Newer Technology yesterday unveiled a new FireWire and USB 2.0 external RAID 1 storage solution for consumers and professional users alike. The Guardian Maximus is priced at around $320 starting for storage configurations ranging from 250GB to 1TB.

The Guardian Maximus is designed to offer a back up solution for one's data through FireWire 400, FireWire 800 or USB 2.0. It provides "live activity" backup/data redundancy via RAID 1 hardware mirroring by writing the same information in real-time to two separate drives for a "mirrored" copy. Front panel LEDs display drive access and status information.

Other features of the Guardian Maximus include plug 'n play style configuration, dual backup drive support, three FireWire ports, one USB 2.0 port, compatibility with either Mac or PC platforms and included backup software.