Other World Computing (OWC), the world's leading destination for cutting-edge and easy-to-install Mac and PC upgrades and accessories, has expanded its Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini portable hardware-RAID storage product line with two new 3.0TB models, available as 3.0TB RAID-1 (for robust data protection) or 3.0TB RAID-0 (for maximum performance).

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This bus-powered (no AC adapter is required) unit stores a tremendous amount of data safely using RAID technology, or even more data with super-fast access. Featuring hardware RAID-1 (mirrored) redundancy for data protection or RAID-0 (striped) for maximum throughput, the Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini contains two 2.5" hard drives or OWC Mercury Electra 6G SSDs for up to 3.0TB of capacity. A "quad interface" of FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0, and eSATA connections delivers data transfer speeds of up to 300MB/s with Mac and PC computers.

Why it's cool: It's the ultimate portable storage solution for professional users. Lightweight, bus-powered, and impact-resistant, in a 5.6 in (D) x 6.1 in (W) x 1.1 in (H) brushed aluminum enclosure with near silent, fanless operation, the Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini fits easily into laptop, photography, and other gear bags because of its side-by-side drive orientation. Fast, hardware-RAID technology is ideal for demanding data storage and backup needs, and can be configured with either high-performance hard disks or SSDs.

What it costs: The new 3.0TB Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini models are priced at $359.99, and join a great line-up that includes hard disk options with speeds of up to 7200RPM and SSDs with eSATA bus-saturating speeds. Pricing starts at $191.99 for a 640GB 7200RPM unit, with 32MB buffer.