Logicubes latest Sonix hard drive duplication system is compact and easy to use. The Sonix system is a great tool for securing hard drive data, cloning operating system images for PC deployments and forensic data collection.
The Sonix system I tested, which was released last month, is priced at $1,895 and includes a carrying case. The Sonix unit also includes a 64MB compact flash card, a power supply and cables for various drive formats. In addition, the system comes with a flashlight and screwdriver, handy for remote technicians.
The Sonix system has built-in IDE and Serial ATA ports for direct drive attachment. Optional adapters allow the unit to access 1.8-inch and compact flash card drives. There is also a USB port that enables the system to access drive enclosures or SCSI drives within a PC.
Still, it would be nice if the unit also included FireWire support to handle FireWire-only systems.
The Sonix systems built-in UDMA 4 engine lets it sustain data transfer rates of 3.3GB per minute. I found the Sonix systems comprehensive set of embedded software impressive, allowing users to produce a bit-for-bit mirror image, a copy that mirrors only data areas and skips blank sectors. There are also optional software diagnostics that let the system scan for bad sectors or try to recover data from bad sectors.
For more information about the Sonix system, check out www.logicube.com.