Western Digital Introduces Solid State Disks For Its Business Customers

March 12th, 2010

Following on from the announcement that it has introduced a consumer version of its solid state disk product, Western Digital recently announced a similar product for its enterprise/business customers.  While the consumer version is a MLC (multi level cell) solution, the business version is an SLC (single level cell), which theoretically is faster than an MLC.

Press release follows.

WD® ANNOUNCES NEW HIGH SPEED SOLID STATE DRIVES

WD SiliconDrive® N1x SSDs Deliver High Performance, High Reliability for Embedded System OEM Applications

Kuala Lumpur – 10th March 2010 — WD® (NYSE: WDC) today announced that the company is shipping its new high performance WD SiliconDrive® N1x 2.5-inch solid state drive (SSD) family. The new SSDs feature fast read/write speeds in high capacities and are designed for embedded system OEM applications that require superior performance, high reliability and long product life. The single-level cell (SLC) -based WD SiliconDrive N1x SSDs are an ideal storage solution for a wide range of embedded system OEM applications in growing markets such as automotive and transportation, data center, communications infrastructure, video surveillance and industrial automation.  The new WD SiliconDrive N1x family of products complements the recently announced multi-level cell (MLC) -based WD SiliconEdge™ Blue™ SSDs, which offer a cost-effective alternative for less-demanding OEM applications while still providing high read/write speeds and high random write IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) performance.

WD SiliconDrive N1x SSD products feature a native SATA 3.0 gigabits per second (Gb/s) interface with target read speeds up to 240 megabytes per second (MB/s) and write transfer rates up to 140 MB/s in capacities up to 128 gigabytes (GB). WD SiliconDrive N1x SSDs deliver maximum drive endurance and high sustained sequential write speeds to satisfy the 24/7 operational requirements in critical OEM applications. The WD SiliconDrive N1x products also feature WD’s innovative Speed Assurance™ technology for consistent read/write performance.

“The WD SiliconDrive N1x SSDs are the newest addition to our SiliconDrive product family, which has shipped several million units since the first products were introduced. SiliconDrive SSDs have consistently met critical OEM application requirements for high reliability, high performance and long product deployment cycles,” said Michael Hajeck, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s solid state storage business unit. “Satisfying the challenging storage demands for a wide variety of OEM applications, WD has designed the WD SiliconDrive N1x and WD SiliconEdge Blue product families to facilitate SSD technology adoption in a multitude of existing and expanding new markets that can benefit from advanced storage solutions.”

The WD SiliconDrive N1x SSDs feature patented and patent-pending WD technologies combined with Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and Windows® 7 TRIM command support for high data integrity, long product life and sustained performance levels throughout the drive’s service life without the need for an external refresh utility, media over-provisioning or forced idle times used by many SSDs available today.

The WD SiliconDrive N1x SSD comes with a five-year limited warranty. More information about WD SiliconDrive N1x SSDs may be found on the company’s Web site at: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=786.

Information on the recently announced WD SiliconEdge Blue SSD may be found at: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=789.

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FalconStor® FDS Enables Businesses to Store MORE with Less

March 12th, 2010

This is not really a consumer products announcement, but more a business one.  But I reckon that since a lot of us here have full time jobs aside from our passion for gadgets, this information may come in handy if you want to score some brownie points with your CFO or CIO/CTO the next time the subject of data storage comes up.

Falconstor, a US company with regional headquarters in Malaysia, has introduced a solution for data backup/storage called a “Deduplication Solution“. The exact name of the solution is “File-interface Deduplication System (FDS)“.  This technology is basically something that does “differential” backup of data, instead of “full” backup.  Differential backups save storage space and bandwidth, especially when one is backing up data to an offsite data recovery centre.  I’ll let the press release explain more.

For more information, do surf over to their corporate website!

FalconStor® FDS Enables Businesses to Store MORE with Less

Latest Deduplication Solution by FalconStor® Delivers High Availability Plus Double the Performance with Symantec OST Support

KUALA LUMPUR, 11 March 2010 – FalconStor Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: FALC), the provider of TOTALLY Open™ data protection solutions, today announced version 2.0 of FalconStor® File-interface Deduplication System (FDS), which takes LAN-based deduplication to the next level of enterprise-class functionality with high availability and other enterprise capabilities.

With data growth averaging 50% percent year-on-year, companies today are seeking more cost-efficient ways to store backups.  Full and accurate recovery of monthly archived data is now an essential part of all businesses. As the size of these files increase, companies yearn for faster recovery time and longer data retention periods, while driving costs down – not an easy task during such challenging economic times.

Moving up the ranks with FalconStor® FDS

The FalconStor FDS solution targets growing businesses such as SMBs and SMEs, as a large portion of data growth will be contributed by these companies. Furthermore, as high-growth businesses venture into enterprise territory, proper data management infrastructure is essential to ensure seamless expansion.

FalconStor FDS is designed for businesses looking to reduce storage space and costs by writing backup data more efficiently to disk.  With the addition of high availability, enterprises of all sizes will retain access to their backed-up data, ensuring that backups of critical systems can always be completed within narrow backup windows – which is especially important for databases that may run a company’s ERP, CRM or other important applications.

Other enterprise-class features in FDS 2.0 include:

  • Support for Symantec OpenStorage (OST) delivers 5.4 terabytes per hour of backup data throughput, ingest rates of 1.5 gigabytes per second over two 10 Gigabit Ethernet links for double the performance.
  • An increased fan-in ratio of 150-to-1 that supports more distributed environments and enhances the scope of global deduplication.
  • An enhanced replication dashboard for real-time status monitoring.
  • More granular, folder level, replication support.
  • Policy driven end-to-end data integrity checking.
  • Collision avoidance that ensures data consistency and prevents data loss.

“With these significant enhancements to FalconStor FDS, FalconStor now leads the market in data deduplication solutions for data centers,” said Simon Ng, South Asia regional director of FalconStor Software Inc.  “The market has been demanding a flexible and all-in-one deduplication solution, and we are the first to deliver.”

Pricing and Availability

FalconStor FDS 2.0 is available now through FalconStor’s worldwide network of channel partners.

About FalconStor FDS

FalconStor FDS offers block-level deduplication of backup data via a simple file interface.  FalconStor FDS extends the company’s highly scalable data deduplication technology – already widespread as part of the industry-leading FalconStor® Virtual Tape Library (VTL) solution – to network-attached storage (NAS) disk-to-disk backup environments.  With built-in many-to-one replication capability, the file-interface system provides global deduplication by replicating from remote sites to a central data repository across the wide-area network.

About FalconStor Software, Inc.

FalconStor Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: FALC) is the market leader in disk-based data protection. FalconStor delivers proven, comprehensive data protection solutions that facilitate the continuous availability of business-critical data with speed, integrity, and simplicity. The Company’s TOTALLY Open™ technology solutions, built upon the award-winning IPStor® platform, include the industry leading Virtual Tape Library (VTL) with deduplication, Continuous Data Protector (CDP), File-interface Deduplication System (FDS), and Network Storage Server (NSS), each enabled with WAN-optimized replication for disaster recovery and remote office protection. FalconStor products are available from major OEMs and solution providers including 3Com, Acer, Data Direct Networks, Dynamic Solutions International, EMC, IBM, Oracle, Pillar Data Systems, SGI and Spectra Logic and are deployed by thousands of customers worldwide, from small businesses to Fortune 1000 enterprises.

FalconStor is headquartered in Melville, N.Y., with offices throughout Europe and the Asia Pacific region. FalconStor is an active member of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA).  For more information, visit www.falconstor.com or call 1-866-NOW-FALC (1-866-669-3252).

# # #

FalconStor, FalconStor Software and IPStor are registered trademarks and TOTALLY Open is a trademark of FalconStor Software, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries.  All other company and product names contained herein may be trademarks of their respective holders.

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DiGi iPhone Pre-Order

March 11th, 2010

DiGi has put up a page where one can pre-order the iPhone 3GS.  Pre-orderers will be given priority over others when the time comes to collect the iPhone.  Click here to register your interest – there is no obligation to buy the phone if you pre-order; simply don’t turn up or do anything if you don’t want to!

And ah, please read point 9 of the FAQ around 50 times so that you understand what it means:

9. Do I have to signup for a DiGi mobile service plan in order to buy an iPhone?
Yes. You will have to signup for the selected DiGi mobile service plan in order to buy an iPhone.

I have deliberately increased the font size so that you can read it better.  Have you read it at least 50 times yet?  No?  Go read it again!

Pre-orders are accepted until 18th of March, so better make up your mind quickly!

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Buy! Buy! BUY!!!

March 11th, 2010

Yes, you heard me right. No, I’m not about to share a hot stock market tip with you unfortunately – I’m still looking for one myself. HTC Malaysia recently announced some price drops for their most popular products. And I mean some seriously major price drops. Sorry for reporting this late, folks, it only found its way into my mailbox today. I need to get a better mailbox or mail server software!
Android™ Phone Models

Model Revised Suggested Retail Price
­HTC Magic
Targeted at users seeking a stylish smartphone which delivers a superior mobile internet experience, HTC Magic comes equipped with a 3.2” HVGA touch screen display and features a track ball and navigational buttons for quick easy access.		 RM 1,598
HTC Hero
The first HTC phone that embodies HTC Sense™, allowing an intuitive and seamless experience to allow you to personalize a suite of widgets that best suit your personality and lifestyle.		 RM 1,899
HTC Tattoo
The latest addition to the HTC Android™ family, the HTC Tattoo allows you to fully customize both inside and out. Design a cover or choose from the wide range of cover designs available to make your Tattoo your own.		 RM 1,199

Windows Mobile® Phone Models

Model Revised Suggested Retail Price
HTC Touch2
A compact and stylish smartphone that delivers the full touch experience boosted by Windows Mobile 6.5. Offering best-in-class messaging, browsing and productivity capabilities, HTC Touch2 keeps you connected with the people and information in your life.		 RM 1,299
HTC Touch Diamond 2
An elegant companion, the HTC Touch Diamond2 simplifies communication with its people-centric communication technology, allowing you to view text messages, emails and call logs from individual contact cards or from the in-call screen during a call. Enhanced with HTC’s TouchFlo 3D user experience and zero-waiting Push Internet ensuring prompt and instant downloading of your favourite websites.		 RM 1,699
HTC Touch Pro 2
Remarkably designed with an intuitive mobile navigation and touch-responsive interface, you can view your office documents or browse web pages on the impressive 2.8” VGA touch screen. Targeted at business users, composing emails are a breeze with the slide out QWERTY keyboard.		 RM 1,999
HTC HD2
Presenting a deluxe cinematic visual experience on its industry leading high-resolution, 4.3” capacitive touch display for a sharper and more vivid display, the HTC HD2 is powered by the new Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor to increase productivity and efficiency.		 RM 2,499
HTC Snap
Designed for users who prefer a user-friendly QWERTY smartphone that simplifies communication. Featuring the Inner Circle, it allows you to use a dedicated button to bring emails from a preselected group of people to the top of your inbox, enabling you to respond immediately.
Available in two versions, the camera and non-camera versions, the HTC Snap is a reliable smartphone companion regardless of whatever profession you are in.		 RM 1,099

Thanks also to JC for sharing this with us in the shoutbox!So, does this hint at cheaper prices of HTC phones to come? You tell me – my lips are sealed for the moment, and will be unsealed soon enough. At these prices, you don’t even have to consider the competition – it would be almost silly not to buy an HTC phone! Can we dream of the HTC Legend below RM 2,000? The HTC Smart below RM 1,000? The HTC HD Mini at around RM 1,800? My lips are sealed – waterboard me all you want, I’m not saying anything! What about the HTC Desire? Cheaper than the Google Nexus One in Singapore after conversion into RM? Torture me, torture me!

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It’s The Malaysian iPad, Yo!

March 11th, 2010

We Malaysians love publicity.  Especially the cheap kind.  Doesn’t matter if the world laughs at us, but we just gotta have it.  And why let Apple have all the fun and headlines with something that doesn’t even deliver the “full web experience” eh?  So, we have the Ezy Tablet PC.  It’s a 10 incher, sporting an Intel Atom processor (rather tragically, it’s an Atom N270).  Capacitive touchscreen.  Runs err…jack.  As in “jack schitt”.  ”Built in 2100mAh battery with 3.5 working hours lasting.”(geez, sounds like something someone from China would write!).  Oh, and yes – “WCDMATD-SCDMACDMA2000″ – that gobbledegook means that it’s got a WWAN chip inside (aka “3G”) capable of supporting, oh, I honestly don’t know what frequencies!

Yours for US$679, or RM 2,266.  Less if you buy in bulk.  You’d better buy one first to make sure it works, just in case.  You don’t want the battery to fall off when booting it up or something.  Or God forbid, the entire thing spontaneously combusts during Linux startup.  And seriously, what’s up with that badly Photoshopped image of the illustration of multi-touch support?

There you go.  Buy one, and have bragging rights over the Apple fanboys that you managed to snag a modern working(?) tablet before them.  Just make sure you wear a flame retardant outfit when using it.  Just in case, ya know?

Source.

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