ASUSTOR Inc., a leading innovator and provider of network storage solutions, today announced the release of four new enterprise-level 1U and 2U rackmount NAS devices. These new devices consist of the four drive bay AS-604RS and AS-604RD models and the nine drive bay AS-609RS and AS-609RD models. All devices come equipped with the Intel Atom 2.13 GHz dual-core processor which combines supercharged performance with low power consumption. Furthermore, all devices are verified as VMware, Citrix and Hyper-V ready, providing businesses with a flexible and cost-efficient virtual storage solution.

"Our new rackmount NAS models include the type of hardware specifications required by the most demanding business environments such as dual gigabit Ethernet ports, eSATA and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interfaces and support for hard drive hot swapping." said Johnny Chen, Product Manager at ASUSTOR. "The AS-604RD and AS-609RD models also feature redundant power supplies meaning that should the primary power supply fail, a second one will automatically start running to keep the NAS powered on. This undoubtedly gives businesses the type of 24/7, round-the-clock, uninterrupted access that they need."

Orico unveiled the new 9648RUSI3 drive enclosure that can either be used as a 1U rack-mounted device, or on a desk, with its feet attached. The enclosure, which comes in graphite black, and silvery aluminum, packs four 3.5-inch caddies with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, supporting drives as big as 3 TB. It features RAID 0, 1, 0+1, JBOD modes, and a total volume size of 12 TB is supported. While it's not quite a NAS due to the lack of a network interface, it features two high bandwidth interfaces: eSATA 6 Gb/s, and USB 3.0, in addition to FireWire 800. It is priced at the equivalent of $480.

Lian-Li's sole micro-ATX exhibit at CES is the PC-A02. The all-aluminum monolith is characterized by a thin line of perforation along its front panel. Measuring 188 x 460 x 386 mm (WxHxD), it features room for a 5.25-inch drive, three 3.5-inch drives, and a 2.5-inch one. There's just the one drive cage to hold internal drives, and hence room for add-on cards as long as 33 cm is created. Its lone cooling fan is a 120 mm front-intake. Its feature-rich front-panel (located on the top) features four USB 3.0 ports (standard header), an eSATA port, and HD audio jacks.

ASUS did the unthinkable yet simple, by innovating the first AMD platform motherboard that features PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, the Sabertooth 990FX/GEN3.0 R2.0. Long naming aside, the board provides you a couple of gen 3.0 slots by using PLX-made 48-lane PCI-Express Gen 3.0 bridge chip.

While the board features four PCI-Express x16 slots, only two similarly-colored slots can be used at a time, of which two are PCI-Express 2.0 x16, wired to the 990FX northbridge, and two slots being x16/NC or x8/x8-capable, being wired to a PLX 48-lane PCI-Express Gen 3.0 switch, which in turn takes two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 links from the northbridge.

ROCSTOR, a leading provider of fast, high-capacity data storage and encryption solutions, announces the launch of Amphibious X5. The Amphibious X5 is a secure, ruggedized portable hard drive with real time hardware encryption and offers advanced single-factor authentication, USB and FireWire 800. In addition, the crypto module is FIPS 140-2 certified.

The Amphibious is considered as one of the most secure and user-friendly devices in the world for size, strength of encryption, and method of authentication. It offers users the option of using the device in a cross platform and Operating System independent fashion, and no GUI or software installations required. The Amphibious is the result of a year of intensive R & D effort and collaboration. For the user it offers the value of data security by using an original concept of single-factor authentication, real time hardware encryption, and futuristic design sense. The Amphibious X5 is appropriate for consumers, SOHO's, enterprises, institutions, military and government applications who want to store data in a secure manner.

ASUS did a back-room unveiling of its E2KM1I-Deluxe feature-packed mini-ITX motherboard for HTPCs. The board leverages AMD's recently-launched E2-2000 dual-core APU, combining it with a desktop-grade FCH chipset that lends it six SATA 6 Gb/s ports (of which one is eSATA). The board features two standard DDR3 DIMM slots, expansion area includes a PCI-Express 2.0 x16, and an mPCIe (which is populated with an 802.11 b/g/n WLAN card). Boosting its HTPC credentials are the HDMI display output (with an in-built 7.1-channel HD audio stream), and a TOSLINK digital audio output. Other connectivity includes DVI, USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports.

When Gigabyte ported a bulk of its socket AM3+ motherboard lineup to the modern UEFI BIOS, back in October 2012, top models that support NVIDIA SLI, such as the 990FXA-UD5 missed out, with the 990FXA-UD3 leading the pack. The company made amends launching the 990FXA-UD5 Rev 3.0, which tosses out decades-old legacy BIOS for modern AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, backed by the company's Dual-UEFI innovation, which protects against failed BIOS updates. The 990FXA-UD5 features a 12-phase VRM to power the CPU, five PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, supporting 3-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX, eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, two eSATA 6 Gb/s ports, four USB 3.0, 8-channel HD audio, and a single gigabit Ethernet interface. It is expected to be priced around US $160.

HighPoint Technologies, Inc., a leading SAS, SATA and USB 3.0 HBA and storage solutions manufacturer, Proudly announces the next generation of eSATA storage devices; boosting performance from 3 Gb/s to 6 Gb/s - the RocketStor 5322 Dual 6 Gb/s eSATA Storage Dock. HighPoint's innovative dual-dedicated 6 Gb/s eSATA architecture optimizes the transfer speeds of 6 Gb/s SATA storage devices. Each of the RocketStor 5322s dual 6 Gb/s SATA bays is built for today's fastest SATA storage devices, and deliver twice the performance of eSATA 3Gb/s storage docks - up to 12 Gb/s of aggregated transfer bandwidth.

HighPoint's no-compromise approach to eSATA technology aims to revolutionize desktop and workstation storage. The RocketStor 5322 overcomes the known performance shortfalls of existing 3 Gb/s eSATA devices and delivers dual-dedicated 6 Gb/s eSATA host connectivity. Each 6 Gb/s SATA bay is capable of fully leveraging the performance potential of today's high-speed SATA 6 Gb/s SSD's.

Japanese peripherals maker Logitec announced the LHR-DS05EU3 line of 3.5-inch external HDD enclosures. Available in four color options - silver, red, black, and purple; the enclosure is sold empty/dry, priced at 4,280¥ (US $50), with a 3 TB WD Green HDD pre-installed for 19,980¥ ($237), and a 2 TB WD Green HDD pre-installed for 13,980¥ ($166); and WD Red HDD pre-installed options priced at 22,980¥ ($273) for 3 TB and 15,980¥ ($190) for 2 TB.

The enclosure features a front-loading caddie that makes it easy to swap out the enclosed HDD, lending it hot-plugging capabilities. Internally, it features a SATA 6 Gb/s interface, which is wired out as both eSATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 SuperSpeed. The enclosure features shock and vibration dampening material to protect the enclosed drive, which is also kept cool by a temperature-controlled 40 mm fan. The body, made of steel and ABS, is designed to be stackable. Measuring 50 x 195 x 134 mm, its dry-weight is about 340 g.

FirmTek, LLC, a pioneer and leader in Serial ATA (SATA) storage solutions is announcing that the SeriTek/Q6G 4-Port eSATA host adapter is now available. The high performance SeriTek/Q6G is Mac OS X Bootable, whether installed inside the Apple Mac Pro or a Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis, with and without SATA port-multiplication.

Performance
"Dynamic growth in the availability of SATA 6G SSD and HDD storage devices has increased the need for ultra-high performance 6-Gigabit/sec eSATA controllers with sufficient bandwidth to maximize performance. The SeriTek/Q6G was developed to meet this need. With real world storage performance results in excess of 500 MB/s per channel, the SeriTek/Q6G offers a new level of performance for professional customers", said Chi Kim Stanford Vice President of Business Development. "The SeriTek/Q6G is ideal for audio/video editing, photography, large media content libraries, storage expansion, backup and any other application where external, hot swap, high performance, data storage is desirable."

With a continued focus on delivering the industry's most trusted, high-performance and reliable solutions for content creators, G-Technology today announced that its G-SPEED¹ RAID external storage solutions now come equipped with the industry's highest capacity and most reliable enterprise-class hard disk drives (HDDs), the 4TB HGST Ultrastar drives. With 7,200 RPM performance, 64MB cache, the highest 2.0 million hour mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) HDD specification, and unique enterprise-class features, the G-Technology G-SPEED family continues to deliver uncompromised performance, quality and reliability for the escalating demands of today's post-production workflows.

HighPoint Technologies, Inc., the industry's leading SATA 6Gb/s RAID HBA manufacturer, announces the availability of their second generation SATA 6Gb/s storage controllers - the RocketRAID 600L series. HighPoint's RocketRAID 600L series HBA's represent the industry's most comprehensive, and affordable selection of 6Gb/s SATA PCIe host controllers. Powered by industry-proven RAID technology, SATA port multiplier support, and an intuitive RAID Management Suite, HighPoint RocketRAID 600L HBA's are the ideal SATA 6Gb/s storage solution for any PC and Mac computing platform.

Gigabyte launched the Z77X-UD4H, a new socket LGA1155 motherboard model designed to fill the gap between the $155 Z77X-UD3H and $190 Z77X-UD5H. It is built with Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 4 construction, featuring 2 oz copper layer, temperature, humidity, and electrostatic protection features. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 11-phase VRM that draws power from an 8-pin EPS connector. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (electrical x16/NC/NC, x8/x8/NC, x8/x4/x4, depending on how they're populated). 3-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX are supported. Other expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI.

Straightaway, you'll notice that Gigabyte did away with the mSATA slot featured on the Z77X-UD3H and Z77X-UD5H. In addition to the two SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s ports that the Z77 PCH provides (all of which are wired as internal ports), Gigabyte added two additional 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s controllers, which provide two each of internal SATA 6 Gb/s, and eSATA 6 Gb/s. The board features a total of eight USB 3.0 ports, six on the rear panel, and two by headers. In addition to the four ports the Z77 PCH provides, a 4-port VLI-made host controller is used.

HighPoint Technologies, Inc., a leading SAS/SATA HBA and storage solutions manufacturer, proudly announces that its entire line-up of 6Gb/s SAS and SATA RAID PCI-Express 2.0 host bus adapters are Windows 8 ready: RocketRAID 4500 Series SAS 6Gb/s Hardware RAID HBA's, RocketRAID 2700 series SAS 6Gb/s Host RAID HBA's, RocketRAID 600 Series SATA 6Gb/s Host RAID HBA's, and RocketU Series USB 3.0 HBA's. HighPoint has actively supported every major Windows operating system from the early days of 3.1, to the recent debut of Windows 8. Our extensive line of 6Gb/s SAS RAID, 6Gb/s SATA RAID, and USB 3.0 HBA's are ideal storage solutions for any Windows 8 platform.

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) introduces the XPand6104 Small Form Factor (SFF) system supporting a 3rd generation Intel Core i7 COM Express module. With commercial connectors, this SFF system can be utilized as an XPedite7450 COM Express development platform, a deployable SFF system, or a demo platform for applications requiring a high-performance Intel Core i7 processor solution.

In a natural convection-cooled SFF enclosure, the XPand6104 is ideal for Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP)-constrained applications at 2.10 in. (H) x 4.88 in. (W) x 7.70 in. (L) and weighing less than 4 lbs. It includes an XPedite7450 Intel Core i7 ruggedized COM Express module and an optional 1.8 in. SSD. The front panel features an RJ-45 Ethernet connector to a10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet port, a USB 2.0 connector to a USB 2.0 port, an eSATA connector to a SATA 3.0 Gb/s port, two micro-DB-9 connectors to RS-232 serial ports, a DisplayPort connector for graphics, reset and power switches, and status LEDs. It includes an integrated MIL-STD-704 28 V DC input voltage power supply with MIL-STD-461 EMI filtering and an external AC/DC 110 V AC input voltage power supply for development.

MSI designed the new Hetris H61 Ultra, a 10 liter commercial barebones desktop for the European market. Measuring 330 x 94 x 320 mm, its chassis houses an Intel H61 chipset-based socket LGA1155 motherboard, which supports Core/Pentium/Celeron processors based on the 32 nm "Sandy Bridge" and 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" micro-architectures. It features two 240-pin DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 8 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1333 MHz memory. Among the drive bays in the chassis are a 3.5-inch/2.5-inch SATA bay for hard drives, and a 5.25-inch bay for optical drives.

The Hetris H61 Ultra packs an 80 Plus-compliant 270W power supply. It features a PCI-Express riser that allows you to install up to two PCIe expansion cards along the plane of the motherboard. Connectivity includes 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports on the front, four USB 2.0/1.1 ports on the rear, a pair of serial COM ports, PS/2 keyboard/mouse, eSATA 3 Gb/s, and display connectivity that includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. The Hetris H61 Ultra could also be sold with a number of entry-level CPU, memory, and HDD combinations.

Japanese peripherals retailer AREA announced three USB 3.0 and one SATA 6 Gb/s add-on card models. The PE4U3E-3E1 "Sport Quattro" is a 4-port USB 3.0 card that uses a Etron EJ188 host controller, which connects to the machine over PCI-Express 2.0 x2 (physical PCI-Express 2.0 x4), resulting in higher downstream bandwidth when using multiple ports. The card features three external and one internal USB 3.0 type A ports, it draws auxiliary power from a SATA power connector. It is priced at 2,480¥ (US $30).

Next up is the SD-PEU3R-2E2IL, another 4-port PCI-Express add-on card, driven by Renesas D720201 4-port USB 3.0 host controller. The card features PCI-Express 2.0 x1 bus interface, and unlike the PE4U3E-3E1, features two type A ports on the rear panel, and two ports via standard USB 3.0 front-panel header. It is priced at 2,680¥ (US $33.5). The last of the three USB 3.0 cards is the D-EP34U3R-S3, which ships in ExpressCard-34 form-factor, is driven by Renesas D720202 host controller, and features just one USB 3.0 type A port. It is priced at 1,980¥ (US $24.7). Lastly, the company launched the SD-PESA3ES2L, a 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s add-on card, which lets you choose between using the two ports as internal or eSATA ports, using jumpers. It goes for 2,980¥ (US $37).

Japanese company Marshal announced the MAL-4725NAS, a compact NAS box which can enclose a 2.5-inch SATA HDD or SSD. Driven by a 750 MHz ARM 11MP processor, the box features 256 MB of RAM and the same amount of NAND flash storage to house its Linux-based operating system (Fedora 12 ARM). Its software provides most consumer NAS features including FTP, SMB, print server, NFS, AFP, DLNA, and iTunes. Gigabit Ethernet is its only network interface. The 2.5-inch drive bay supports drives as thick as 12.5 mm. Its limited local storage can be expanded with flash drives, enclosures, and other mass-storage devices thanks to an eSATA and two USB 2.0 ports. Measuring 123 x 123 x 33 mm, it weighs about 536 g. Slated for October 20, it is priced at 13,800 JPY (US $176).

Synology Inc. today launched the new DX213, Synology's first 2-bay DiskStation expansion solution that satisfies the growth of storage demand from business and power users. "Managing and handling the increasing amount of data should not take time away from running a business. Therefore, Synology designed the DX213 to help users quickly and effortlessly expand DiskStation storage by an additional two bays when it reaches its maximum capacity," said Chad Jiang, product manager at Synology Inc.

On selected DiskStation models, RAID volumes can be expanded directly across DX213 without the hassle of reformatting existing hard drives, bringing the additional benefit of continuous service uptime throughout this process. Users also have the freedom to create DX213 as an independent volume for the paired DiskStation. As such, DX213 can function as an effortless local backup solution.

ASRock unveiled a new line of motherboards for socket FM2 AMD A-Series "Trinity" accelerated processors. Spread across three chipsets - AMD A55, AMD A75, and AMD A85X; and three form-factors - ATX, micro-ATX, and mini-ITX; ASRock's lineup includes a total of six models. Leading the pack is the FM2A85X Extreme6 (ATX, A85X), followed by the FM2A75 Pro4 (ATX, A75), FM2A75 Pro4-M (micro-ATX, A75), FM2A75M-DGS (micro-ATX, A75), FM2A55M-DGS (micro-ATX, A55), and FM2A75M-ITX (mini-ITX, A75).

The FM2A85X Extreme6 comes fully-loaded with a 10-phase CPU VRM, 3-way multi-GPU support (x16/NC/NC; x8/x8/NC; x8/x4/x4), DDR3-2600+ memory support, seven SATA 6 Gb/s + one eSATA 6 Gb/s ports, and a suite of ASRock XFast technologies. The board eyes a price tag around US $149. The only other ATX socket FM2 model in ASRock's lineup, the FM2A75 Pro4, features a simpler 6-phase CPU VRM, single PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (the other long slot being electrical x4), with just about all the features accommodated by the AMD A75 chipset. The FM2A75 Pro4-M is a slightly miniaturized version of this board, which retains most of its features, with fewer PCI-Express x1 and legacy PCI slots.

Synology Inc. today announced the release of a new 5-bay expansion unit, the DX513, a quick and effortless storage expansion solution for selected DiskStations with hot-swappable drive design aimed at businesses and power users.

As storage drives on Synology DiskStations reach their capacity limits, the DX513 provides an immediate solution to remedy this by scaling up DiskStation storage allowance through an additional five bays. RAID volume expansion can be directly performed by the paired DiskStation without reformatting existing hard drives; this allows continuous service uptime for the paired DiskStation throughout the storage expansion process. Furthermore, DX513 can function as a great alternative local backup solution if created as an independent volume for the paired DiskStation.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) today reveals the newest production of Black Series with AMD FM2 chipset- Golden Limited Edition: A85F2-A GOLDEN. The ECS A85F2-A GOLDEN builds on their already strong performance of FM2 motherboards by adding a host of powerful new features in the Trinity technology platform and also adapting the exclusive gold plating technology for the strictest quality and a higher outstanding performance.

The individually-numbered, handcrafted motherboards are stunningly outfitted in cool black with gold plated key components, giving A85F2-A GOLDEN a sophisticated and classy appearance that is unprecedented in the PC motherboard industry. Key features include: World 1st AMP Technology support to take the full advantage of their unique operating design, newest graphical uEFI BIOS: EZ BIOS, with stunning user-friendly interface and easy-to-use function radically takes full advantage of the performance, high-end gaming, multi-tasking and Windows 8 support, ATI CrossFireX graphics support with next generation PCI Express 2.0 to achieve the ultimate in 3D gaming performance, separate 4 display output design allowing users to fully satisfy their visual quality and growing demand.

ORICO introduced the 6518 series HDD dock that lets you snap in 3.5-inch (or smaller) SATA hard drives or solid-state drives, and connect them to a host over a choice of USB 3.0 or SATA 3 Gb/s interfaces. The enclosure is bus-powered when connected via USB, and needs an external DC power input when connected via eSATA. The body of the 6518 is made of ABS plastic, and is available in jet-black and silver color options. The dock provides basic power and activity indicators. ORICO did not reveal pricing or availability information.

For those with appetite for terabytes of storage space, Century Japan announced the CRST1035EU3 "Sky Tower" external HDD enclosure. The enclosure stands tall, ten 3.5-inch SATA bays-tall, with lockable caddies. It uses USB 3.0 and eSATA interfaces to communicate with a host, and an external power supply. Cooling the unit is a 140 mm 1400 RPM fan with a maximum noise output of 34 dBA. The enclosure makes the host identify each drive as an independent mass-storage device, as it lacks RAID functions. Measuring 179 x 385 x 330 mm (WxDxH), the enclosure weighs 6 kg (dry-weight). Slated for late-September, it is priced at 36,800 JPY (US $470).

Sharkoon is expanding their range of "QuickPort" docking stations: The Sharkoon SATA QuickPort U3 FireWire is a true all-round talent in terms of fast data transfer and connectivity diversity. The hard drive adapter not only supports the eponymous FireWire standard, but with USB3.0 and eSATA also two other external interface standards. With the additional FireWire port Sharkoon now especially appeals to the Mac community, since their Apple devices primarily use a FireWire interface.

The new QuickPort model also provides three IEEE-1394 ports: one for the older 1394a standard (FireWire 400) and two for the faster 1394b standard (FireWire 800). The appropriate connection cables for all available ports are enclosed. The internal SATA interface supports the SATA standards 1.5 Gb/s to 6 Gb/s.