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So what can we do with our ever increasing library of digital content? How can we keep it all in one location and, in theory, safe from faults destroying data? We buy a NAS device and today we are looking at one of those very items, the Thecus N5550 which runs a 64bit OS, Intel CPU and has space for 5 internal drives and loads more via USB and eSATA.
Storage
When it comes to SSD line-ups, its safe to say that OCZ has got virtually every inch of ground covered with budget, performance and all round value drives with the Octane, Vertex 3 & 4 and recently the Vector series of drives. At the same time of covering all price points, OCZ have proven reliability and a huge following of users, but now that the SSD has become more mainstream and the number of users that are adopting the faster technology grows, the market is become heavily inundated with new models meaning that for some the choice is too great and for those vendors that have been in the SSD sector for a while now, their now older models are not getting the same attention that they used to.
OCZ's Vertex line of drives in my option are some of the best selling drives out there and now that they have been around for a good couple of years and then they were one of the pioneers of using MLC NAND flash to store data on their drives, pairing it with one of the most successful controllers of the SSD world - the SandForce SF-2281. Believe it or not, this is the second re-release of the Vertex 3 and this time round OCZ have made the point of making it clear about the update to the drive.
When the Vertex 3 was first released it included 34nm MLC NAND and following the move to 25nm NAND without much of an announcement from OCZ, there was a lot of upset from the consumers with some buying the 34nm drives without a clue that 25nm were also available with some improvements to the performance. Moving forward to now, OCZ are yet again shrinking the size of technology on their drives and we now are seeing 20nm NAND - that's almost half the original Vertex 3 of two years ago. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice however, OCZ this time round are making it well known that they have updated this drive and this includes a slight tweak to the name to reflect the 20nm NAND - hence Vertex 3.20.
Storage
Compact USB Flash Drives are certainly the direction companies are heading and rightfully so, everyone wants something small that can fit in a pocket and feel like nothing. The only problem with it becomes when you lose something so small. It would be a disaster if confidential data was leaked to the competition through an unsecure flash drive. With the Patriot Memory Bolt you can be confident that once encrypted with a password the data can't be accessed without unlocking the device. After ten brute force attacks the data is simply formatted from the drive.
Storage
Earlier this year, The SSD Review was offered the opportunity take the newly released OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 40GB SSD for a spin as it was about to hit the streets as the lowest priced SandForce driven SSD on the market at $99. In speaking to the OWC Marketing team, we also learned that word had just been received of an exciting new firmware release which we might want to wait for. The wait was just a bit longer than expected so lets start this review off with an apology and an assurance that the reasoning for such is very good news. As tested, this little SSD is still one of the most value conscious SandForce Driven models available and is presently the top performing SSD we have put through our Test Bench to date. Read on!
Storage
OCZ are back with yet another model in their SSD family and this time we see the results of using a controller which is based on Indilinx technology, something which hasn't really been present in high end drives for some time now. We'll be putting the Octane SSD through a selection of tests including real world and synthetic to see how it compares to models using the latest Samsung, Marvell and Sandforce controllers.
Storage
Thecus launched the XXX series of NAS devices to match a device to every person’s needs. The N2200XXX is geared towards individuals and certainly brings some outstanding performance to the table. Loaded with plenty of features for digital media storage the N2200XXX is sure to meet the needs of even the most demanding home user. With a 1.8Ghz Atom processor and DDR3 memory the N2200XXX certainly has some muscle behind it.
Storage
Samsung’s experience with SSDs didn’t start with the 830 Series SSD. Samsung can rightfully claim to be one of the originators of solid state storage as it is currently known and the 830 is the culmination of that knowledge and experience. Based around a lineup of 27nm Toggle NAND, 256MBs of low power DRAM, and a tri-core ARM controller, the 830 is very much a product of Samsung’s many disciplines.
Storage
The rapid drop in 25nm flash availability and slow RAMp up of 20nm production puts OCZ in a tough position. Vector availability is about to get scarce and Vertex 3.20 can't be profitable at less than $1 per GB. OCZ needs a higher profit product with the flash available today and it has to be faster than SandForce to sell, enter the new OCZ Vertex 450.
Storage
The Ventura Plus is a new brand of USB 3.0 Flash Drives from Mushkin Enhanced and comes with good transfer speeds, while maintaining and affordable price. The drive has a small aluminum chassis which is great for compatibility purposes and in the back we can attach a lanyard for easy accessibility and transport.
Storage
PQI has harnessed the power of the trusty SandForce SF-1200 controller with their line of S535 drives. In an already crowded SATA 3Gbps SSD market, have they managed to eke out more performance to make the drives stand out from their peers? PQI says this drive will reach 250MB/s in both read and write tests in the ATTO Benchmark, so we'll have a look to see how it performs on our test system to see if we can also hit those numbers.
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