Niacom, a Canadian-based multi-service reseller, provides system planning, support, networking, and other services. Since 1998 the company serves professionals in advertising, graphic design, and multimedia with robust desktop graphic design solutions.
Problem
Niacom’s customers operate in an extremely fast-paced and demanding environment where technology, operating systems, and equipment constantly change. Graphic designers struggle with such challenges as PC-to-Mac compatibility, time-consuming file transfers, file back-up and storage, image scanning, and hot plugging. Niacom’s President, Gino Mancini knows he has to stay on top of developments in hardware to provide solutions to his customers.
Solution
“I love the LAVA FireDrive?. There is no better product to increase my customers’ productivity,” says Mr. Mancini.
The high-performance IEEE 1394-to-IDE interface and drive enclosure gives Niacom’s customers efficient PC-to-Mac file transfers. Since the FireDrive? is fully compatible with the most recent Windows and Mac? operating systems, graphic designers can easily transfer files between systems without experiencing problems with platform incompatibility.
Graphic designers constantly move data from one computer to another, even when using the same platform or operating system. Because the FireDrive? is hot-pluggable, the user never needs to shut down a system to move a FireDrive? between systems. Also, since the FireDrive? comes with an external 110-240 volt switching power supply, it can be used with any power source worldwide.
The FireDrive? is fast enough to serve as a work disk, rather than just as a storage disk. “The FireDrive,” according to Mr. Mancini, “is a must in a graphic design studio because when working in an application, designers can actually read and write directly to the device instead of their internal hard drives.” The FireDrive? allows graphic designers to save their artwork right onto the drive while working on the file, plug it into another computer, and continue working!
Niacom customers needing IEEE 1394 interfaces can benefit from LAVA upgrades. As long as their system has a PCI slot, they can insert LAVA’s FireHost IEEE 1394 host adapter, connect the FireDrive? to the FireHost, and the old system is now FireWire? compatible!
