G-Technology

G-Technology
Founded Late 1980s
Headquarters San Mateo, California, United States
Industry External hard disk drive, backup and content management services

G-Technology, owned by HGST (which in turn is owned by Western Digital),[1] is a brand of external storage products designed and marketed for the Macintosh, creative pro, photography and A/V markets.[2] Its USB, FireWire, eSATA, SAS, SCSI Thunderbolt, and Fibre Channel systems support all levels of audio/video production.

G-Technology was founded by Roger Mabon in 2004 as a self-funded startup and was acquired by Fabrik Inc. in January 2008 for an undisclosed amount.[3]

History

In 2004 Medea Corporation, a manufacturer of storage systems optimized for digital content creation, had just been sold to Avid Technology.[4] Medea co-founder Roger Mabon purchased the rights to one of Medea’s products from Avid – a two-drive RAID 0 storage system for creative professionals – and opened up his own business just blocks from his house in Santa Monica.[4]

The company sold products to a local community of audio/video creative professionals until the company made an agreement in 2006 with Apple that greatly increased placement of their products in Apple stores in the United States, and raised their revenue from $20,000 a month in 2004 to millions.[4]

The company introduced the world’s first 500GB 2.5” portable storage drive at Macworld Expo in 2008.[5]

On 2008-01-15, Fabrik Inc., a organization founded by Keyur Patel and Anaal Udaybabu along with Mike Cordano, announced the acquisition of G-Technology, Inc.[6][7]

Fabrik, Inc. era

On 2007-01-15, G-Technology, Inc. announced the 500GB version of G-DRIVE mini external storage device.[8][9] and industry's first 1 TB portable external storage drive, the G-RAID mini with RAID 0.[10][11]

G-Technology announced the first family of external solid-state drives (SSD) at Macworld Expo 09.[12][13][14]

Products

G-Technology sells their external storage devices for professionals under the product lines G-SPEED, G-RAID, G-SAFE, and G-DRIVE.

G-RAID is a line of portable external hard drive products used for field editing and backup for video producers and camera operators. The line supports RAID 0 (striped volume) and are encased in aircraft-grade aluminum for ruggedness.

G-RAID drives support multi-stream DV, HDV, DVCPro HD, XDCAM HD, ProRes 422 and uncompressed SD workflows and can be connected via FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 ports.

The line also includes the G-RAID mini, a smaller version with no power cord, that’s powered by a FireWire plug into a computer or laptop. This smaller G-RAID mini comes in capacities up to 1TB in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 (mirroring).

G-SPEED is designed for professional content creation applications used to edit and produce digital video and film productions.

The G-SPEED line includes desktop and server rack-mount products ranging up to 16TBs using 16 hot-swappable drives. The G-SPEED line has high-end performance specifications geared toward content producers, Fibre Channel products, 4GBit connectivity, and more.

It also includes the G-SPEED eS, which is a small desktop enclosure with four drives.

G-SAFE is optimized for professional digital photographers. It comes with RAID 1 functionality to protect digital photography.

G-SAFE products support both FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 connections.

G-DRIVE consists of single-drive external storage units that work with both Mac and Windows PCs to offer up to 3 TB capacities. G-DRIVE features support for FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 connections.[15]

The series also includes the G-DRIVE mini, a smaller version, and the G-DRIVE Q, which has more support options for FireWire 400, FireWire 800, USB 2.0 and eSATA ports in a single unit.

References

  1. ↑ BusinessWeek Company Profile
  2. ↑ G-Technology Website
  3. ↑ Michael Arrington, January 15, 2008. “Fabrik Acquires G-Technology, Expect 2008 Revenues of $200+ million.” TechCrunch. Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Melody Hanatani, February 12, 2008. “Tech ‘baby’ grows up with merger.” Santa Monica Daily Press. Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
  5. ↑ Press Release, January 15, 2007. “G-Technology Debuts World’s First 500GB 2.5” Portable External Drive.” Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
  6. ↑ FABRIK ACQUIRES G-TECHNOLOGY, INC.
  7. ↑ Alistair Croll, January 15, 2008. “Fabrik Buys G-Tech to Consolidate Consumer Storage Offerings.” GigaOm. Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
  8. ↑ Staff, January 15, 2008. “G-Technology Debuts World’s First 500GB 2.5 Inch Portable External Drive.” Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
  9. ↑ [G-TECHNOLOGY DEBUTS WORLD'S FIRST 500GB 2.5" PORTABLE EXTERNAL DRIVE - Ultra Sleek and Designed for Mac Market, G-DRIVE mini Features a FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 Interface for Massive Storage and Performance]
  10. ↑ Tom Forenski, January 15, 2008. “Fabrik Expands Into Premium Drive Business, Buys G-Technology.” Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
  11. ↑ G-TECHNOLOGY PUTS A ONE TERABYTE PORTABLE DRIVE IN YOUR HAND - Upgrade Your Gear with G-RAID mini, the Industry’s First 1TB Portable Drive Offering RAID 0, Massive Capacity, Performance and Durability
  12. ↑ Nick Spence, January 16, 2009. “G-Technology introduces external solid state drives for Mac.” Retrieved January 16, 2009.
  13. ↑ Justin Yu, January 7, 2009. “G-technology jumps on the SSD bandwagon, releases two external drives.” Retrieved January 16, 2009.
  14. ↑ Ivan Beres, January 6, 2009. “G-DRIVE external SSD for the mac addict.” Retrieved January 16, 2009.
  15. ↑ http://www.g-technology.com/products/g-drive.cfm G-Drive Product Page

External links