ASUS Adding RAIDR PCI-E SSDs To Its ROG Lineup
Subject: Storage | April 19, 2013 - 06:10 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: trim, ssd, sandforce 2281, sandforce, ROG, raidr, raid, PCIe SSD, asus
ASUS is reportedly adding two new PCI-E Solid State Drives (SSD) to its Republic Of Gamers lineup. Dubbed RAIDR, the new PCI-E SSDs use 19nm Toshiba MLC NAND flash driven by two SandForce 2281 controllers. In turn, the two SandForce drives are put into a hardware RAID 0 configuration for maximum speed. The RAIDR SSD internals are encased in a stylized EMI shield along with a ROG-branded back-plate. In all, ASUS’ RAIDR SSDs measure 157 x 120 x 20mm.
The ASUS RAIDR drives show up as a single disk driven by a standard AHCI controller, which allows the two RAID 0 SSDs connected via the PCI-E bus to be boot-able and support the TRIM command. Both RAIDR solid state drives also support Native Command Queuing (NCQ), SMART, Secure Erase, Windows 8 Secure Boot.
According to specifications provided by Sweclockers, ASUS is launching 120GB and 240GB versions of the PCI-E SSDs. Both capacities feature 100,000 IOPS, 128-bit AES encryption, and 620,000 MTBF ratings.
The 120GB RAIDR SSD supports up to 765MB/s sequential reads and 775MB/s sequential write speeds. On the other hand, the 240GB RAIDR drive supports up to 830MB/s sequential reads and 810MB/s sequential writes.
Additionally, ASUS is bundling its RAIDR drives with Kaspersky Antivirus 2013 and a number of ASUS utilities (including SSD TweakIt). The drives should be available sometime next month, but pricing is still unknown. Adding PCI-E SSDs is an interesting move by ASUS that should help the company diversify and expand its ROG branding. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing how the drives stack up when they are released (and hopefully a PC Perspective review)!
Western Digital launches 4TB RE Series in both SATA and SAS flavors
Subject: Storage | September 27, 2012 - 08:00 AM | Allyn Malventano
Tagged: western digital, wdc, WD, RE, RAID Edition, raid
Today Western Digital announced a new line of RAID Edition (RE) drives. While the WD RE series is not new, preceded by the RE4-GP and faster spinning RE4, it was certainly overdue for an update.
This update brings the maximum capacity to 4TB and includes a SAS line as well. SATA connectivity will be 6Gb/sec, while SAS will employ dual port full duplex connectivity for the higher end enterprise sector. These drives appear to use the same platter capacity scheme employed by the recent WD Red Series, though the PR blast states 800GB/platter. I'm awaiting clarification on that point, as the math doesn't seem to work out evenly. Pricing is at a premium for these models, as they are intended for enterprise use. Mid to high $400's for SATA and SAS. Pricey, but still 1/10th of current good deals on SSDs.
WD Red drives *do* support TLER...
Subject: Storage | August 3, 2012 - 02:25 PM | Allyn Malventano
Tagged: western digital, WD, TLER, red, raid, hdd
This morning I received a tweet about WD Red drives not supporting Time Limited Error Recovery. TLER is the feature which allows a RAID comprised of Reds to much more gracefully handle drive failures and/or read errors. It's carried down from enterprise drives like the RE4 and RE4-GP.
I'm posting this quick note here to let the masses know that the Red drives *do* in fact support TLER. It's a primary component of NASware - the NAS aware firmware that drives the Reds. Here's the official reply I received from Western Digital:
WD does enable intelligent error recovery controls, which is not the same as a desktop drive. WD's exclusive NASware technology is built in each WD Red drive, which reduces the concern with using desktop drives in a RAID environment.
More info on details of NASware can be found here: http://www.wd.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=810
Western Digital has assured me they are tracking down where the miscommunication occurred.
Introduction, Design, User Interface
This summer is shaping up to be an amazing time to buy a gaming laptop. Intel has launched its Ivy Bridge processors, bringing faster performance to the entire range without increasing power consumption. Nvidia’s new Kepler based parts, although technically launched a couple months ago, are only now widely available.
We’ve already looked at many low-end solutions including Trinity, HD 4000 and the Kepler-based Nvidia GT 640M. We’ve also looked at one high-end gaming solution in the form of the ASUS G75V.
Today we're reviewing the Origin EON17-S, an obvious competitor to the G75V. It's packing an Nvidia GTX 675M. An Intel Core i7-3920XM joins the party as well. Clearly, this laptop is meant to provide maximum performance - as the other specifications make clear.
Though it has gobs of high-performance hardware our review unit did not arrive with an internal optical drive (it did come with an external Blu-Ray). The drive had been removed and a 1TB hard drive installed in its place. This is a clever bit of packaging that makes a lot of sense and isn’t offered by Alienware, Maingear or ASUS. While I know some gamers do still use optical drives, I personally can’t remember the last time one was required for install.
Our review unit tallies up at about $3500 bucks, which is expensive but not outrageous. Spending much more is difficult and requires that you either pony up for every frivolous option available or buy Nvidia Quadro graphics cards instead of the consumer-market GTX. Or you can put the price in reverse by downgrading to a Core i7-3610QM, which saves you over $1000.
Continue reading our review of the Origin EON17-S Gaming Notebook!!
Kingston HyperX ... 240GB of SSD in RAID-0
Subject: Storage | April 19, 2012 - 06:09 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ssd, sata 6Gbs, raid, kingston, hyperx 240GB
The only thing faster than a SATA 6Gbp/s SSD is a pair of them running in RAID-0, which was the inspiration of this review at Bjorn3D. They took a pair of Kingston HyperX 240GB SSDs and formed a $600 RAID-0 array which sounds expensive but is still cheaper than many 480GB SSDs. In many cases the RAID-0 will outperform the 480GB SSD, though some of the benchmarks produced some unexpected results which may signify improvements that need to be made on the Intel RAID driver. Before you decide on heading down this route there is one thing of which you must be aware, once your SSDs are in RAID the Windows TRIM command will no longer function.
"If you're a gamer, and you'd like to improve your gaming experience with faster loading and less jumpy gameplay, the Kingston HyperX 3K SATA III SSD could be an option for you."
Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
- OCZ Vertex 4 256GB/512GB review @ Hardware.Info
- Corsair Performance Pro 128 GB SSD Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Corsair Accelerator SSD Cache (60GB) Review @ HardwareHeaven
- SanDisk Extreme 120GB Solid State Drive Review @ eTeknix
- Intel 330 SSD; A New Budget Friendly Drive @ Hardware Canucks
- Kingston V+200 90GB SSD Upgrade Bundle Review @Hi Tech Legion
- Memoright MS-701 mSATA SSD @ SSD Review
- Corsair Accelerator 60GB Caching SSD Review @ VR-Zone
- Renice X3 50mm 240GB mSATA SSD @ SSD Review
- SMART Storage Systems XceedIOPS 2 200GB eMLC 6Gbps Enterprise SSD @ SSD Review
- Garbage Collection and TRIM in SSDs Explained - An SSD Primer @ SSD Review
- Areca ARC-1882i RAID Controller @ Tweaktown
- IcyDock MB994SP-4SB-1 Four-bay 2.5-inch SATA Hard Drive Rack @ PC Stats
- ADATA DashDrive Durable HD710 Portable HDD @ kitguru
- Buffalo USB3 Addon cards + Kingston HyperX USB3 64GB @ Rbmods
- Western Digital Velociraptor 1TB review @ Hardware.Info
- Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB Hard Drive Review @ Legit Reviews
- Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB @ AnandTech
- Western Digital's VelociRaptor 1TB hard drive @ The Tech Report
Just Delivered: Drobo FS 5-bay Network Storage
Subject: General Tech, Storage | June 20, 2011 - 09:06 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: storage, raid, network attached storage, NAS, drobo
Just Delivered is a new section of PC Perspective where we share some of the goodies that pass through our labs that may or may not see a review, but are pretty cool none the less.
When the time is right for dedicated network storage and you don't want to go through the hassle or complication of building your own FreeNAS or other type of device, one of the best options on the market according to our own Allyn Malventano is a Drobo.
For an upcoming review we just received a new Drobo FS, the network attached version of the Drobo lineup. Available in both a standard and a "Pro" model, the former with 5 bays the latter with 8, they are about as idiot-proof and easy to setup as a NAS can be.
The Drobo FS only has a single connectivity option: the Gigabit Ethernet port for connection to your primed-and-ready router. Adding or swapping hard drives for larger models is super easy and the "BeyondRAID" technology makes it reliable as well as simple to use.
We are looking forward to putting the Drobo FS to the test in the coming days and reporting back to you on the performance, features and reliability of it.
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