Acomdata RocketPod And DockPod

The connection speeds offered by Firewire and USB 2.0 have opened up new possibilities in storage technologies, especially for external and portable solutions. Being able to add new drive space without opening the computer, and move it to another machine rapidly, are advantages that people clearly appreciate.

Acomdata RocketPod And DockPod
Rating: 7/10

The connection speeds offered by Firewire and USB 2.0 have opened up new possibilities in storage technologies, especially for external and portable solutions. Being able to add new drive space without opening the computer, and move it to another machine rapidly, are advantages that people clearly appreciate.

Acomdata has taken these concepts a stage further with the RocketPod design, which aims to unify multiple external drives into a stacked drive facility. You can buy a single FireWire or USB RocketPod drive and use it as you would any other external enclosure; plug it in and access the drive. However, with each having its own power supply, things could quickly become untidy if you have two or three.

This is where the DockPod comes in, a platform that offers a single point of power and connection for all drives stacked onto it. It achieves this using a circular power and data connection on the top and bottom of each drive. Using it, you can plug a single DockPod into the computer and then stack up to five drives on top. A neat feature is that you can have the system powered and running when you slap more drives on or take them off; no need to reboot.

In the test hardware The Technology Factory supplied a DockPod and two RocketPod drives (one 160GB and the other 250GB). It's my experience that FireWire is the best technology for external drives, so I attached the DockPod using that and dropped the drives on. Nothing happened. Eventually I discovered the drives I had were USB, and wouldn't work if the DockPod wasn't connected in this way. While this temporarily annoyed me, it does offer the possibility of having the DockPod attached to both technologies simultaneously, with drives from each stacked above. I've preferred it if each RocketPod was both USB and Firewire, thus avoiding the scenario I discovered. But if you only use one technology, this won't be an issue for you.

My only other concern is the solidity of the stack, which even with three parts seemed to wobble a little more than I'd like. The thought of a drive being knocked over during an important read or write operation isn't a nice one. The problem is caused by missing rubber feet placed on the DockPod, but not the drives.

My minor gripes aside, these are a well-made and well designed solution. Overall, I liked the styling, price and performance of the RocketPod. It goes beyond what normal drive enclosures offer, and offers strong value for money.

For more information, visit Micromart.co.uk


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