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Oct 29

LaCie slams 3TB drives into d2 USB 3.0 and LaCie 2big USB 3.0, ups performance numbers

Posted in: external hard drive, ExternalHardDrive, hard drive, HardDrive, storage, Today's Chili, usb, usb 3.0, Usb3.0, video

Do you have The Need? For Speed? Yeah, so do we, and it just so happens that LaCie does as well. Just weeks after the company properly introduced the “now shipping” status on its d2 USB 3.0 and 2big USB 3.0 drives, it has now expanded the options with a 6TB model. So far as we can tell, it looks as if the outfit placed a rather sizable order for those 3TB HDDs that were just unleashed by Western Digital, and it has tuned up the performance all the while. The 2big has reached 306MB/sec in the lab, representing a 20 percent speed boost over the prior models while making it “the fastest 2-bay RAID solution on the market.” As for the d2? It can hum along at 156MB/sec with the inclusion of a 3TB hard drive. Both units are slated to hit retail next month, but asking prices are being kept under wraps for now.

Continue reading LaCie slams 3TB drives into d2 USB 3.0 and LaCie 2big USB 3.0, ups performance numbers

LaCie slams 3TB drives into d2 USB 3.0 and LaCie 2big USB 3.0, ups performance numbers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 02:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 19

WD’s New 3TB Drive Packs More Storage Than 32-Bit Can Handle

Posted in: firmware, hard drive, storage, Today's Chili, Windows XP

Western Digital claims its newly-announced 2.5 TB and 3 TB Caviar Green hard drives are the largest capacity SATA drives on the market. But WD admits that these bigger drives need a little bit of help working on older systems.

“Drives with capacities in excess of 2.19 TB currently present barriers for PC hardware, firmware and software,” according to WD’s press release. To get around these barriers, WD is bundling its new drives with an Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI)-compliant Host Bus Adapter (HBA), which will pair legacy operating systems with a driver than can support bigger drives.

The 2.19 TB limit isn’t a problem for 64-bit versions of Windows 7 or Vista, OS X Leopard or Snow Leopard, or many versions of Linux. Really, the problem is Windows XP.

XP (whether in 32- or 64-bit) runs into problems because of its legacy BIOS and Master Boot Record (MBR) partition table, which it in turn carried over from earlier versions of Windows. These allow XP to address a maximum only 2^32 logical blocks at 512 bytes each — for an upper bound of 2.19 TB.

Any 32-bit system (even one as new as Windows 7) has trouble booting into a drive with a capacity over 2.19 TB, but they can work around that limitation for a secondary internal drive. XP can only use these large drives as external drives with special USB firmware that either presents it as a single drive using larger sector sizes or as more than one smaller drives to the host (this is how Seagate’s 3 TB external drive works) — or using an internal HBA card, which does basically the same thing.

Still confused? WD has a complete list of operating systems, motherboards and USB bridges that it supports for its new large-capacity drives. Meanwhile, if you’re ready to roll and the old 2TB drives just weren’t enough storage, the new drives are available now. The 2.5 TB is $189 and the 3 TB hard drive is $239.00.

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Oct 19

Western Digital ships 3TB Caviar Green 3.5-inch hard drive for $239, 2.5TB for $189

Posted in: hard drive, HardDrive, reviewed, storage, Today's Chili

You know that 3TB hard drive that Western Digital slapped into its range of My Book external units earlier this month? Looks like it’s finally ready to free itself from those shackles. WD has today announced that it’s shipping the component 3TB Caviar Green drive (WD30EZRSDTL) by its lonesome, perfect for those looking to beef up their NAS drives or just add a capacious archive drive to their SSD-equipped desktop rig. The 3TB monster is hitting just under two years after the 2TB Caviar Green went official, with this guy boasting 750 GB-per-platter areal density and Advanced Format technology. The outfit’s also shipping a 2.5TB version (WD25EZRSDTL) for those who aren’t quite able to swallow the full three, and both of ’em are bundled with an Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI)-compliant Host Bus Adapter (HBA), which will enable the operating system to use a known driver with correct support for large capacity drives. Both units should be available to purchase from respected retailers as we speak, with the 3TB demanding $239 and the 2.5TB unit going for $189. Remember when the world’s first 1TB drive in this form factor debuted for $400? Yeah… not too shabby!

Update: Storage Review, Legit Reviews and Hot Hardware have put this thing through its paces, and they all seem pretty darn stoked on the performance. Though, LR did seem to run into a few HD Tach issues, so be sure to peek that carefully.

Continue reading Western Digital ships 3TB Caviar Green 3.5-inch hard drive for $239, 2.5TB for $189

Western Digital ships 3TB Caviar Green 3.5-inch hard drive for $239, 2.5TB for $189 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 16

WD Live TV Hub media streamer / NAS leaks out of Best Buy with gigabit ethernet, 1TB hard drive

Posted in: hard drive, HardDrive, media streamer, MediaStreamer, nas, set-top-box, streamer, streaming, Today's Chili

Western Digital’s got a few different media streamers to its name, but the only one with sizable internal storage was the pared-down Elements Play. No more, because the AVS Forums have stumbled upon a feature-packed alternative — the WD TV Live Hub. Purchased at a Best Buy before the blue shirts realized their mistake, the slim new set-top comes with 1TB of storage, 1080p playback over HDMI 1.4, component and composite video out, optical S/PDIF, and all the internet connectivity you’d expect (including Netflix, Blockbuster, Pandora, YouTube and Facebook) over speedy gigabit ethernet. We don’t know how robust the network-attached-storage functionality is, but the lucky owner of this box says it serves up iTunes and DLNA and can function as a network share, just like the My Book Live. Not too shabby for $229, eh? Find plenty more pics and a list of supported formats at our source link.

[Thanks, Arjun]

WD Live TV Hub media streamer / NAS leaks out of Best Buy with gigabit ethernet, 1TB hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Oct 2010 20:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source AVS Forum, UPnP | Email this | Comments

Oct 13

Buffalo gets snazzy with LinkStation V-Series NAS drives

Posted in: hard drive, HardDrive, nas, storage, Today's Chili

Look, we’ve all been there — you cruise home to hang with mom and pops, and one of the two asks if they can see those vacation images you took of the grandkids last month. “They’re on my hard drive at home,” you reply. Weeping commences, and your mum in particular scolds you for not “getting with the program” and “investing in a NAS drive.” It’s about time you listened, don’tcha think? Buffalo does, as it has just revealed a trio of new LinkStation drives (Pro, Pro Duo, Pro Quad) in the V-series ranging from 1TB to 8TB in size. The whole family looks mighty stylish for a Buffalo, and they’re all eager and willing to stream to DLNA-certified devices (hello, PS3 and Xbox 360!). The company claims that all three members — which sport a 1.6GHz CPU — can hit transfer speeds up to 76MB/sec, and a gratis WebAccess app enables you to pull up those images for gramps with your iPhone or iPad. The whole lot is available now starting at $189.99 (topping out at a whopping $1,039.99), and given that we both know you’ve know been schooled… well, let’s just say a new level of expectations have been set. Don’t blow it.

Continue reading Buffalo gets snazzy with LinkStation V-Series NAS drives

Buffalo gets snazzy with LinkStation V-Series NAS drives originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 11

Pogoplug Pro enables remote access to four USB hard drives, adds inbuilt WiFi

Posted in: hard drive, HardDrive, nas, storage, Today's Chili, wifi

Hey, Cloud Engines — don’t say we never told you pink was a bad idea. The next generation Pogoplug has launched this afternoon, bringing with it a refreshing color change and a badly-needed WiFi module within. For all intents and purposes, the Pogoplug Pro (which, oddly enough, is a consumer device) has four USB ports and allows all four of ’em to be accessed remotely so long as your ISP provides a suitable upload speed. Users can even access content on a variety of smartphones, with apps for the iPhone, Android, iPad, BlackBerry, and webOS being readily available. The inclusion of WiFi enables users to set this up wherever their hard drives are (rather than where their router is), and if you’re sold already, you can snag one today at Best Buy (in-store or online) for $99.

Gallery: Cloud Engines Pogoplug Pro

Continue reading Pogoplug Pro enables remote access to four USB hard drives, adds inbuilt WiFi

Pogoplug Pro enables remote access to four USB hard drives, adds inbuilt WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 11

Hitachi ships 10K RPM, 6Gbps Ultrastar C10K600 2.5-inch hard drive

Posted in: enterprise, hard drive, HardDrive, Today's Chili

Hate to point out the obvious, but that little critter you see above is fast. Like, record-breaking fast. Hitachi GST just announced that it’ll begin shipping this bantam speed demon today, offering enterprise customers a 2.5-inch HDD that spins at 10,000RPM and operates on a 6Gb/s SCSI SAS platform. The Ultrastar C10K600 is available in 300GB, 450GB and 600GB flavors, and Hitachi claims that it can deliver “up to 15 percent better random and 18 percent faster sequential performance than competitive products on the market today.” Furthermore, these eat up some 65 percent less power than the company’s 3.5-inch enterprise drives, and also boast average seek times as low as 3.7 milliseconds. Mum’s the word on pricing, but chances are you won’t actually want to know; the full release is after the break.

Continue reading Hitachi ships 10K RPM, 6Gbps Ultrastar C10K600 2.5-inch hard drive

Hitachi ships 10K RPM, 6Gbps Ultrastar C10K600 2.5-inch hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 07

Western Digital debuts My Book Live NAS / media streamer, revamped My Photos app

Posted in: app, AppStore, external hard drive, ExternalHardDrive, hard drive, HardDrive, iPhone, IphoneApp, media streamer, MediaStreamer, nas, Software, storage, streamer, Today's Chili

The My Book Live definitely doesn’t mark Western Digital’s first foray into the world of connected storage, but the devil’s in the details on this one. The company’s newly released network drive falls into the budget-friendly My Book line, but promises access to files at up 100Mbps, or triple the speed of standard USB 2.0 units. Additionally, Apple Time Machine support comes baked in from the factory, and there’s also an integrated DLNA-compatible media server that can stream photos, videos and audio through any number of devices (WD TV Live Plus HD, Xbox 360, your Blu-ray player, a PlayStation 3, etc.). It’ll also double (triple?) as an iTunes music server, and when paired with the company’s refreshed WD Photos app — which is now optimized for iPad and iPhone 4 — users can flip through their photo albums remotely. The My Book Live is now available for $169.99 (1TB) / $229.99 (2TB), and the aforementioned app can be sucked down as we speak from the action-packed App Store.

Gallery: Western Digital debuts My Book Live NAS / media streamer, revamped My Photos app

Western Digital debuts My Book Live NAS / media streamer, revamped My Photos app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Western Digital (1), (2) | Email this | Comments

Oct 05

WD Drives Put Your USB 3.0 Ports to the Test

Posted in: hard drive, Today's Chili

While most of you likely don’t have a USB 3.0 port yet, the hard drive makers aren’t waiting to release their upgraded drives. WD just introduced the My Passport Essential portable hard drive, the My Passport Essential SE, and the My Book Essential. All three come in various capacities and offer USB 3.0 connectivity.

The My Passport Essential (shown), WD’s smallest, comes in a 500GB capacity and five colors. The My Passport Essential SE comes in 750GB and 1TB sizes and four colors. The larger My Book Essential ranges in size from 1TB to 3TB. All three models are available now from the online WD Store. The My Passport models list from $99.99 to $169.99, while the My Book lists from $129.99 to $249.99.

Oct 05

WD announces 3TB single-drive My Book Essential, two USB 3.0 Passport drives

Posted in: external hard drive, ExternalHardDrive, hard drive, HardDrive, Today's Chili, usb, usb 3.0, Usb3.0

You may or may not have noticed, but Western Digital just followed up on Seagate’s earlier efforts by breaking out a 3TB external drive of its own — one that has just a single HDD within. The newest My Book Essential not only houses a 3TB drive, but also packs a USB 3.0 port on the rear and the same rounded black shell that you’ve come to know and love / hate. If that’s far too much for you to swallow (or simply too large to haul around), the My Passport Essential and My Passport Essential SE lines are also being bumped to USB 3.0, with the former shipping in a 500GB version and the latter in 750GB / 1TB. Both of those guys are powered entirely over USB and ship in a variety of mind-bending hues, with pricing starting at $99.99 for the 500 gigger and running up to $249.99 for more space than you’ll ever need.

Gallery: WD announces 3TB single-drive My Book Essential, two USB 3.0 Passport drives