/AM" aka "USB 3.0 for Mac" models when running 10.8 - these are older, and have the same problems most other USB 3.0 cards have (no drivers for anything past 10.7).This card seems to live up to the maker's performance claims - crazy fast for a USB card! Identical to eSATA speeds if you are using hard drives, and very comparable when running SSDs (and much easier to move disks between systems). It also supports RAID 0 and 1, and managed to handle two different arrays at the same time, with no noticeable... I installed in a 2009 Mac Pro running 10.6.8 and it couldn't have been more simple: shutdown, pop-in card, boot, install driver, restart, plug in drives, etc. I have not tried the web-config for RAID, but I installed that option as well.I opted for this version of the card so I would have 10.8 compatibility in the future, and because it gives me 4 independent USB 3.0 ports from just 1 card/slot. My external 4TB Seagate drives are now very happy compared to their former USB 2 connections. I have been a Mac user for over 10 years, Was not able to set this item up for use. I could not find a way to contact the manufacture. Will return the product.