Hard drive manufacturer Buffalo has launched two new multimedia external hard drives in the form of the USB 3.0 DriveStation Duo and DriveStation Quad.

The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 hard drives are designed for the demanding user who wants to achieve faster transfer speeds and requires greater capacity. Intended for the home or small office, the new DriveStation range boasts 10 times faster transfer speeds than USB 2.0 (USB 3.0 5Gbps transfer rate) accelerating the time it takes users to back up large servers or multimedia files.

Both drives feature plug and play functionality and are pre-formatted for immediate use and the drives themselves can be accessed through a removable front panel. There's also an "AutoPower" function that means the drives turn on and off with your PC, reducing power consumption.

The DriveStation Duo is available in 2TB, 4TB and 6TB capacities. It is a two-drive, two-bay RAID enabled drive with RAID 0 for performance and RAID 1 for redundant storage. The DriveStation Quad is a four-drive, four-bay RAID enabled drive with RAID 0 for performance and RAID 5 or 10 for redundant storage. Currently offered in 4TB and 8TB, the DriveStation Quad will also be available in 12TB later this year.

5Gbps USB 3.0 and 480MBps USB 2.0 connections

The DriveStation Duo is available for purchase now and the DriveStation Quad will be available for purchase from March onwards.