Storage - Page 114

QNAP have announced three new Turbo NAS models, with a four-bay, dual-bay and single-bay solution available. The models are TS-419P II, TS219P II and TS-119P II which are all aimed at corporate workgroups, SOHO and home users who are after a budget-friendly solution for backup and file sharing. No pricing has been announced from QNAP, so we don't know how "budget-friendly" they really are. But, the models closest to them (which sport 1.2GHz chips instead of the included 2GHz chips) are very decently priced.

The new models look virtually identical to the predecessors, but they sport upgraded chips tech. QNAP have used a 2.0GHz Marvell CPU and also included 512MB of DDR3 memory which is a bit quicker than the 1.2 and 1.6GHz Marvell CPUs used in previous models. QNAP also say the added speed will enable Windows-based file transfers of up to 109MB/sec. QNAP claim idle power consumption is as low as four watts.

All three models support 2.5 and 3.5-inch HDDs, Gigabit Ethernet, up to four USB 2.0 ports and eSATA. The best bit about QNAP NAS solutions is the software features. Built-in UPnP media server, back up solutions, iTunes support, Time Machine support, power consumption, Bit Torrent and Usenet clients and of course the very powerful QPKG system.

I-O Data has just unveiled its latest portable Blu-ray drive, the BRP-U6XE which at first may not seem like anything special at all considering there's quite a number of these portable Blu-ray drives on the market these days.

However, there is in fact quite the stand-out feature with this one; it is capable of writing in the new BDXL format, meaning up to 100GB of data can be placed on supporting discs with this drive.

On the downside, the drive only has USB 2.0 connectivity. Considering the drive has BDXL support, I would have thought USB 3.0 would have been the more sensible, ideal interface with its much more accomodating bandwidth for such large amounts of data.

Other World Computing have announced the launch of the 6G Mercury Aura Pro Express (say that 3 times fast), which is a replacement SSD for the 2011 MacBook Air. The new drive fully utilizes the SATA 3 (6Gbps) interface and is available in both 120 and 240GB capacities.

The drive sports the SandForce 2200-series controller with Tier 1/Grade A NAND memory which pumps along at 507MB/sec read, 454MB/sec write speeds which is roughly twice as fast as the stock SSD in the MBA.

Apple's MacBook Air ships with SATA 3Gbps SSDs even though the hardware inside is capable of SATA 6Gbps. But, the MBA uses a non-standard SSD form factor, which means the usual 2.5-inch SSDs on the market can't be used as a replacement. OWC says that the Aura Pro Express 6G SSD is the first and only 6Gbps SSD designed to work with both the 11.1-inch and 13.3-inch models of the new MacBook Air.

A little later than some would have expected, but as the saying goes, better late than never. Corsair has just updated its good ole' Voyager GT, Voyager and Survivor families of Flash Drives to USB 3.0, giving a significant boost in transfer rates across the board.

While the Voyager GT and Flash Survivor series stick to their traditional designs externally, the Voyager (non GT) in USB 3.0 form is more compact in stature. The Voyager GT USB 3.0 gives read and write rates of up to 135MB/sec and 83MB/sec, respectively, featuring a rubber housing to make it water resistant and coming in two capacity sizes of 32 and 64GB at respective pricing of $59 and $129.

As for the Flash Voyager (non GT), this one also uses rubber housing, measuring 73 x 22 mm and coming in 8 and 16GB capacity sizes costing $17 and $24, respectively. The Flash Survivor on the other hand features a unique anodized 'aircraft-grade' aluminum housing giving it shock, vibration and water proof attributes. It comes in 8 and 16GB capacities, costing $28 and $35, respectively.

We knew they were coming soon, just not sure exactly when. Today marks the day the world's first 4TB capacity HDD hits the scene with Seagate beating its competitors out to the milestone. However, the it isn't in naked form at this time and comes as part of their GoFlex Desk external HDD family.

The official announcement from Seagate on the new unit doesn't go into specifics about the 4TB 3.5-inch drive itself, but we are presuming it uses a 4x1TB platter arrangement. As for specific features on the 4TB GoFlex Desk, it uses USB 3.0 for its connectivity and comes pre-loaded with software to assist in automatic, continuous data backup (with encryption) and the included adapter has an illuminited gauge that makes it quick and easy to look at the available space remaining on the drive.

Seagate is now shipping the USB 3.0 4TB GoFlex Desk with a price tag of $249 US. There's word of a Mac version on the way too, shipping later this month with FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 connectivity.

It's been a busy week for Samsung with several announcements coming out, and in closing they have introduced quite an interesting device like no other.

While at first it looks to be your run of the mill slim, external optical drive, the SE-208BW has some other features lurking that you'd never normally associate with such a device. It doubles up as a wireless access point or repeater.

In efforts to highlight these exclusive features, Samsung actually refers to this device as a "Smart Media Hub" as opposed to an optical drive. As well as being able to connec to a PC via WiFi, it also has the ability to work with tablets and smartphones. It has DLNA compatibility allowing for easy streaming to other electronic devices (phones, TVs, tablets etc.) and gives support for Dynamic DNS which helps turn it into a private server. The residing USB port can be used to plug a flash drive in which can then have its contents shared across the network.

Think you'll be able to make good use of a neat, compact portable Blu-ray writer? Samsung has just launched one dubbed the SE-506AB. It features a sleek, slim design using a hi-gloss anti-scratch coating.

While Samsung's announcement does not mention exact dimensions, they say it's a good 12% smaller than their conventional Blu-ray drive, making it a much more friendly Blu-ray partner on the go. Conveniently, the drive only needs USB connectivity, also sourcing its power from the same cable.

Samsung has implemented error-safe features such as Buffer UnderRun technology to prevent errors regardless of any possible heavy multi-tasking going on during the burning phase that may otherwise result in a coaster. Samsung ODD's exclusive AV connectivity tech is also featured on the SE-506AB that gives users the ability to plug it directly into a multimedia TV's USB port for direct playback of content.

Corsair have announced the worldwide retail availability of 90GB variants of their Force Series 3 and Force Series GT lines today. Both SSDs sport SATA 6Gbps, with a maximum sequential read speed of 550MB/sec and a maximum sequential write speed of 500MB/sec. The Force Series 3 uses asynchronous flash memory to provide the industry's best 90GB SSD performance value, while the Force Series GT is designed for enthusiasts who demand the fastest performance available, sports ONFI synchronous flash memory and boasts read speeds of up to 555MB/sec and write speeds of up to 505MB/sec.

All Force Series 3 and Force Series GT SSDs are backward compatible, so that users with previous SATA revisions can enjoy high performance. Vice President of Memory Products at Corsair, Thi La, says:

So, I just got off the phone with the folks at Kingston who had some very interesting news to share about their first HyperX SSD.

They recently took delivery of the latest SandForce firmware and after some tinkering around on their drive they managed to boost performance even further over the originally claimed numbers. The drives are already packed up and ready to ship this week and they will come with the old firmware that provides the SSD with a 525MB/s read and 480MB/s write.

The new firmware which will be on the Kingston website soon for download improves things even more and gives the HyperX SSD a read speed of 555MB/s and a write speed of 510MB/s. This makes it a smidgen faster than the best 2.5-inch SATA III drive from OCZ and others who have drives that operate at 550MB/s.

Patriot has today announced the Supersonic Xpress USB 3.0 flash drive that is meant to combine portability and a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface for maximum performance at an affordable price. The Patriot Supersonic Xpress USB 3.0 flash drive sports a stylish cap-less design that hides the USB 3.0 connector when it's not in use, all that is required is to push the drive like a pen which then reveals the connector.

Patriot Memory's Flash Product Manager, William Lai talks about the Supersonic Xpress USB 3.0 flash drive: