The 7-bay NAS is shaping up to be the go-to desktop NAS device for users who require both massive storage and blazing performance. Today, Thecus Technology is pleased to introduce the N7700+, a seven-bay storage server that retains all of the robust functionality of the N7700, but ups the ante with a PCIe x8 slot suitable for 10Gb Ethernet cards.

Thecus constantly engineers new ways to squeeze the maximum performance from existing technologies. The N7700+ one-ups its predecessor by including an internal PCIe x8 slot. Compared to the x1 slot found in the N7700, the N7700+'s PCIe slot offers up to eight times more bandwidth, which makes it perfect for 10Gb Ethernet cards. Outfitted with one of these cards, the N7700+ is fully compatible with the latest 10Gb networks, delivering unprecedented data transfer rates for the most demanding users.

Following AMD's launch of the 890GX chipset which marked the entry of certain new features native to the chipset, the company is readying a slightly scaled-down version of it aimed at more mainstream consumers, business PC users, as well as HTPC and home PC users. The AMD 880G succeeds the 780G is being a mid-range integrated graphics chipset that supports a range of new features using the SB800 series southbridge chips.

While the 880G is based on essentially the same chip (RS880) as the 890GX, certain features such as ATI CrossFire are disabled, and board makers are directed to use this chipset on micro-ATX form-factor designs. The 880G northbridge packs an RV620-core based ATI Radeon HD 4250 IGP which supports DirectX 10.1, with 40 stream processors, and DDR3 SidePort memory support apart from the usual UMA. The IGP supports native HD video decode features, as well as HDMI with on-chip 7.1 channel audio. While the chipset supports one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 link for discrete graphics, it also gives out PCI-Express 2.0 x1, x4 lanes from the northbridge. Additional controllers such as USB 3.0 can benefit from a direct PCI-E 2.0 path. The SB800 class southbridge has a native 6 channel SATA 6 Gb/s controller complete with RAID support.

Synology Inc. today launched DiskStation DS410, a high-performance and affordable network attached storage solution that is specifically designed for home to business workgroup users to share and protect data cost-effectively.

The Synology DS410 is the ideal solution for users who need to share and store data as it delivers an average of 115 MB/sec reading speed under RAID 5 configuration in a Windows environment, and 54 MB/sec writing. Running on the award-winnning Synology DiskStation Manager 2.3 (DMS 2.3), the DS410 provides a reliable solution for data sharing with an easy to use interface and comprehensive businesses-oriented applications, including complete backup solutions, shared-folder level AES 256-bit encryption, and the Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) that simplifies RAID setup by optimizing the disk capacities with data redundancy when different sized hard drives are used.

The LaCie Enterprise Class range is among the most sophisticated offerings on the market, and provides six data protection levels, robust performance, data encryption, superior connectivity, RAID protection, a professional backup offer, and an advanced service package

Designed for superior performance, the new product range comes with true internal SATA Enterprise Class disks, featuring 7200RPM and 32MB of cache memory. These high-quality internal disks target an ambitious 1.2 million MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) and have been optimized for RAID towers with a vibration resistance technology. Professionals will get the ability to reach more than 700 MB/s of transfer speeds through a RAID 50 array with four LaCie 4big Quadra Enterprise Class. LaCie's Enterprise Class Product range features the most advanced service package on the market, consisting of a 5-year warranty and a 5-year advance product replacement plan.

Synology UK, leaders in open source network attached storage solutions announced today their most powerful NAS unit yet. Aimed at the SMB and enthusiast market, the DiskStation DS1010+ delivers superb performance, reliability, security, scalability and all the features required for modern day business needs.

"The DS1010+ is a complete out-of-the-box business solution for all networking and internet requirements, including web server, ftp access, email hosting, backup, file and printer sharing, CCTV surveillance and much more" explained Victor Chiang, Sales & Marketing Director, Synology UK. "All features can be very easily configured in minutes through Synology's intuitive Disk Station Manager 2.2 web interface".

Other World Computing (OWC) a leading Mac and PC technology company, announced today the OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD as the fastest, most reliable, and longest endurance 2.5" SATA Solid State Drive (SSD) available on the market for Macs and PCs in single or multiple drive use including all RAID configurations. Designed and made in the U.S. from imported parts, the OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD is available for immediate ordering in capacities up to 200GB priced starting at $229.99.

The new OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD is available immediately in three bare drive configurations that are compatible with Mac and PC computers that can utilize a 2.5" SATA 1.5/3.0Gb/s drive:

Dell today announced the highly adaptable OptiPlex XE desktop PC for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and retail environments. Designed to withstand challenging conditions such as high heat, dust and 24x7 operations, the OptiPlex XE delivers on Dell's commitment to purpose-built solutions more directly connected with customer needs. The system is easily placed within medical carts, video rental kiosks, retail point-of-sale (POS) solutions and other custom deployments that require easy remote management and long-term system stability options.

Super Talent's highlight is a USB 3.0 flash drive. The unit manages over 300 MB/s read and 176 MB/s write performance. It comes in 32, 64 and 128 GB versions and utilizes multiple controllers (USB 3.0 -> SATA 6 Gb/s -> Flash) to achieve the performance. Super Talent is also displaying a PCI-E x8 based RAIDDrive SSD in their booth. It manages over 80,000 IOPS per second at 4k, comes with capacity of up to 2 TB, configured in RAID 0 or 5. Lastly there is also a Sandforce based SSD, called UltraDrive FX2. On the memory end, we are not seeing any new products. As a minor improvement, Super Talent has now clearly marked their memory with "Performance" and "Speed" labels.

HighPoint Technologies - an innovative host-based RAID controller manufacturer is introducing the RocketRAID 620 Series- the industry's first SATA 3.0 host adapters with RAID 5 capability. The 620 series will double the data rate from 3Gb/s to 6Gb/s for high bandwidth PC applications, gaming, digital video and audio, video streaming and graphics applications.

The two members of the RocketRAID 620 Series - RocketRAID 620 (MSRP $69.99) and RocketRAID 622 (MSRP $79.99) will ship mid January 2010. These premier RAID host adapters are based on PCI-Express Gen 2 host interface technology and are designed to optimize storage performance and redundancy with RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD. User friendly features include hot plug and hot unplug to add or remove storage devices; and OCE/ORLM to expand storage capacities or migrate to different RAID levels.

Super Talent Technology, an inventor of USB 3.0 flash drives, today announced volume shipment of its newly announced USB 3.0 RAIDDrive. The new drive, available in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities, is fully backward compatible with USB 2.0 standard and operates at 10x speeds when used in conjunction with a USB 3.0 port.

"This product underscores Super Talent's continued leadership in USB drives." said Super Talent COO, C.H. Lee. "We've developed the world's first and fastest USB 3.0 flash drive, by integrating two SSD into a RAID array for maximum throughput." It delivers phenomenal performance and it incorporates our own patented technology, filed world wide and protected under US Patent #7,457,897 etc.

Lenovo today unveiled 11 new IdeaPad laptops and IdeaCentre desktops at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show that demonstrate the company's re-energized commitment to personal computing design and engineering specifically for consumers. The new IdeaPad laptop PCs - S10-3t, S10-3, Y460, Y560, G460, G560, V460 and V360 and IdeaCentre desktop PCs - A300, C310 and K320 - include industry leading design and technology that will help enhance performance, style and entertainment capabilities across Lenovo's consumer products lineup.

"Our new Idea PCs are the next step in our exciting new worldwide product portfolio designed with the consumer in mind," said Liu Jun, senior vice president, Idea Product Group, Lenovo. "These additions to our Idea portfolio demonstrate Lenovo's commitment to giving our customers the capabilities they expect, at prices they can afford, while showcasing our forward-thinking innovations."

Buffalo introduced its newest NAS server, the TeraStation TS-XEL/R5. This NAS server has four 3.5" drive bays, and comes in capacities of 2 TB, 4 TB, and 6 TB, with pre-installed hard drives. The four installed drives can then be configured in RAID 0, 1, 5 or 10 modes. HDD hot-swapping is also supported, along with support for Apple's Time Machine, Active Directory Services, and storage expansion using two USB 2.0 ports that can connect to additional USB Mass Storage devices. Network connectivity is care of a gigabit Ethernet wired line. The 2TB, 4TB and 6TB TeraStation TS-XEL/R5 NAS servers cost $946, $1,180 and $1,535, respectively. They will be released to the Japanese market later this month.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced the availability of the newly designed SimpleDrive desktop external hard drive with capacities of up to two terabytes (2TB). In addition, the company announced that all of its 3.5-inch retail drives are now available in 2TB capacities, featuring the Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000, the industry's first 2TB 7,200 RPM hard drive that blends performance and high capacity with low power features. New, upgraded solutions include the Hitachi SimpleTech Pro Drive; the two-drive, RAID 0/1 Duo Pro Drive; and the Hitachi Internal Hard Drive Kit for the do-it-yourself (DIY) computer-upgrade market. All products are now available.

"Hitachi continues to build its channel presence with an expanded portfolio of 2TB storage solutions for business users, consumers or virtually anyone who needs additional capacity to manage the growing number and size of their digital files," said Azmat Ali, vice president of marketing, Branded Business, Hitachi GST. "Even though people are inundated with digital content daily, many are not taking the necessary precautions to safeguard their content. Our external drives, together with consistent backup practices, will help people keep their digital memories, entertainment and business documents safe."

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 RAIDDrive, which supports transfer speeds up to ten times faster than USB 2.0 drives. The new drive, in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities, is fully backward compatible with USB 2.0 ports, but operates at slower speeds.

The USB 3.0 RAIDDrive uses patented "multiple pairs of differential serial data lines technology" for optimal NAND flash performance. "This product underscores Super Talent's continued leadership in USB drives." said Super Talent COO, C.H. Lee. "We've developed the world's first mobile USB 3.0 flash drive. It delivers phenomenal performance and it incorporates our own patented technology".

Buffalo Japan rolled out its newest NAS server offerings: the LinkStation WXL/R1. This 2-bay NAS comes with drives pre-installed, with capacities of 1 TB, 2 TB, and 3 TB. The storage controller supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 modes. Basic DLNA support that makes it friendly with other consumer electonics devices at home. With its gigabit Ethernet interface, it supports transfer speeds of around 40 MB/s. The NAS is also DTCP-IP compliant that lets you store DTCP-IP copyrighted content. It measures 86 (W) x 127 (H) x 204 (D) mm. A USB 2.0 port provides for further expansion of storage by connecting USB mass storage devices (flash drives, external HDDs, etc). Prices start at around $350 for the 1 TB variant, $460 for the 2 TB, and $580 for the 3 TB variants.

HighPoint Technologies - an industry pioneer of innovative SATA and SAS RAID host adapter manufacturing, today unleashes the Rocket 600 series - the industry's first SATA 6 Gb/s host adapter based on PCI-Express 2.0 technology. The Rocket 600 series delivers the next generation of SATA performance with robust SATA connectivity and will be available at the beginning of November 2009.

The Rocket 600 series brings a new level of cost effective pricing and will help drive mass adoption to the next generation of SATA 6 Gb/s technology. They are fully industry standard AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) compliant and deliver Out-of-Box Ready installation for the majority of operating systems. The Rocket 600 series are backward compatible to PCI-Express 1.0 technology and (SATA 3 Gb/s & 1.5 Gb/s) devices. They use the same cable and connectors as previous SATA generations to ease integration.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today expanded their Turbo NAS lineup with the addition of the TS-110 desktop NAS server for home and SOHO users. The TS-110 supports a single 3.5" SATA hard drives with up to 2TB of total capacity and features a Marvell 800MHz CPU and 256MB DDRII memory which provides solid performance with low power consumption. The TS-110 can be configured with QNAP's exclusive Q-RAID 1 for high data redundancy. The TS-110 also supports advanced features such as iSCSI Target service with Thin Provisioning and a Gigabit LAN port and policy based IP blocking, S.M.A.R.T hard disk health monitoring, email and SMS notifications if there are problems with the unit, features generally found on much higher end NAS servers. The TS-110 also features 3 USB ports (with unique auto-copy feature on the front port) for expanding the storage capacity, printer sharing, or backing up the TS-110. The TS-110 also features an e-SATA port.

The TS-110 is a smart choice for installation in home or home-based business as it's fully compatible with Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and UNIX networks and features a built-in UPnP/ DLNA media server (with TwonkyMedia enabled) supporting a wide range of DLNA media players such as Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming consoles. By installing the DLNA/ UPnP application on your iPhone or iPod touch, users can access the TS-110 on the home network and play videos, music, and photos from the server over the network. In addition, the high-speed PC-less Download Station with the unique QGet utility enables users to manage the BT/ FTP/ HTTP download tasks (fully BitTorrent compatible) remotely over the local network or the Internet. The TS-110 can perform centralized backups of all computers attached to the network to protect valuable paid downloaded music & video content, digital pictures, and documents.

Thecus Technology is always pushing the boundaries of what NAS devices are capable of. Today, Thecus is proud to introduce the N7700PRO, the follow up to the award winning N7700. While the original N7700 made its mark by being the world's first seven-bay NAS device, the N7700PRO raises the stakes with breathtaking performance, unmatched reliability, and maximum flexibility.

With the N7700PRO, blistering performance is the name of the game. At its core is an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and a whopping 4GB of high-speed DDR2 800 memory, making it the most powerful NAS unit available. In fact, with its PCI-e slot, the N7700PRO can reach data transfer speeds of over 300 MB/s by adding a PCI Express 10 Gbps Ethernet adapter. All of this raw power easily manipulates large amounts of data - perfect for the N7700PRO's seven 3.5" SATA drive bays that can accommodate up to 14TB of storage. Need even more storage at your disposal? With its stackable feature, you can connect up to five N7700PROs together and easily manage them all via a master unit. The N7700PRO is even compatible with iSCSI initiators and supports iSCSI thin provisioning for added performance and flexibility.

"ZOTAC is the leader when it comes to performing mini-ITX platforms. With the addition the new ZOTAC ION ITX Synergy Editions, we have the largest line up of high-performance mini-ITX motherboards with over a dozen different models," said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International. "We see the demand for small form factors increasing and the future of computing will be mini-ITX platforms."

The new ZOTAC ION ITX Synergy Editions bring a full high-performance experience and features that has won the ZOTAC ION ITX platforms many awards, including the NVIDIA ION graphics processor with NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology for full HD 1080p Blu-ray video playback and high-performance video processing and editing capabilities with NVIDIA CUDA technology.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today expanded their Turbo NAS lineup with the addition of the TS-210 desktop NAS server targeted specifically at the SOHO and Prosumer market segments. The TS-210 supports up to 2 3.5" SATA hard drives with up to 4TB of total capacity (using 2TB drives) and features a Marvell 800MHz CPU and 256MB DDRII memory which provides sustained high performance with low power consumption. The TS-210 can be configured to RAID 1 for high data redundancy. The TS-210 also supports iSCSI Target service with Thin Provisioning and a Gigabit LAN port, features generally found on much higher end NAS servers. The TS-210 is equipped 3 USB ports (1 front, 2 back panel) for expanding the storage capacity, printer sharing, or data backup to an external storage device.

The TS-210 is a smart choice for installation in home or home-based business as it is fully compatible with Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and UNIX networks. It features a built-in UPnP/ DLNA media server (with TwonkyMedia enabled) supporting a wide range of DLNA media players such as Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming consoles. By installing the DLNA/ UPnP application on your iPhone or iPod touch, users can access the TS-210 on the home network and play the videos, music, and photos from the server over the network. In addition, the high-speed PC-less Download Station with the unique QGet utility enables users to manage the BT/ FTP/ HTTP download tasks remotely over the local network or the Internet. The TS-210 can perform centralized backups of all computers attached to the network to protect valuable paid downloaded music and video content, digital pictures, and documents.

Iomega, an EMC company and a global leader in data protection, today announced the next generation of its popular double-drive desktop NAS appliance with the worldwide launch of the new Iomega StorCenter ix2-200. Based on industry-leading enterprise-class EMC storage technologies, the versatile yet affordable StorCenter ix2-200 wraps ease-of-use around big business data management functionality and advanced media serving and other consumer features that make it the ideal NAS appliance for small business users and home users.

Available in 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB capacities, the new ix2-200 utilizes a very simple four-step setup to be operational in a matter of minutes - be it in a business setting or in the digital home.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and flash-based storage as an alternative to hard disk drives (HDDs), today announced the Z-Drive m84, a PCI-Express Solid State Drive (SSD) designed to offer the performance of OCZ's Z-Drive product line to enthusiasts for a more affordable price point and availability in the mainstream market segment versus the enterprise channel. The Z-Drive m84 is the answer to the demand from end-users to have access to this state-of-the-art storage solution.

"The OCZ m84 Z-Drive is the newest addition to our line of PCI-E solid state drives and is designed to offer consumers a high performance yet aggressively priced solid state solution," said Eugene Chang, Vice President of Product Management at the OCZ Technology Group. "While the previously released p84 and e84 Z-Drives were intended specifically for enterprise applications, the m84 delivers much of the same performance but at a price point that is competitive with standard SSD drives. This is the first time that such a high performance PCI-E based SSD that is optimized for media editing, gaming, and workstation productivity, has been so within the reach of power users."

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today expanded their Turbo NAS lineup with the addition of the TS-410 desktop NAS server targeted specifically at the SOHO and Prosumer market segments. The TS-410 features 4 hot-swappable SATA hard drives with up to 8 TB of total capacity (with 2TB drives) and supports 2.5" or 3.5" hard drives, giving users more flexibility in selecting drives for installation. The TS-410 features a Marvell 800MHz CPU and 256MB DDRII memory which provides sustained high performance with low power consumption. The TS-410 can be configured for RAID 0/1/5/6/5+ spare, and JBOD with online RAID capacity expansion and online RAID level migration for high data redundancy. The TS-410 also supports iSCSI Target service with Thin Provisioning and dual Gigabit LAN ports, features generally found on much higher end NAS servers. The TS-410 also features 4 USB ports (1 front, 3 back panel) and 2 e-SATA ports for expanding the storage capacity or backing up the TS-410.

The TS-410 is a smart choice for installation in home or home-based business as it's fully compatible with Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and UNIX networks and features a built-in UPnP/ DLNA media server (with TwonkyMedia enabled) supporting a wide range of DLNA media players such as Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming consoles. By installing the DLNA/ UPnP application on your iPhone or iPod touch, users can access the TS-410 on the home network and play videos, music, and photos from the server over the network. In addition, the high-speed PC-less Download Station with the unique QGet utility enables users to manage the BT/ FTP/ HTTP download tasks remotely over the local network or the Internet. The TS-410 can perform centralized backups of all computers attached to the network to protect valuable paid downloaded music & video content, digital pictures, and documents.

Seagate Technology today announced worldwide availability of the Seagate Secure Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) option across its portfolio of enterprise-class hard drives. Products with the Seagate Secure option include: Savvio 15K.2, Savvio 10K.3, Constellation and Cheetah 15K.7 drives. These enterprise-class products are an extension of Seagate's first-to-market leadership with Seagate Secure Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) technology, designed to deliver data-at-rest security for servers and storage systems.

"Self-Encrypting Drives are one of the easiest, most cost-effective security measures companies can implement," said Eric Ouellet, vice president at Gartner. "The use of SEDs provides businesses with complete data-at-rest protection against information breaches that can occur in drives and systems that have been repurposed, decommissioned, disposed of, sent for repair, misplaced or stolen. Because all disk media eventually leaves a company's control, the use of SEDs ensures that data is protected at these critical stages of a system's life cycle."

Intel Corporation today disclosed new information about next-generation Intel Xeon processors - codenamed "Jasper Forest" - for communications and storage applications, due in early 2010. With Jasper Forest, Intel engineers have, for the first time, integrated PCI Express (PCIe) in a dual-processing Xeon processor, which greatly facilitates dense storage and communications solutions such as IPTV, VoIP, NAS, SAN and wireless radio network controllers.

Jasper Forest maintains the outstanding performance of Intel architecture (Nehalem), while lowering system power consumption by 27 watts when compared to the Intel Xeon 5500 series processors. The dual-processing solution integrates two Jasper Forest processors with 16 PCIe Generation 2.0 lanes each and is paired with the Intel 3420 chipset platform controller hub. This integration of the I/O hub via PCIe enables significant power and space savings, resulting in one of the highest performance-per-watt Intel Xeon chips ever.