【Sonnet Technologies】Allegro USB-C 2-Port PCIe Card

When it comes to supporting the fastest USB drives available, your computer’s USB 3.0 ports are perfectly adequate…for connecting peripherals that don’t depend on the ultimate USB 3.2 speeds. However, common USB 3.0 ports can be underachievers—at 5Gbps, they can’t support the maximum performance from many storage devices, and may not provide enough power to enable them to operate. With Sonnet's Allegro USB-C PCIe card installed into a PCIe slot of a Mac Pro®, Windows®, or Linux® computer, or Thunderbolt Expansion System, you can upgrade to the benefits of SuperSpeed USB-C!

The Allegro™ USB-C PCIe(1) card supports data transfers at up to twice as fast as USB 3.0, and can also deliver 15W of power per port to USB-C bus-powered devices (three times the 4.5W specified in the USB 3.0 spec). Don’t settle for mediocre performance or insufficient power for the fastest SSDs—install an Allegro USB-C card to instantly add two Gen 2 USB 3.2 ports to your system and take full advantage of today’s SSD performance.

Sonnet specially engineered the Allegro USB-C card to provide 15W of power through each of its ports. The ports communicate with the host that 3A of VBUS current is available, enabling this Sonnet solution to support USB-C bus-powered SSDs and SSD RAID devices that need 15W during demanding write operations.

Featuring the latest high-performance USB 3.2 Gen 2 controller from ASMedia—the ASM 3142—the Allegro USB-C PCIe card supports concurrent data transfers up to 925 MB/s when connected to a two USB-C Gen 2 NVMe SSD devices! Most other cards limit concurrent transfers to half that, a significant disadvantage when time is of the essence.

• Two SuperSpeed USB-C 10Gbps Ports—Adds two USB-C 10Gbps ports to your Mac Pro®, Windows® PC, or Linux® computer with PCIe slots; or Thunderbolt™ to PCIe card expansion system
• Amazing Performance—Transfers data up to 960 MB/s from a single drive, and up to 925 MB/s from each of two drives simultaneously
• Super-Powered Ports—Supports USB-C bus-powered SSD, SSD RAID, and hard drive devices with up to 15W (3.0A) power per port
• Protected Ports—Independent power regulation isolates each port to prevent cross-coupled power glitches that may cause accidental disconnects
• Resettable Fuses—Device overcurrent fuses are resettable—just shut down your machine to reset a fuse without permanent damage to card or computer
• PCIe Data Link Auto-Negotiation—Card auto-negotiates one lane data link in a PCIe 3.0 slot and two lanes in a PCIe 2.0 slot, ensuring full 10Gbps performance in either generation PCIe slot
• Broad USB Device Support & Compatibility—Supports storage, hubs, and other USB-IF compliant USB devices
• Supports Hot-Swappable Device Connection—Plug in and disconnect peripherals without shutting off your computer
• Add USB 3.2 Gen 2 to Thunderbolt Expansion Systems—Add two SuperSpeed USB-C 10Gbps ports to Thunderbolt to PCIe card expansion systems
• Easy Installation—Quick and easy user installation into any available PCIe slot

Unlike ordinary USB-C cards, Sonnet's Allegro has the following advantages:

• Delivers 15W of power per port to USB-C bus-powered devices
• Doesn't require separate power plug connection; gets the power required to operate connected drives from the slot it’s installed in
• Independent, per-port power regulation protects each port from glitches on adjacent ports, preventing auto-disconnects of already-connected drives
• Features a resettable fuse on each port, protecting both card and computer should a cable or peripheral fail; resetting a tripped fuse is simple—just shut down and restart your computer

Ordinary USB-C adapter cards deal with power delivered through the ports as an afterthought, requiring an additional power source for the card and providing little regulation. The Allegro is no ordinary adapter card. The card regulates its own power without requiring a back-of-the card power cable connection, thus enabling full compatibility in any computer or Thunderbolt expansion system that doesn’t have these power connectors available.

Sonnet’s Allegro PCIe card is unique in regulating power to each port independently, giving each one protection from power glitches on the adjacent port. Without this protection (such as found on an ordinary card), connects and disconnects of one device may cause auto-disconnects of the other.

Specially engineered to provide 15W of power through each port to support USB-C
bus-powered SSDs and SSD RAID devices that need 15W during demanding write operations

The Allegro features a resettable fuse on each port to protect the card and computer should there be a cable or peripheral failure. Should a fuse trip on the Sonnet card, you can reset it simply by shutting down the computer.

Got a Mac with a Thunderbolt connection, but no PCIe slot? The Allegro is ideal for use in Sonnet’s Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe card expansion systems, including Echo Express™ and xMac™ desktop and rackmount systems.

This Allegro USBC-C PCIe installs easily into any PCIe x4 (mechanical) slot; both low-profile and full-height mounting brackets are included. The Sonnet card features hot-pluggable and hot-swappable device connection support with automatic device configuration, and works with all USB-IF compliant USB peripherals.