sandisk cloudspeed eco gen ii ssdSanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash storage solutions, at Computex Taipei 2015 today announced its new CloudSpeed Eco Gen. II SATA SSD, a purpose-built storage device for cloud service providers with up to 2TB capacity. This new SSD is now sampling with select hyperscale customers. Based on 15nm NAND flash, the new CloudSpeed Eco Gen. II SSD delivers greater storage density with 3x the streaming bandwidth vs. hard disk drives (HDDs). Designed as a drop-in replacement for HDDs, CloudSpeed Eco Gen. II provides datacenters with a lower cost-per-square-foot for hyperscale applications such as analytics, media streaming and content repositories.

Cloud Data Services, such as Big Data Analytics, SaaS, IaaS and PaaS environments, are driving radical data center transformation. The number of connected ‘things’ is set to explode, with Gartner forecasting this number will reach 25 billion by 2020, generating a deluge of data that will need to be analyzed in real-time. Micropayments, online commerce and similar applications are read-intensive and require high data throughput and scalable storage capacity.

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SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash storage solutions, today entered the portable SSD market with a family of high-performance drives, including the SanDisk Extreme 900 Portable SSDs, the world’s fastest line of Type C-based portable SSDs; and the SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSDs, the company’s new pocket-sized, rugged drives. The SanDisk Extreme 900 drives feature speeds of up to nine times faster than a portable hard drive, while the SanDisk Extreme 500 drives offer speeds up to four times faster. These powerful solutions are ideal for photographers, videographers, creative professionals and tech enthusiasts looking to move massive files at phenomenal speeds, helping them save time and simplify work processes at the office or out in the field.

sandisk portable ssd

“As a recognized leader in developing solutions for professional photographers and videographers, we designed this game-changing family of offerings to provide our customers with even greater speeds and capacities to keep up with rapidly increasing demands for high-quality content,” said Dinesh Bahal, vice president, product marketing, SanDisk. “Whether a professional or amateur, this level of portability, speed and capacity is exceptional, and we believe it will transform the way people create and produce high quality video content—ultimately saving them time and money.”

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QNAP Systems, Inc. continues its partnership with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) to announce the 5-bay TS-563 Turbo NAS. With an AMD Embedded G-Series quad-core 2.0GHz SoC processor and up to 16GB RAM, the TS-563 features AES-NI hardware-accelerated encryption, SSD cache acceleration, AMD-V virtualization, and optional 10GbE connectivity that allows small and medium businesses to build private clouds suitable for high-speed networks and application-intensive environments. The TS-563 is available at a budget price to maximize ROI and will be showcased at Computex Taipei 2015.

qnap ts-563 nas

“The TS-563 is our most affordable 10GbE-ready quad-core NAS with hardware-accelerated encryption and virtual machine support. It is a fast and scalable NAS solution designed for optimizing business applications and satisfying quickly-growing data storage needs while providing 10GbE readiness for budget-conscious organizations and professionals,” said Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP.

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sony logoSony Corporation of America (SCA) today announced that it has acquired Optical Archive Inc. (OAI), a company that specializes in optical storage systems for the data center market.  The acquisition is made by SCA on behalf of Sony Corporation.

With Sony, OAI will leverage its experience and capabilities in data center hardware design, supply chain operations and systems integration with Sony's expertise in optical disc and manufacturing technology to develop new optical disc library systems that will meet the technological demands from the growing cold archive market.

The term "cold archive" refers to a class of data that must be retained over a long period of time but isn't accessed frequently, such as cloud-based photo storage and data retained for legal or regulatory reasons. Cold archive is the largest and fastest growing portion of the data center storage market.

"This acquisition marks the beginning of our commitment to this growing market," said Terushi Shimizu, Senior Vice President and Deputy President, Device Solutions Business Group, Sony Corporation.  "Optical disc libraries will provide many advantages to customers who are currently using tape or hard drive technology to store cold data, such as lower costs, extremely durable media life, and higher data throughput rates. We plan to leverage and expand our existing optical disc production lines in order to accommodate the growing demand for this media."

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ocz storage solutions logoOCZ Storage Solutions, a Toshiba Group Company and the most awarded solid state drive (SSD) brand of all time, today announced plans to showcase the all-new Trion 100 series, a new SSD based on Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NAND flash, at this year’s Computex in Taipei, Taiwan held June 2 - 6. As OCZ’s new value-oriented option, Trion 100 SSDs are built to provide an easy and affordable way for entry-level users to optimize their mobile or desktop systems.

Leveraging Toshiba’s Alishan SSD controller and premium A19 TLC flash memory technology, the Trion 100 series was designed to deliver a superior balance of performance, reliability, and value and will be available this summer. Running live in OCZ’s Computex booth, Trion 100’s preliminary performance ratings include up to 550MB/s of bandwidth and up to 91,000 random read IOPS, making the Trion 100 series a competitive upgrade solution that will transform any notebook or PC.

“Computex is the ideal venue for us to unveil our upcoming TLC NAND-based Trion 100 SSDs,” said Alex Mei, CMO and GM of the Client Business at OCZ Storage Solutions. “By leveraging controller and TLC NAND technology from Toshiba, we are pleased to be able to bring to market the exciting new Trion 100 SSD Series which will offer end-users an optimal mix of performance, features, and value, making it easier than ever for value-conscious consumers to leverage the benefits of a high quality yet affordable SSD that delivers improved desktop and mobile computing experiences.”

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QNAP Systems, Inc. today released the quad-core TS-453mini, a 4-bay vertical NAS that suits non-spacious office environments. Featuring a stylish glossy look, easy tool-less hard drive installation, simple RAM upgrade design, a quiet exhaust for heat dissipation and LED indicators with adjustable brightness controls, the elegant TS-453mini is packed full of cutting-edge features and apps to provide day-to-day file storage, backup, sharing, synchronization and entertainment needs.

qnap ts-453mini nas

“The space-efficient vertical design and streamlined architecture with HDMI installation for easier NAS setup demonstrates our attention to deliver a better user experience for the desktop environment,” said Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP. The TS-453mini includes numerous innovative designs in its hardware architecture, including a quiet internal compact exhaust that helps dissipate heat and reduce dust buildup, a tool-less design allowing users to easily remove the magnetic top cover to add/replace hot-swappable 3.5” hard drives, and a conveniently accessible cover at the bottom for upgrading the RAM with minimal effort. Users can easily install their NAS over HDMI, allowing for a NAS to be installed without a network connection, and free from complicated procedures and the need for network expertise.

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WD, a Western Digital company, and world leader in storage solutions, today introduced the new, redesigned My Passport Ultra portable hard drives and My Passport for Mac drives. With the My Passport line now in its 7th generation, the My Passport Ultra and My Passport for Mac portable hard drives are now available in capacities up to 3 TB and in four stylish colors - Classic Black, Brilliant White, Wild Berry and Noble Blue. WD is also introducing a new optional accessory – WD Grip Pack – a soft band, available in a variety of colors, which encircles the drive, offering consumers an easy way to personalize their My Passport drives.

wd my passport ultra colors

“With more photos being taken than ever before, it’s critical to have a high capacity, reliable external storage solution that you can carry everywhere,” said Tony Tate, general manager and vice president of Content Storage Solutions at WD. “The latest generation My Passport drives deliver an easier automatic back-up experience, hardware-based encryption for security and higher capacities than ever before. Consumers can keep all their content in their pockets, while expressing their personal styles with the colors and WD Grip Pack.”

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sandisk z400s ssdSanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash storage solutions, today introduced the new SanDisk Z400s SSD, a cost effective solid-state drive (SSD) designed to replace hard-disk drives (HDDs) in computing platforms and embedded applications. PCs and embedded systems need consistent, reliable access to storage in order to meet business demands. The Z400s outperforms HDDs by 20x, while providing 5x the reliability with 20x lower average power consumption, all at a price point on par with HDDs. The SanDisk Z400s SSD joins the company’s existing portfolio of flash-based solutions that are designed to deliver a delightful user experience and reliability at an affordable price point.

“The Z400s represents a feat of engineering that addresses the needs of two distinct markets—PC OEM manufacturers and embedded application designers,” said Rizwan Ahmed, senior director of product marketing, client platform solutions, SanDisk. “With a single architecture, SanDisk is able to provide OEMs with an affordable solution for displacing HDDs in today’s cutting edge consumer devices, and help embedded application designers avoid overpaying for un-needed space—all while delivering the peak performance and high-reliability that only SSDs can supply.”

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Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, announced today the Accelsior S, a new PCIe card with direct mount support for a 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD. The latest addition to OWC's award-winning Accelsior line enables PC, Mac Pro tower and Thunderbolt interface expansion chassis users to quickly and easily add additional storage. Utilizing the robust PCIe architecture, the Accelsior S card offers both storage expansion and 6Gb/s speeds up to 550MB/s -- more than double the performance of SATA 3Gb/s.

owc accelsior pcie

When equipped with the Accelsior S PCIe card and an SSD, Mac Pro tower and PC users can launch, capture, render and process I/O-intensive apps without long wait times. The Accelsior S PCIe card is also extremely easy to install--no drivers or software are required.

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sharkoon quickstore portable usb 31Sharkoon expands its range of external drive enclosures and presents a variant for the new USB 3.1 standard: The QuickStore Portable USB 3.1 provides an elegant dwelling for a 2.5" SATA HDD/SDD. The internal controller supports the SATA Revision 3.0 and is backward compatible to Revision 2.0 and 1.0. External connection occurs via a micro-B port. The USB 3.1 case supports Windows 8 UASP and offers a maximum transfer rate of 10 gigabits per second.

Disks with a height up to 9.5 mm can be installed. Assembly is completely tool-free and is done within a few simple steps. To do this, the case frame can be simply unlocked and slid open. With the black, brushed aluminium cover, the QuickStore Portable USB 3.1 visually impresses. A blue LED also indicates operation and data transfer. The hard drive case measures a compact 134 x 85 x 14 mm (L x W x H) and weighs only 51 grams. Packaging includes short instructions as well as a USB 3.1 cable (type-A plug to micro-B port).

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