NAB: Blackmagic Design Launched MultiDock 10G With USB-C

Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd. announced MultiDock 10G, a rack mount USB-C disk dock with all metal design that lets customers access and move SSD media disks between cameras, HyperDecks and computers by docking.

The MultiDock 10G is a SSD dock that lets customers access four separate SSDs via a single high speed 10Gb/s USB-C connection. Unlike cheap consumer adapters,it has been designed for the film and TV industry and features a rackmount design with an independent SATA driver chip on each disk, ensuring faster data transfer speeds. It can even be used for SSD compatibility on HyperDeck Extreme.

Unlike cheap SSD docking cables, the MultiDock 10G is a 1U metal design customers can mount in any professional rack. Each disk slot features an illuminated disk indicator so customers can see when disks are being accessed. The rear panel features two USB-C connections and a slide switch to allow selecting between using 4 disk slots on a single USB-C connection, or 2 slots on each USB-C connection for shared use.

MultiDock supports up to 4 independent 2.5 inch SSDs so it’s possible to edit directly from the disks customers recorded onto. Plug in SSDs and they will mount on their Mac OS X and Windows computers like regular HDDs. Because MultiDock features 4 independent disk slots, customers can mount all their media from a shoot all at the same time. It is for accessing media recorded with the URSA Mini Pro SSD Recorder. It’s also a solution to add SSD compatibility to HyperDeck Extreme 8K as it will let customers interchange disks between HyperDeck Studio models.

MultiDock uses USB-C technology so customers get fast transfer speeds to their computer at up to 10Gb/s with a single cable connection. That’s enough bandwidth to handle high resolution video formats including 8K in H.265 from HyperDeck Extreme 8K. MultiDock features an independent disk interface chip per disk slot so customers never get slowdowns because of SATA bandwidth issues. Even though customers get all 4 disks connected to a single USB-C connection, customers can also split Blackmagic MultiDock 10G and get 2 disks on 1 USB-C connection and 2 disks on the second USB-C connection. That’s for dual computer use or increased speed.

Unlike consumer disk arrays, MultiDock is a compact and robust one rack unit all metal design that can be installed into equipment racks. The built-in power supply ensures no power is used from laptop batteries and it has enough power to run 4 disks all at the same time for use in RAID configurations. Blackmagic MultiDock 10G supports the RAID software built in to most OSs, so customers can customize their disk array for their needs.

The secret to using MultiDock 10G with HyperDeck Extreme is the USB-C port on the rear panel called ‘External Disk’. When customers plug MultiDock into the HyperDeck External Disk port, it can see the SSDs and use them for recording. When using two HyperDeck Extreme units mounted side by side it’s possible to switch to two channel mode and use two disks with each HyperDeck. This also means it’s possible to use two computers with a single MultiDock, one using each channel, or multiple rack mount servers can access the same MultiDock. When an SSD is inserted in MultiDock, it can be seen on the HyperDeck Extreme on-screen menus and customers can select it for record and playback.

“The new Blackmagic MultiDock 10G is exciting because it’s been specifically designed for the television industry and is much better quality than cheap consumer products,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “Now customers get a high quality rack mount design and they can move large media disks around fast!“