Items tagged with RAID
ASUS has announced a new version of its Hyper M.2 x16 add-on PCIe RAID expansion card, and it has simply decided to add a "V2" on the end to differentiate it from its predecessor. There are a few upgrades this time around, including support for AMD Ryzen systems. Like the original Hyper M.2 x16 Card, the V2 is compatible with Intel VROC (Virtual Raid on CPU) technology, which allows NVMe SSDs to directly interface with the CPU's existing PCIe lanes. This allows the Hyper M.2 x16 Card V2 to bypass the 32Gbps DMI limitations with an on-motherboard PCH-based RAID implementation. As a result, the Hyper M.2 x16 Card V2 can deliver transfer speeds up to 128Gbps. Compared to its predecessor, the Hyper...
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Back in late August, AMD launched the entry-level Ryzen Threadripper 1900X processor, which features 8 cores, 16 cores and its priced at $549. At the time, AMD promised that it would be launching a new driver for the complementing X399 chipset that would enable NVMe RAID support. AMD originally said that the driver would be available on or around September 25th, and roughly a week after that guesstimate launch date, the new driver is now available. With a plethora of PCIe lanes at its disposal, AMD is promising some stellar storage performance with this new NVMe RAID driver. "In our own performance testing, we’ve been seeing some blistering results from our test systems—a monstrous 21.2GB/s from...
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The WD My Cloud EX2100 is a new prosumer-oriented NAS drive from WD that continues the company's adventures in the realm of "personal cloud" storage. These drives are aimed directly at people who use Cloud storage such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Box.com, and others. The marketing speak from WD is that those services require a monthly payment for a small amount of storage, and you have to store your data on someone else's cloud. For example Dropbox charges $10 a month for 1TB of storage, and Google charges the same. WD's pitch is you can get multiple terabytes of storage with one of its drives, and use it as your own personal cloud storage, with the files accessible from any location with an internet...
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When we last gave you a status update on The Pirate Bay back in late December, we were given the impression that the site would make a full recovery. If you recall, earlier that month The Pirate Bay was the subject of a Swedish police raid that knocked the site offline. Since that time, the site’s operators have been working overtime to get the site fully operational (despite objections by Peter Sunde, one of The Pirate Bay’s co-founders). Well, they’re baaaaaaaaaaack! The Pirate Bay is officially back online and fully functional; one day ahead of schedule we might add. It honor of its resurrection, The Pirate Bay is proudly displaying the image of a phoenix on its homepage. As Torrent Freak...
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It seems as though The Pirate Bay just can’t get a break these days. Over the weekend, Google started kicking out Pirate Bay-related apps from the Google Play Store, citing “[violations] of the intellectual property and impersonation or deceptive behavior provisions of the Content Policy.” This week, The Pirate Bay was knocked offline following a raid by Swedish police officers. This is obviously not the first time that The Pirate Bay has encountered rough seas, but users who rely on the site to download everything from network TV shows to a digital copy of Guardians of the Galaxy to pirated software are likely panicking just a bit today. Paul Pintér, Sweden’s IP enforcement coordinator, confirmed...
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While LaCie is known around the world as having excellently-designed storage devices, G-Technology is no slouch. At the NAB Show this week, the company has launched a Thunderbolt-powered dock with two HDD bays -- it's the new Evolution Series, and it's said to be the only two-bay docking station with interchangeable / expandable storage modules. The G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt and the G-Drive ev / ev PLUS modules also work with USB 3.0. The idea here is to equip digital A/V professionals who are working with huge 2K and 4K video files, giving them the speed they need to not pull their hair out while editing. Whether in the field or in the studio, the Evolution Series design allows for various...
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We’re not all that big on accessories around here, and ZOTAC is calling its new streaming and sharing devices “accessories”, but the two boxes are anything but. One, the StreamBox (not to be confused with the Steam Box), is designed to let users easily share media from a mobile device to a TV or computer. The other, the RAIDbox, is an external storage enclosure in a small form factor. The StreamBox DM01 runs on a RealTek SoC and features DLNA/Airfun streaming technology, Miracast compatibility for display mirroring, USB file playback capabilities, dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi , and 10/100 Ethernet. ZOTAC StreamBox Android users will get to use this box with...
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LaCie is looking to keep your business connected, and more importantly, locked and loaded when it comes to storage. Today, the company announced its professional 5-bay RAID server is now available in a diskless model. Now, users can get all the benefits of the 5big Network 2, designed by Neil Poulton, but with the flexibility to scale their storage and security as they desire – making it an efficient investment for resourceful professionals and small businesses alike. The 5big Network 2 also offers RAID modes 5 and 6, which provide automatic, hardware-level data protection. If a single disk fails, simply replace it without turning off the appliance or losing a single byte of data. It's...
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You've certainly heard of Drobo, the company formerly known as Data Robotics. Their Drobo line of intelligent storage boxes have helped redefine local backup, and now they're taking one step closer to the inevitable: cloud backup. The company has announced a new partnership that brings Pogoplug Cloud to Drobo customers, for remote file access, cloud storage and media streaming from any device. It's a deal that'll bring a comprehensive personal cloud solution for anytime, anywhere access to files. Drobo customers will have access to free cloud storage, remote file access and digital media streaming using Pogoplug Cloud, a new service announced last week. Using Pogoplug Cloud, customers can turn...
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Western Digital is offering up a new line of network storage servers this week for small-to-medium businesses, with the Sentinel DX4000 being the star of the show. The device includes Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials along with Intel's D525 dual-core Atom CPU. It's designed as a centralized shared storage and automatic server-based backup solution for up to 25 devices (PC and Mac) on the network. The device ships with capacities of 4TB and 8TB, and it also acts as the on-premise cloud storage for the SMB. The unit ships preconfigured with enterprise-class drives, RAID storage protection, built-in server based backup and recovery software, redundant networking ports and redundant power...
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If you've been reading the pages of HotHardware for any length of time, you've probably noticed that we have an affinity for just about anything SSD related. As performance enthusiasts at heart, it's no wonder why we're keenly focused on the market segment, but even so, there are standout products that tend to pique our interest more than others. And in the burgeoning SSD market, there's nothing more interesting than PCI Express based SSDs. In recent months we've covered PCI Express-based SSDs from virtually all the major players, from Fusion-io to, OCZ and LSI. The last time we took a look at OCZ's offering, the RevoDrive X2 took to the test bench and with its MLC-based...
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In recent months we've covered PCI Express-based SSDs from virtually all the major players, from Fusion-io to, OCZ and LSI. The last time we took a look at OCZ's offering, the RevoDrive X2 took to the test bench for us and with its MLC-based design, offered much of the performance of significantly more expensive SLC-based PCI Express SSDs, but at a fraction of the cost. Today the third coming of the RevoDrive from OCZ is upon us, with all new technology on board, from its Flash controllers to the RAID processor. With read/write specs that will make you drool, the RevoDrive 3 X2 is here and if it lives up to its specifications on paper, we think you're going to want to stick...
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Speed. It's all about speed. And hasn't that always been the case? In the PC world, things never seem to run fast enough, and Promise Technology is hoping to make things hum along even faster when it comes to data transmission. They have just developed a Thunderbolt-equipped RAID storage device for the masses, adopting a technology that Apple's trying to spearhead by including it on their latest machines. The Pegasus series is what's being revealed this week. There's two models: the R6 (which has six SATA HDDs) and the R4 (which has four SATA HDDs). Steven Lien, deputy manager, Corporate Marketing Department, Sales & Marketing Division of Promise Technology, had this to say about the new...
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Is big ever really big enough? Not in our world! LaCie knows that as well as anyone, and that's why they're announcing the 5big Storage Server in a new, expanded model. The company's pro-level sharing appliance is now offered in a 1TB model for user expandability, and you can order one with up to 10TB of expandable capacity. You'll also get Windows Storage Server software and a sleek, compact aluminum enclosure, support for PC and Mac clients, and a dual-core Intel 1.6GHz processor inside. The unit starts at $1199, and promises transfer rates as high as 180MB/sec. It'll handle RAID 0, 1, 5,or 5+ modes, and the only thing standing between you and enough storage to back everything you've ever owned...
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If you're in need of a place to store a lot of digital files, and we mean a lot of digital files, OWC has a new RAID storage drive that's ready to handle extreme needs. The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 is a massive, intimidating 12TB enterprise RAID storage drive, designed with a highly-reliable two million MTBF for critical 24/7 applications. The drive ships with four 3TB drives, all of which are located in hot-swappable drive bays. There's also four interfaces to choose from: FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA. If you like choices, you're in luck. There's also selectable Hardware RAID settings of 0, 1, 5, 10; and 300MB/s data transfer rates for high speed, Plug & Play storage...
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We're sure you realize we have an affinity for all things SSD around these parts. And you have to admit, any self-respecting computer geek can appreciate the blazing fast response times of the latest generation of SATA-based Solid State Drives. However, as we've said before, we think SATA some day will be a Dinosaur of sorts that we all remember and love but moved on from long ago in a galaxy far away. Still, we're not there yet obviously. There have been some interesting products to come to market based on native, system-level interfaces like PCI Express but we're just getting warmed up it seems. That said, it's exciting to see where things are headed and the multitude...
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What's this, yet another SSD product tap-dancing its way through the HotHardware lab? It's hard to believe that a product category has so much R&D being poured into it, spurring new releases at such a fevered pitch. The investment in the relatively fledgling storage technology makes perfect sense to us, but the average mainstream consumer probably raises their head to notice only the bigger, more prominent buzz-worthy products hitting the market as of late. There is almost too much in the product category to absorb actually. That being the case, we'd offer folks should tune their storage radar sharply on the product we have on the test bench today. The...
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Looking to beef up your storage potential? Who isn't, right? Buffalo is one of the bigger names in the dedicated storage business, and today they are refreshing their DriveStation family. That's a pretty robust family, with the DriveStation Duo and DriveStation Quad (formerly Quattro) seeing updates. The new multi-drive external units ship with NovaBACKUP Business Essentials, and if you aren't in need of multiple drives just yet, the newly announced DriveStation Axis should be perfect given its single-drive status. The DriveStation Quad is a 4-drive, RAID enabled storage solution for small servers, creative professionals, offices and consumers requiring large, redundant and high-performance external...
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SSD manufacturers have been energetically rolling out new high-end, high-capacity products based around updated Indilinx, SandForce, or Marvell controllers, while simultaneously also introducing smaller SSDs with better performance and lower prices than we saw with first-generation products. As SSDs become more popular and economical, we're seeing the rise of yet another consumer storage tier, over and above even the more expensive, high-performing SSDs: Flash storage mated to PCI-Express. OCZ has launched its own product into the burgeoning sector, the RevoDrive... OCZ RevoDrive Review: SSD RAID + PCI-Express...
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It's hard to remember that before the advent of SSDs, storage performance was a rather tepid topic. Save for the introduction of occasional new features like NCQ, hard drives continued along a mostly predictable path of rising capacities and (slightly) higher performance. If you wanted top-end performance, you bought a WD VelociRaptor or constructed a RAID config or arcane assembly of repurposed workstation and / or server-class hardware. Now the market has flipped upside down. SSD manufacturers have been energetically rolling out new high-end, high-capacity products based around updated Indilinx, SandForce, or Marvell controllers, while simultaneously introducing smaller SSDs with...
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If rumors floating around the 'Net are true, Intel is set to drop support for the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus when it launches its next-generation 6-series of chipsets with support for Sandy Bridge-based LGA1155 processors. In case you're wondering, no, neither Sandy Bridge derived processors or their accompanying motherboards will allow for the use of current Core i5/i7 hardware. As far as we're concerned, PCI can't die quickly enough. Intel began working on the standard 20 years ago and made it the preferred interconnect standard for second-generation Pentium systems as early as 1994. By 1999-2000, modern motherboards had all but dropped ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)...
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The original Drobo direct-attached-storage (DAS) device hit the scene in summer of 2007 and took the tech world by storm. It represented a new paradigm in how you could implement external, redundant back-up storage with much of the same goodness that RAID offers, but without a number of the headaches and the complexity that also comes with traditional RAID solutions. The Drobo still used RAID to redundantly store data across multiple hard drives, but did so using Data Robotics’ own version of it, which it calls BeyondRAID. The primary advantages that Data Robotics’ BeyondRAID has over traditional RAID is that with BeyondRAID you can add and remove hard drives that have different...
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