Articles about Storage

If you need external storage, you should always try to get a solid state drive -- if you can afford your needed capacity, of course. Not only is an SSD much faster than a mechanical hard disk drive, it can be more reliable too. You see, since an SSD doesn't have moving parts, it is less likely to become damaged from jostling. An HDD, by comparison, can become corrupted by bouncing around in your bag or luggage.

Another benefit of an external solid state drive over a hard disk drive is its physical size -- an SSD can be much smaller, which is superior for traveling. Today, ADATA launches a new USB-C SSD that is tiny and adorable. Called "SC680," it is thin, light, and pretty fast.

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There is global concern about the business impact and risk from rampant and unrestricted data growth according to a new report.

In addition the study from StorageCraft shows that the IT infrastructures of many organizations are struggling, and often failing, to deliver business continuity in the event of severe data outages.

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Organizations are going global and their infrastructures, thanks to the cloud, are going global as well. Today, mid-sized and even small companies are doing business on a global stage. Whether this global growth takes place by opening new offices or by acquiring them, one of the thorniest challenges is enabling collaboration between them, because it requires sharing large, unstructured data and application files across vast distances. And this task only becomes more complex and difficult as both files and the number of people who need to work with them simultaneously grow larger. This shift toward more companies going global creates a distinct need.

The traditional IT infrastructure -- one in which the corporate data center is located at the headquarters -- is not at all suited for providing collaboration with large files at scale. What's required is a new, disruptive technology category, with platforms that combine the control and performance of network attached storage (NAS) with the unlimited capacity and economy of the cloud.

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Despite the surge in cloud storage adoption nowadays, sometimes local storage is still needed -- particularly external drives. After all, fewer consumers are buying desktops these days, instead relying on laptops, tablets, and convertibles. These computer types typically don't allow the addition of a second internal storage drive -- some don't even allow an upgrade of the sole drive. Thankfully, good ol' USB is still here to expand storage.

Today, ADATA unveils two new drives that utilize the tried-and-true USB-A connection. One is a flash drive, while the other is an external solid state drive. Neither product is particularly remarkable, but that is OK -- these are designed for functionality only. In other words, they aren't supposed to revolutionize anything or win a beauty pageant. With that said, they both are rather pretty.

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SK hynix is a huge name in the technology market, providing memory to many big companies, such as Apple. With that said, the average home consumer probably won't know the name. That is to be expected, as the company hasn't really tried to advertise its brand to consumers.

Today, this changes, as SK hynix launches a solid state drive for the consumer market in the USA. Called "Gold S31," it is a 2.5-inch SATA variant -- perfect for those wanting to upgrade an older mechanical hard drive. Best of all, it is very affordable. The company plans to release a PCIe model in the future.

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Today, Kingston announces a new NVMe solid state drive, called "A2000," and unfortunately, it isn’t too exciting. Don’t get me wrong, it is plenty fast, but hardly the fastest.

Here’s the thing, folks, PCIe 4.0 drives will soon be flooding the market, and this new model from Kingston still uses the older PCIe 3.0. With that said, most computers do not support PCIe 4.0, so consumers largely can’t take full advantage of an SSD using that new standard anyway.

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It is amazing to see just how inexpensive -- and unremarkable -- SATA solid state drives have become. With NVMe SSDs far exceeding the performance of SATA variants, consumers are no longer excited by SATA drives. And that's a shame. Look, everyone wants the best performance, but most don't need it. In real world usage, most consumers won't see a difference between SATA and NVMe SSDs, so why shouldn't they save some money and go with the former?

Today, Patriot launches the affordable and boring P200 SATA SSD. It isn't the fastest, it isn't the best looking, and it even hilariously says "standard performance" on the body, letting you know not to get excited. But you know what? It is good enough for most folks, and pricing starts at just $31.99. Not everything has to be top of the line and flashy. If you want to upgrade from a mechanical hard drive, why not the 7mm 2.5-inch P200?

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The use of edge computing is driving a need for more local computing power, but a new study reveals that enterprises are facing problems when it comes to supporting edge workloads.

The survey of more than 300 storage professionals from computational storage specialist NGD systems finds that while enterprises are rapidly deploying technologies for real-time analytics, machine learning and IoT, they are still using legacy storage solutions that are not designed for such data-intensive workloads.

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As businesses move more of their workloads to the cloud they depend on data and applications always being available and secure. But this can conflict with the need for regulatory compliance and effective backup regimes.

Quest Software is launching a new version of its QoreStor product that helps businesses to easily move, recover and store data from on premise and cloud locations.

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While data backup and storage probably aren’t the first things that come to mind when looking at your IT strategy for 2019, business owners should understand that they are part of your technology foundation and could be key to your success this year. Storage, for example, is the vital base for your cloud and data center, and backup capabilities are a requirement in today’s interconnected world.

We read about it nearly every day: Cyber attacks against businesses of all sizes are on the rise and doing more damage than ever. But there are also physical threats your data faces, too. A fire, flood or other natural disaster can wreak havoc on your data and make recovery virtually impossible unless you have a backup plan in place. What is your business doing to protect your data?

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Cloud storage is great. Seriously, folks, storing important files online is a great way to protect them from disasters, such as theft, fire, or flooding to name a few. When people tell me they have their own "cloud" at home with an internet-connected NAS, I simply sigh. Yeah, that's cool, but you are still lacking offsite redundancy. Ideally, you should be using both an online cloud service, such as Dropbox, while also storing your files locally on an encrypted drive.

Of course, the cloud isn't a realistic option for all industries. Media creators, for instance, often need fast local storage with large capacities. Especially with 4K and 8K video editing, you are looking at enormous file sizes. Today, Promise Technology unveils an excellent storage solution for the media editors. Its new Pegasus32 Series offers connectivity for both Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2 Gen 2 (aka USB 3.1 Gen 2). In other words, it is compatible with both standards (each uses USB-C). Believe it or not, its DisplayPort can push an 8K display at 60Hz!

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USB-C friggin' rules, y'all. Everybody loves the new connector type, as unlike the classic USB-A, Type-C is reversible. Quite frankly, the ports and connectors even look better too -- symmetry for the win! Even if your computer doesn't have a USB-C port, you can always interface with a Type-C device using a dongle or USB-C to USB-A cable. In other words, you can buy a USB-C device today and use it without worry as long as your computer has a USB port.

Remember, folks, USB-C does not indicate speed -- it is merely a connector type. With that said, USB-C (and USB-A) devices that use the USB 3.1 gen 2 interface are very fast. Today, Lexar announces a very speedy external solid state drive that the company claims is the world's fastest portable USB SSD with a Type-C port. Obviously, this claim does not include Thunderbolt 3 drives. Called "SL100," it offers up to 950 MB/s read, and 900 MB/s write. Regardless of whether it is or isn't the world's fastest, one thing is for sure -- those speeds are very impressive.

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If your computer has an NVMe M.2 slot, you should absolutely be using it. Look, I'm sure that SATA solid state drive you have is great and all, but the difference in performance can be significant. With prices dropping and speeds increasing, you really should upgrade to an NVMe variant if you have the cash -- it is a "no brainer."

There are many solid NVMe SSDs on the market from respectable manufacturers, and today, another one enters the market. Called "VPN100," it is a new drive from Viper Gaming with a pre-installed black heatsink that should help performance through cooling. Not familiar with Viper Gaming? While not widely known, enthusiasts know Viper to be the gaming brand of Patriot Memory -- a high-quality company. This SSD is very speedy, thanks in part to its Phison E12 PCIe Gen 3 x 4 NVMe controller.

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Last month, Micron released a solid state drive designed for consumers. Called "1300," it used the SATA interface, meaning it was slower than the much faster NVMe drives many enthusiasts crave these days. Offered in both 2.5 inch and M.2 form factors, it would make a good drop-in for consumers looking to upgrade.

Today, Micron unveils yet another SSD, but this time, it uses the speedy NVMe interface. The "2200," as it is called, will mostly be sold to computer manufacturers, but it could show up for direct retail for end-users too. It can be had in your choice of three capacities -- 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. You can also opt for self-encrypting variants if that is important to you. And yes, it will work in NVMe enclosures, such as this excellent one from Plugable.

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Earlier today, we reported on some very exciting news regarding microSD -- a new faster "Express" version of the card type is on the way. microSD Express will usher in a new era of ultra-fast diminutive storage cards.

For now, however, SanDisk is laying claim to having the world's fastest (non-Express) 1TB microSD. In addition to this new 1TB variant of the Extreme UHS-I microSDXC card, the company is also announcing a 512GB model at a significantly lower price. Speed between the two new capacities will be identical. The previous top capacity for this line of high-performance cards was 400GB.

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