The folks at iodyne have announced Windows support for their Pro Data Thunderbolt storage. We reviewed the iodyne Pro Data not long after it shipped and it is a slick, fast, expensive but very useful storage device for many media applications that need speed. The Pro Data has been Mac only but Windows support will open a whole new market because film and video production and post, isn’t all Mac-based. This Windows update for the Pro Data comes after multi-reader sharing in October and the announcement of the Pro Mini.

Now you can connect both Macs and Windows to a single Pro Data unit and share containers.

The full press release is below:

Mill Valley, California (November 12, 2024)—iodyne, developer of the world’s fastest Thunderbolt storage for media professionals, announced the official release of Windows support for iodyne Pro Data, and is now sharing some of the breakthrough multi-platform workflows enabled by this new feature. Editors, colorists, VFX pros, animators, and DITs can now use the fastest, most reliable, and secure path from camera to edit on both Mac and Windows.

“With this update, production teams can have one editor working in Avid Media Composer on a Mac, two different editors working in Adobe Premiere Pro on Windows, while a colorist might be working in DaVinci Resolve, all collaborating on a single Pro Data the size of a laptop—all working from the same files at the same time in 8K RAW at full speed, fully encrypted,” explained Martin Christien, Director of Workflow, iodyne.

“Our engineering team is dedicated to building the most innovative storage devices for creative productions, and the most reliable, secure, and fastest workflow for moving data from camera to post. We’re thrilled to bring our technology to Windows users, and users who need to combine Mac and Windows platforms in a single workflow,” said Mike Shapiro, Co-President, iodyne.

Windows support is available to current iodyne customers through a free, simple update to their existing Pro Data units.

• First and only Thunderbolt storage with Thunderbolt NVMe multipathing on  Windows—Eight Thunderbolt ports with support for up to four upstream paths to either Mac and/or Windows computers, and four downstream to additional Pro Data units or other devices.
• First and only Thunderbolt storage with support for the accelerated Windows DirectStorage API—This Microsoft API can speed up data access time even further in compatible apps, reducing the processor’s load by up to 40%.
• Multipathing and multiple operating systems at the same time with up to four Thunderbolt-connected computers– multiple PCs to Pro Data to enable collaboration on a single copy of your data.
• Hardware RAID-6 and enterprise-grade encryption while sustaining performance.
• Multiple Containers which allow working on separate projects or computers all within the same device.

BAFTA award-winning production studio, Atlantic Productions, who has produced projects in collaborations with BBC, Meta, and other major broadcasters and streamers, field-tested Pro Data Windows support on a recent project they ingested on Macs and edited on PCs. “We took over 15TB of video media, including 8K Prores Proxy, 8K H.265, and 12K BlackMagic Raw files, and processed up to 27 mags on Pro Data. We relied on Pro Data’s speed for the edit, as our files—even in proxies— are enormous. We also need cross-platform functionality, high speed, and security for our partners,” said Steve Cullen, Head of IT, at Atlantic Productions. “The [iodyne Pro Data] form factor is a huge advantage on a location relative to other solutions we’ve tried in the past. The great thing about Pro Data now that we own them is the ability to reuse them on other projects once we’re done with this one.”

“Pro Data worked seamlessly on our Netflix multicam production. It let us connect more than one user to each RAID, allowing for fast and collaborative data management—and the ability to connect more than one Thunderbolt cable to increase transfer speeds was great! Fast drives really did save lives on this one,” said Justin Warren, Digital Imaging Technician, IATSE Local 600.

About Pro Data

Pro Data powers the most demanding image, sound, design, film, VFX, and animation workflows with the world’s fastest Thunderbolt storage. Pro Data combines unmatched sustained ingest and playback speeds of up to 5.2 GB/s read and 2.4GB/s write with RAID-6 protection and 256-bit encryption worthy of the most powerful enterprise storage appliances. Enabling the full power of Thunderbolt NVMe technology, and constantly innovating with a growing set of features like unique Multipathing, Storage Handoff, and Multi-Reader Sharing, Pro Data is a unique tool to power production workflows. Available in 12, 24, or 48 TB configurations, the compact design fits elegantly into a backpack, DIT cart or an editing desk setup.