All of us have had some kind of problem, mishap or bad experience with external storage units in both the most private and in professional environments. It is one of the issues that receives the best ratings among users when everything is running smoothly, but one that does not receive the importance it deserves when buying a storage unit or in the care and handling of said units.

*This is included in the March issue of TM BROADCAST. You can access the full magazine here.

Everything is digital. Everything has to be stored: texts, presentations, photographs, audios, music, videos, films…in short, data and more data. This data is much larger and has a more demanding workflow in terms of quality and transfer speeds within the professional environment.

We have had the opportunity to test a SanDisk Professional branded professional storage kit. First of all, this manufacturer is a reference and an assurance in storage solutions, offering a wide range of products.

Since I work in the field of cinema, advertising, television and live events (especially in jobs related to live visuals), I must point out that SanDisk Professional solutions are perfect for the workflows required by these professional environments.

SanDisk Professional is an American company based in Milpitas, California, founded in 1988; from the outset it was positioned in the market as a company specializing in the design, development and manufacture of flash memory storage devices, including memory cards, pendrives and solid-state disks.

One fun fact. SanDisk Professional was involved in the development of widely used card formats such as CompactFlash and Memory Stick. In addition, together with Panasonic and Toshiba, it developed the SD (Secure Digital) memory format. A later version -the micro SD memory- is widely used in digital cameras and camcorders, mobile phones, and other devices.

And as a historical fact, in 2016, it was acquired by Western Digital (WD), a global manufacturer of hard drives, integrated circuits and storage products.

Knowing this historical context and given the successes in the different products in which SanDisk Professional is involved, we have to say that the storage kit is a success to be implemented in the audiovisual and live sector. Specifically, we have been able to work with three pieces of equipment: PRO-BLADE STATION SSD MAG, PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT SSD MAG and a 2TB PRO-BLADE SSD MAG unit.

The basic principle of the three is very simple: just read, record, copy, transfer or save data on a storage medium, specifically based on SSD. SanDisk Professional offers us the best when it comes to consider the needs of the audiovisual sector: the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE modular SSD ecosystem.

Thus, the PRO-BLADE STATION SSD MAG is a stationary device for places and environments where mobility is not necessary as, for example, video editing rooms or video/audio post-production; the PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT SSD MAG is designed to cover jobs where the portability of the SSD storage units required as, for example, when making camera recordings on external units and in visual releases for a live event.

Many of our readers know perfectly well the importance of a concrete, closed and efficient solution when working with external storage units; but still others think that all manufacturers, models and brands that manufacture this type of equipment do exactly the same. And this is the big mistake, especially within the professional environment of audiovisual and live events.

A large amount of data and files; very demanding qualities in terms of resolution, number of frames per second and compression levels; delivery times and immediate checks; continuous changes and permanent integration of data within the workflow; backups and live work are all essential parameters that must be taken into account to understand that some manufacturers have specialized in the professional world.

The read/write speed tests carried out with different applications and software have yielded results that have been very satisfactory. Also with the transfer of files between different internal and external storage drives. We tested the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE Ecosystem Kit with different computing environments, from Mac to PC, with different speed specifications on different computers and versions of different operating systems.

The software packages we used for testing were: AJA System Test, BlackMagic Disk Speed Test and CristalDiskMarK, under different configurations. Regarding the type of audiovisual file in terms of resolution, we used from 720×576 (PAL) to 8192×4320 8K, as well as 4096×1714 4K DCI 2.4:1 among others. As for coding, we ran tests using different codecs: AVC-INTRA 50, CANON raw, CineForm 444, DNxHR HQX, ProRes 4444, RED ONE RC36, XDCAM EX, among others.

This combination of resolutions and codecs allowed us to test the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE Ecosystem Kit with a multitude of signal types (PAL, NTSC, RGB, RAW and/or YUV) and different color depths (8 bit, 10 bit, 12 bit and even 16 bit).

It should be mentioned that the performance of the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE Ecosystem Kit may vary depending on the computer equipment involved, so it is best to customize your SSD storage solution according to your own needs and equipment available. It is convenient to make it clear that SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE has offered us very high speed results and a high level of security when working with this kit.

Let’s review the technical specifications of each of the elements that make up SanDisk Professional Kit, taking into account that it is a modular, scalable and multi-environment solution:

• PRO-BLADE 2TB MAG SSD from SanDisk Professional is a state-of-the-art NVMe™ (Non-Volatile Memory Express) SSD. This unit is mounted in an aluminium housing measuring 109.8mm x 28mm x 7.5mm and a weight of 45 grams.

NVMe™ or Non-Volatile Memory Express is a parallel data transfer protocol that utilizes PCI-Express as an interface and is used in SSD M. It was introduced in 2011. This interface guarantees speed, stability, less consumption, maximum performance and very good connectivity with read/write equipment.

PRO-BLADE SSD MAG 2TB can be connected directly to macOS with the APFS format, or reformatted to be supported by Windows® (mainly with the ExFAT format) under a proprietary multipin concept with the PRO-BLADE read/write equipment.

This SSD storage unit is offered in a range of capacities (1TB, 2TB and 4TB). with great shock resistance (withstands drops of three meters in height and crushes up to 1,814 kg) and does not overheat, to help maintain superfast read/write speeds (depending on the equipment where the NVMe™ SSDs are inserted).

• PRO-BLADE STATION SSD MAG NVMe™ is a stationary computer that carries fourPRO-BLADE SSD MAG NVMe™ cards, since it comes with 4 read/write slots that can be connected to a computer (compatible with MacOS 10.13 or Windows 10® or higher). That means we can gather up to 16TB1total capacity when inserting up to four 4TB cards each.

It is a hardly bulky computer measuring 180.4mm x 133mm x 77.6mm and a weight of 1,450 grams (a little over three pounds) that offers the possibility of editing, copying, simultaneous downloads at incredible speeds and moving large amounts of data quickly, with transfer speeds of up to 3,000 MB/s for read and 2,600 MB/s for write.

PRO-BLADE STATION SSD MAG NVMe™ features an active fan to prevent overheating and ensure permanent airflow. Its noise level is only noticeable when unit is switched on.

Regarding connectivity, it has a USB Type-C™ cable and power supply (100W) with different socket adapters depending on the country. As for connection with the computer for data transfer, it featurres Thunderbolt™ 3 40 Gb/s (with support for USB-C™) with an indication on the cable of the 40 Gb/s data transfer rate. A nice detail is that the cables are color-coded for a better visualization of connectivity.

It incorporates a flashing LED light line in the lower front that gives us information on whether the units are working/transferring data. In addition, it displays the different PRO-BLADE SSD MAG NVMe™ cards separately on the desktops for better user accessibility.

• PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT SSD MAG is a portable piece of equipment with superfast transfer speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s for read and write. It is SanDisk Professional’s solution to deal with work environments where little weight and assurance are required in data transfers, for example, in a shooting with external storage directly from the camera or in the launch of visuals in live events.

PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT SSD MAG features a heat sink to help maintain an ultra-fast transfer speed and USB-C (20 Gb/s) connectivity to the computer (with support for MacOS 10.13 or Windows 10® and higher versions).

Size is 130.4mm x 71.5mm x 16mm and iweighs 165 grams. A small flashing led on the front indicates its operating status. Also, the cable with the USB-C connector (20 Gb/s) is marked with color.

Regarding price, it is reasonable, considering it is a modular option under the prism of versatility, scalability, high performance and secure connectivity. In any case, SanDisk Professional (Western Digital (WD)) presents on its website different cheaper storage solutions (https://www.westerndigital.com/es-es/products).

Finally, the design and finish of the SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE Ecosystem is minimalist, elegant, lightweight, compact and safe, a fitting image for professional equipment.

Quality, speed, safety, modular versatility and impeccable design are the five qualities that best define PRO-BLADE STATION SSD MAG, PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT SSD MAG and a 2TB PRO-BLADE SSD MAG unit.

SanDisk Professional offers us solutions and it is just a matter of deciding where to store your profession today and tomorrow.