QSAN's XCubeNAS XN5000T series of NAS units are designed for the workloads of both workgroups and SMB environments. Given that direction, you won't find a plethora of consumer-oriented applications like multimedia transcoding, media servers, or the like. Instead, the XN5004T we are reviewing today offers a solid base of tools and features for getting work done in an efficient and reliable manner.
We took a look at ADATA's first NVMe solid state drive the XPG SX8000 back in early 2017. Needless to say it was not the best NVMe drive we tested at the time. Well today we have one of their newest drives the XPG SX8200. It makes use of Silicon Motion's SM2262 controller paired with Micron's 64-layer 3D TLC NAND. It seems like ADATA has got things right with this drive as both the controller and the NAND are some of the best currently available. ADATA puts specifications of this drive at 3200 MB/s read and 1700 MB/s write, so it is definitely an improvement over the previous generation. The drive is also backed by a 5-year warranty. Let's put this drive to the test and see what it can do!
Synology, a tried and true provider of NAS, networking, and surveillance products, recently released the DiskStation DS1618+, a NAS aimed at providing both home and small-to-medium sized businesses with a scalable storage solution. Offering room for up to six drives, and the ability to upgrade to a 10Gbps NIC or M.2 SSD caching, the DiskStation DS1618+ looks to be a powerhouse system.
Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices have definitely evolved over the past few years. Yes they are there to give you a reliable data backup for your files, with easy access to these files over the network, or even over the internet. But many consumers are looking for a device to store, and more importantly be able to stream media to all of the different devices in their home. Synology's DiskStation DS418play allows you to not only stream HD video content to these devices, but 4K content as well. It does all of the heavy lifting, transcoding this content so even the smallest, under-powered devices can be streamed to. Being a Synology NAS the DiskStation DS418play is also loaded with Synology's DSM which gives you access to all types of tools for home and small business use. Let's get some drives in the DS418play and see what it can do!
High performance portable storage is becoming more affordable and rightfully so. Being someone who works with 4K video having fast portable storage is important. Not only when I am traveling, but when I want to transfer files between two different machines. SanDisk's latest Extreme Portable SSD gives you up to a 1TB capacity, rugged design with an IP55 rating, and read and write speeds of 550 MB/s and 500 MB/s respectively. Could this be the best portable solid state drive we've seen? Read on as we find out!
Western Digital is a still is a major player in the storage market, but when it comes to solid state drives WD has not really broken into the gaming and enthusiast market that well. Their current solid state drive offering was late to the game by all accounts and was not all that impressive given what else is out there. Being late to the game and not having those high-performance parts that gamers and enthusiasts want has made way for other companies (specifically Samsung) to dominate this market. Well today Western Digital is releasing a high-performance NVMe SSD that is targeted directly at gamers. It is the WD Black NVMe SSD, which has been built completely in house by Western Digital and boasts read and write speeds of 3400 MB/s and 2800 MB/s respectively. Is this the new must-have NVMe SSD for gamers and enthusiasts? Read on as we find out...
Like most companies out there ADATA now has a dedicated gaming line of products, which is their XPG line. One of the newest products in this line is the XPG Gammix S10 M.2 solid state drive. This small little drive with its flashy looks is available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities. ADATA has gone with the Silicon Motion SM2260 controller teamed with Micron’s first gen 32-layer 3D TLC NAND. ADATA says this drive will have read and write speeds of 1800 MB/s and 850 MB/s respectively, so not the fastest drive out there, but is definitely faster than your normal SATA III SSD. ADATA also backs the drive with a 5-year warranty so you know it is going to last a while. Let's jump in and see what this drive can do!
Fast portable storage is something that is almost necessary these days, especially for content creators. If you have ever tried to edit 4K video on a slow drive you know exactly what I am talking about. Fast portable drives are also great for moving data, and no one wants to wait around for file transfers! WD's fastest portable drive solution is their My Passport SSD, which is a true solid state drive that makes use of a USB 3.1 connection for the fastest speeds possible. Available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities the My Passport SSD boasts transfer speeds of up to 515 MB/s! Let's see if this drive is the perfect gift for the media creator on the go!
This year has been an interesting one for solid state drives. First, M.2 NVMe drives have become more popular and are now the high-end choice of system builders. With that you have many people using 2.5-inch SATA solid state drives for a more entry-level system and OS drive, and to even some extent high-capacity storage drives. One entry-level solid state drive that you definitely want to have on your radar is the Crucial BX300. It makes use of the Silicon Motion SM2258 controller, and Micron 3D MLC NAND. Offering speeds of 555 MB/s read and 510 MB/s write and available in capacities ranging from 120 GB to 480 GB, this could be the perfect drive for your next build. Read on as we take a look...
WD's line of My Book external hard drives have been around for quite a long time. Today we are checking out their latest My Book Duo drive, which if you can guess by the name features two drives. With two drives you can either run them in RAID-0 mode for super-fast speed, or switch to RAID-1 for redundancy as the drives will mirror each other. The WD My Duo is the perfect thing for someone who is looking for large capacity storage without having to setup a NAS or install drives themselves. This is a USB 3.1 drive so you can connect it to any PC or Mac for easy backups and file sharing. WD is offering this drive in capacities from 4TB all the way up to 20TB. They have sent us the 20TB model so lets see what it can do!
