General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

ioSafe N2 NAS RAID Review

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 05:19 PM PST

A disaster-proof NAS designed for the apocalypse

Back in 2011, we took a look at the ioSafe SoloPro USB Backup Drive, which offered a lone SATA hard drive wrapped in a bombproof skeleton of steel, ceramic, and plastic. That drive was awarded a 9/Kick Ass verdict for its ability to withstand both fire and water, which is the typical outcome when a house is engulfed in flames then doused by the local fire department. IoSafe recently released a new drive with even more protection, the N2 NAS RAID, which, as its name implies, is two drives in a redundant array in a NAS box. This top-shelf storage device runs a Synology OS and comes with one year of "no questions asked" data recovery service, so you're covered if you drop the NAS or your kid drops an ice-cream cone into it. This level of protection doesn't come cheap though, with N2 selling as a "disk-less" shell for $600, with two 1TB drives for $900, 4TB for $1,000, 6TB for $1,500, and 8TB for $2,000. It includes a one-year hardware warranty and one year of data-recovery service, so even if both hard drives are damaged, ioSafe will pay up to $2,500 per terabyte to recover your data.

Proof that we take our hardware testing seriously.

Proof that we take our hardware testing seriously.

For all those Benjamins, you receive the N2's ability to withstand up to 1,550 degrees Fahrenheit (or 843 C) for 30 minutes and up to 72 hours submerged in as much as 10 feet of water. The ioSafe N2 can be set up as a "data safe," in that it can be secured with a Kensington lock or bolted to the floor using holes located at the bottom of the drive.

The rear of the N2 features a Gigabit Ethernet port and two USB 3.0 ports for adding more storage to your network, or for a print server. The front of the case features a USB 2.0 port, SD card reader, and a copy button that allows you to copy all the contents of a SD card or USB drive to the N2—a great feature that lets you make a quick backup without a PC. IoSafe's N2 is based on Synology's NAS server platform, which features a slick user interface with logical menus and an expansive software collection. Even better, no software needs to be installed in order to access the unit from any web browser to configure the drive and run applications. The software lets you run a range of utilities to stream media, download torrents, host your own web server, and a lot more.

The N2 we reviewed came with two 1TB 7,200rpm Seagate Barracuda drives, and on our office network the N2 displayed decent read speeds of 62MB/s and write speeds of 71MB/s, which is a bit slower than USB 3.0 but not too shabby. To test its fireproof and waterproof claims, we placed the N2 in a BBQ pit, then after 22 minutes, we completely submerged the 28-pound NAS in a bucket of water. When we eventually removed the hard drives from the case they were completely dry and unaffected. To recover data from the ioSafe N2 with a PC, we needed to boot into Ubuntu (from a Live USB key) and follow a tutorial from the Synology FAQ, which was a lot of work and a lot more tedious than we would have liked, but it worked fine and our data was recovered.

The ioSafe N2 NAS RAID certainly kicks ass. It's literally the surest way to keep local data safe that we have ever seen. We just wish the data recovery process were a bit easier.

$900, www.iosafe.com

Stealth.com Unveils Latest Fanless Mini PC

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 03:25 PM PST

lpc-630fPower in a small package

Stealth.com Inc, manufacturer of computers and peripherals, has unveiled its new high-performance, small form factor PC designated LPC-630F. Taking some inspiration from Intel's Next Unit of Computing (NUC) PC, the computer is quite small measuring 7.9x7.9x2.5-inches and features an aluminum chassis that also performs as the device's heatsink by dissipating any heat build-up in the absence of cooling fans.

According to the manufacturer, the LPC-630F is the latest in their line of mini PCs and comes with a third generation Intel Core i7 mobile processor, Intel HD4000 integrated graphics, and will include a 120GB solid-state drive that can be upgraded to take a 480GB SSD. In addition it will support up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM. 

Stealth.com's small form factor PC also comes with four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, 2-Gigabit LAN, two DisplayPorts, panel/wall mount brackets, and optional built-in 802.11 b/g/n wireless networking. 

The LPC-630F price starts at $2,190 and is available for purchase.

Toshiba Wastes No Time with OCZ Acquisition, Announces Vertex 460 SSD Series

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 11:22 AM PST

OCZ Vertex 460Fast SSD takes aim at cost-conscious enthusiasts

On the same day that Toshiba announced it finalized its acquisition of OCZ Technology, the newly formed and wholly owned subsidiary OCZ Storage Solutions rolled out its first product release, the Vertex 460 SSD Series. The new family of SSDs is an evolution of the 20nm-based Vertex 450 Series. It employs OCZ's proprietary Barefoot 3 (BF3) M10 controller with Toshiba's 19nm multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory for a high performance solution at mainstream prices.

The Vertex 460 Series offers up to 545MB/s sequential read and up to 525MB/s sequential write performance, along with 95,000 4K random read IOPS and up to 90,000 4K random write IOPS. OCZ rates the sustained 4K random write performance at up to 23,000 IOPS.

Other features include AES-256 encryption and a power-optimized clock. In terms of reliability, OCZ says these drives can deliver 20GB of host writes per day for a 3-year warranty. In addition, all Vertex 460 Series SSDs are equipped with flash management tools that analyze and dynamically adapt to increasing NAND vulnerabilities as flash cells wear.

The drives are available to pre-order now in 120GB ($120), 240GB ($140), and 480GB ($359) capacities.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

AMD Adds More 12-Core and 16-Core Processors to Opteron 6300 Series

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 10:03 AM PST

AMD OpteronNew server chips starting at $377

AMD just fleshed out its Opteron 6300 Series of server processors with a pair of new chips, one of which is a 12-core part and the other a 16-core offering. These additions to what AMD calls "Warshaw" are intended for enterprise applications and feature AMD's "Piledriver" core architecture. They're also fully socket and software compatible with the existing Opteron 6300 Series.

According to AMD, these new parts are in response to customers' requests. The new Opteron 6370P is a 16-core part with a 2.0GHz base frequency and 2.5GHz Turbo frequency. It supports quad-channel memory up to DDR3-1866, has 16MB of L3 cache, and carries a max TDP rating of 99W.

The Opteron 6338P is similar except that it has 12-cores clocked at 2.3GHz base and 2.8GHz Turbo. Both it and the 6370P are optimized to handle heavily virtualized workloads, including tasks like data analysis, xSQL, and traditional databases, all without breaking the bank.

System integrators have already begun selling the Opteron 6338P and 6370P for $377 and $598, respectively.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Toshiba Finalizes OCZ Buyout, What Comes Next?

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 08:55 AM PST

ToshibaA new beginning for OCZ

Toshiba on Wednesday finalized the purchase of OCZ Technology Group, making it a wholly owned subsidiary and thus officially marking the end of an era that began over a decade ago. However, it's also a new beginning of sorts -- or a second chance, if you will -- as Toshiba said the division will operate independently as OCZ Storage Solutions and continue to churn out high performance solid state drives.

Going forward, OCZ Storage Solutions will use Toshiba's cutting-edge NAND flash memory chips combined with the company's proprietary controllers, firmware, and software for both client and enterprise-class SSDs. Essentially what this means is that OCZ can build drives like before, but without having to worry about shortages in the NAND flash memory market, which played a role in driving the company to bankruptcy in the first place.

"We are very excited to be part of the Toshiba family where we will continue to develop new and unique solid-state storage technologies that position the new entity as a market leader," said Ralph Schmitt, CEO for OCZ Storage Solutions. "With Toshiba's financial strength and portfolio of leading-edge NAND flash memory, OCZ is now in a advantageous position as one of the few companies in the SSD industry with advanced controller IP and NAND flash supply under one global organization, which in turn will help enable more robust and competitive solid-state solutions going forward while expanding our market presence in the rapidly growing SSD market."

In a way, hitting rock bottom like OCZ did might end up being the best thing that could have happened to the company. OCZ now finds itself in a much better position, freeing up leadership to concentrate on its product strategy and innovations rather than figuring out how to pay the bills month after month.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Getting Wild with Western Digital Edition!

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 06:18 AM PST

WD Black 750GB Notebook Drivenewegg logo

Top Deal:

It's a sad day when you run out of space on your laptop. Do you stop installing new programs or go through your files like the digital grim reaper and send seldom viewed photos to the recycle bin? If you don't want to make that decision, you can always fill that secondary drive bay with a capacious HDD like the one featured in today's top deal. It's for a Western Digital Black Series 750GB 2.5-inch Internal Notebook Hard Drive for $65 with free shipping (normally $80 -- use coupon code: [EMCPWHW24]). This drives features a 7200 RPM spindle speed, 16MB cache, SATA 6Gbps interface, and a 5-year limited warranty.

Other Deals:

WD Red 4TB IntelliPower NAS 3.5-inch Internal Hard Drive for $175 with free shipping (normally $189 - use coupon code: [EMCPWHW25])

WD Green 2TB IntelliPower 3.5-inch Internal Hard Drive for $80 with free shipping (normally $90 - use coupon code: [EMCPWHW27])

WD My Passport Ultra 2TB USB 3.0 Blue Portable Hard Drive for $115 with free shipping (normally $140 - use coupon code: [EMCPWHW32])

WD Elements 1TB USB 3.0 Black External Hard Drive for $60 with free shipping (normally $80 - use coupon code: [EMCPWHW22])

AMD Reports a Profit, Tips Hat to Graphics Division

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 06:01 AM PST

AMDWins in the console sector have paid off handsomely

On hindsight, AMD absolutely made the right decision to purchase ATI, an acquisition that was met with some skepticism among analysts at the time. What those analysts couldn't have predicted is that several years later the PC market would find itself in a slump, leaving AMD to lean heavily on its graphics division. In doing so, AMD posted a profit of $89 million, or 12 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2013, rebounding from a $473 million loss, or 63 cents a share, a year prior.

Revenue from AMD's Computing Solutions segment decreased 9 percent sequentially and 13 percent year-over-year, which the Sunnyvale chip designer blamed on sagging chipset and notebook unit shipments. In terms of dollars and cents, AMD's PC unit recorded an operating loss of $7 million.

On the flip side, AMD's Graphics and Visual Solutions division increased its revenue by 29 percent sequentially and a whopping 165 percent year-over-year. AMD credited its semi-custom SoCs for fueling this growth, underscoring how important it was to land contracts with both Microsoft and Sony to power their recently launched consoles. Operating income for graphics came to $121 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.

"Strong execution of our strategic transformation plan drove significant revenue growth and improved profitability in the fourth quarter," said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. "The continued ramp of our semi-custom SoCs and leadership graphics products resulted in a 38 percent revenue increase from the year ago quarter. Our focus in 2014 is to deliver revenue growth and profitability for the full year by leveraging our differentiated IP to drive success in our targeted new markets and core businesses."

Unfortunately for AMD, the immediate future doesn't look quite as bright. The chip designer said it expects revenue to decrease 16 percent, plus or minus 3 percent, in the first quarter of 2014.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
Posted by Shri Krishna

Total Pageviews

statcounter

View My Stats