Promise FastTrack/FastSwap IDE RAID Controller

By taking the FastTrack controller card, and bundling it with a removable drive bay solution, Promise created the FastSwap Pro. Consisting of the same FastTrack bundle discussed earlier, the FastSwap Pro features two plastic, removable, 5.25" drive bays that hold your 3.25" hard drives for easy removal and transportation between FastTrack based systems. Unfortunately it seems like Promise skimped on the quality of the FastSwap Pro solution as the cheaply manufactured plastic removable bays are not sturdy at all, and don't appear to be able to last a normal hardware junkie's thrashing.

The added cost of the FastSwap Pro will probably go wasted unless you plan on installing more than one FastTrack system in a lab where you'll need the ability to switch drives on the fly. Other than that remote case, the FastSwap Pro will be one of those unnecessary impulse purchases that will really offer you no benefit in the long run. If you're going to pursue this IDE RAID solution, remember why you're doing so, to keep costs down, so don't add to the costs by opting to go for a package you will probably never use.

On the bright side of things, Promise's documentation and setup instructions for the FastSwap Pro is top notch as well, making the entire solution an extremely easy to configure experience for even the most novice of users.

The AnandTech Test System Configuration was as follows:

• Intel Pentium II 400

• ABIT BX6 Revision 2

• 128MB PC100 SDRAM

• Two Western Digital Caviar AC28400 8.4GB - UltraATA HDDs

• Matrox Millennium G200 AGP Video Card (8MB) - All other Benchmarking

Ziff Davis Winbench 99 was run with Windows running at 1024 x 768 x 16-bit color. All tests were run with AV Optimizations turned on unless otherwise stated.