TurboBox - NA210A

Question 1
What is the bandwidth provided when TurboBox NA210A is connected with a laptop or a desktop PC?
Answer1
The TurboBox NA210A is PCIe 2.0 spec, providing throughput 5 Gbps per lane.
For desktop PC users, since both host card and target card are PCIe 2.0 ×4 spec, when TurboBox NA210A is connected with desktop PC, the bandwidth provided is 20 Gbps (5 Gbps × 4 lanes ＝ 20 Gbps).
For laptop users, since current technology of laptop supports only PCIe 1.0 ×1 spec, when TurboBox NA210A is connected with laptop, the bandwidth is 2.5 Gbps (2.5 Gbps from PCIe 1.0 × one lane ＝ 2.5 Gbps). However, after the release of laptop with PCIe 2.0 ×1 spec (Intel Sandy Bridge microarchitecture) in the first quarter of 2011, when TurboBox NA210A is connected with laptop, the bandwidth will be 5 Gbps (5 Gbps from PCIe 2.0 × one lane ＝ 5 Gbps).

Question 2
If three third-party PCIe cards are plugged on TurboBox NA210A, will the bandwidth provided between TurboBox NA210A and laptop/desktop PC be enough for the three PCIe cards?
Answer2
Yes, the bandwidth for those three PCIe cards will be enough. An example of using an ATTO 8 port external 6Gb/s SAS/SATA RAID controller card and two Avid Pro Tools HD3 cards is given in the following:
For desktop PC users, when eight SATA hard disk drives are used with ATTO 8 port external 6Gb/s SAS/SATA RAID controller card, the RAID controller card consumes only 500 to 600 MB/s bandwidth which is approximately 5 to 6 Gbps. As for the other two Avid Pro Tools HD3 cards, their bandwidth is around 2 Gbps; therefore, the bandwidth for the three PCIe cards between TurboBox NA210A and desktop PC is about 7 Gbps, which accounts only one-third of the total bandwidth 20 Gbps that is provided.
For laptop users, since current technology of laptop supports only PCIe 1.0 ×1 spec, when TurboBox NA210A is connected with laptop, the bandwidth is 2.5 Gbps (2.5 Gbps from PCIe 1.0 × one lane ＝ 2.5 Gbps). When an ATTO 8 port external 6Gb/s SAS/SATA RAID controller card and two Avid Pro Tools HD3 cards are used on TurboBox NA210A, they consume about 7 Gbps bandwidth. In this circumstance, an ATTO 8 port external 6Gb/s SAS/SATA RAID controller card and two Avid Pro Tools HD3 cards can still be used; just the performance of the three PCIe cards would be limited due to the PCIe 1.0 ×1 spec on laptop; however, PCIe 2.0 ×1 spec (Intel Sandy Bridge microarchitecture) on laptop will be released in the first quarter of 2011, and the bandwidth will be 5 Gbps then (5 Gbps from PCIe 2.0 × one lane ＝ 5 Gbps). At that time, the performance for the three PCIe cards will be improved.

Question 3
How do I know the third party PCIe cards plugged on TurboBox NA210A are recognized by computer?
Answer3
For users of Windows operating system, please check "Device Manager" from Computer Management. As for users of Mac OS X, please check "About This Mac" under the Apple icon to see if the third party PCIe cards are recognized by computer.
For detailed information about the verification of third party PCIe cards, please check the user manual and see the ninth section "Verify Installation" at the third page of the user manual.

Question 4
After I connect the TurboBox NA210A to laptop/desktop PC, the TurboBox can not be recognized by computer. What can I do to solve this problem?
Answer4
If the TurboBox NA210A is not recognized by computer, it can be BIOS’ problem. Please update your laptop/desktop PC to the latest BIOS from the Web site of your laptop/desktop PC manufacturer. After updating the laptop/desktop PC to the latest BIOS, the TurboBox can be recognized by computer.

Question5
Wondering if your Model# NA210A can support a KONA 3 and/or Red Rocket card(s)?
I want to use this with a MacBook Pro.
Answer5
Only MacBook Pro(Unibody Model ID 5,1) has problem on its ExpressCard interface compatibility; others models of MacBook Pro are working well with NA210A.
The spec. of Red Rocket card(s) is no problem working with NA210A but the spec. of KONA seems to ask for PCIe x4 bandwidth. Since Laptop is only provide PCIe x1 bandwidth so when KONA 3 works with a Laptop then I suppose it cannot reach full performance. SD will work but I cannot make sure on HD.

Question6
My system is: Macpro (8-core) 2x2.8 Quad intel Xeon. I am using Protools Accel cards a total of three PCie cards are already installed and a video card a total of 4 slots. I need to use the video card inside the expansion box so i can use the slot for the host card.  I will be using a UAD card inside the expansion box and one video card. Would this be possible?
Answer6
Yes, NA210A is no problem working both Video and Audio cards and the bandwidth from DT will be fairly enough for handle those two cards together. UAD's engineer has tested NA210A with their 2pcs of UAD-2 Duo and the result is workin well. UAS will announce this news after they finish their big project of new products.

Question7
I'm running a mac pro 2.66ghz quad core intel nehalem processor with 16gb of 1066mhz ddr3 ram. The mac OS is 10.6.6. I want to run the NA210A-L (DT) loaded with two UAD 2 quad cards and a Sonnet tango express card, or quite possibly, three of the UAD2 quad cards.
Answer7
Yes, it is workable. UAD's engineer has tested NA210A-L(DT) with 3* UAD2 Duo cards and the result will be announced on UAD's website soon.

TurboBox - NA220A

Question 1
What is the bandwidth provided when TurboBox-mini NA220A is connected with a laptop or a desktop PC?
Answer1
The TurboBox NA220A is PCIe 2.0 spec, providing throughput 5 Gbps per lane.
For desktop PC users, since both host card and target card are PCIe 2.0 ×4 spec, when TurboBox-mini NA220A is connected with desktop PC, the bandwidth provided is 20 Gbps (5 Gbps × 4 lanes ＝ 20 Gbps).
For laptop users, since current technology of laptop supports only PCIe 1.0 ×1 spec, when TurboBox-mini NA220A is connected with laptop, the bandwidth is 2.5 Gbps (2.5 Gbps from PCIe 1.0 × one lane ＝ 2.5 Gbps). However, after the release of laptop with PCIe 2.0 ×1 spec (Intel Sandy Bridge microarchitecture) in the first quarter of 2011, when TurboBox-mini NA220A is connected with laptop, the bandwidth will be 5 Gbps (5 Gbps from PCIe 2.0 × one lane ＝ 5 Gbps).

Question 2
Does the TurboBox-mini™ NA220A support the: UAD-2 QUAD DSP Accelerator?
Answer2
Yes, NA220A works with UAD-2 QUAD. Moreover, UAD-2 QUAD is only consumption 10W , the NA220A is providing 80W power adapter fairly enough power supply.