I recently had the chance to evaluate a couple of iSCSI solutions for a pair of clients looking for a massive network based storage solution. Rather than attach large external hard drives to several workstations on the network, we wanted to consider a SAN solution. In this case, a single drive chassis with at least 4 RAIDed hard drives. I had previously evaluated the Drobo Elite from Data Robotics Inc. This time I took a look at the TS-509 Pro Turbo NAS from QNAP.
The TS-509 is a NAS/SAN solution that offers dual gigabit network ports that can be used for iSCSI connectivity. The device is completely self-contained. Simply supply it with power and attach it to the network and, once configured, it functions autonomously. The chassis supports up to 5 SATA 3.5” hard drives. For my testing, I installed 3 Hitachi Deskstar 2TB SATA drives stripped together in a level 5 RAID. The drives were 7200RPM with 32MB buffers...
The TS-509 Pro Turbo NAS is a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device from QNAP. It also functions as a SAN (Storage Area Network). The appliance is a hard drive chassis that has bays that will support up to 5 hot-swappable SATA drives, has 5 USB 2.0 ports for expansion and printer sharing, and 2 gigabit network ports than can be load balance or offer failover support. The TS-509 can function as a NAS offering conventional file sharing, or it can function as a SAN acting as an iSCSI target.
I recently had the chance to review the Drobo Elite, a solution from Data Robotics Inc., which functioned exclusively as an iSCSI SAN. While a solid iSCSI solution, it also has a hefty price tag. I took the opportunity to compare the Drobo Elite to the QNAP TS-509 Pro. In a follow-up post I will evaluate the performance of the device. But for now I want to take a closer look at the TS-509’s feature set...
Amazon.com jumpstarted the stagnated ebook market with the release of the Kindle. Though at a glance the device comes off as a simple e-reader, it boasts a feature set that make the device as powerful as it is comfortable to read. A built in QWERTY keyboard makes it easy to annotate text, highlight passages, and leave notes beyond what would have normally fit in the magian of a conventional book. All without doing physical damage to the book in the process.
I really wanted to take my time with the Kindle before putting together a review. To that end, I have spent that last 5 months reading. In that time I have completed 21 Kindle based novels and 4 hard cover versions. More than enough time, I believe, to evaluate the content consumption device...
I have had two clients ask me about the Drobo Elite, an 8 bay BeyondRAID SAN solution from Data Robotic Inc. I'm already a fan of the 4 bay Drobo for USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 equipped machines, so I started reading up on the Drobo Elite. My first interest was in the disk speeds. I wanted to know what kind of data access speeds workstations could expect when connecting to the Drobo Elite via iSCSI. To my surprise, no benchmarks were available online. So when I had the chance to evaluate the Elite first hand, I ran some tests and put it through the paces.
My network centers around a 24 port gigabit D-Link switch. But since this is an unmanaged (consumer quality) switch, I wanted to make sure the fairly low end switch would not hinder test results. To remove the switch from the equation, I simply attached a Macintosh to each of the Drobo Elite's gigabit network ports directly via the Cat-5e network cables included with the Drobo. In the end, the tests I ran via a connection through the D-Link switch were directly comparable to the direct connection to the Drobo, but the following benchmarks were conducted via direct connection...
I recently had an opportunity to review the latest Drobo enterprise solution, the Drobo Elite. It boasts 8 SATA drive bays and can be configured for either single or dual drive redundancy. The Drobo Elite, like the rest of Drobo's product line is RAID made easy. In truth, its RAID maid drop dead easy. And with the iSCSI support built into this product, the folks at Data Robotic Inc. (makers of Drobo) have made iSCSI equally easy.
Those familiar with Drobo know that the company has forsaken the traditional RAID paradigm for what it has branded BeyondRAID. Its not just RAID with a clever little name for marketing reasons. Its RAID done right. Its RAID made simple. While traditional RAID configurations technically allow the mixing of different capacity drives in the array, they do it by sacrificing disk space. The smallest drive in the array becomes the usable capacity of every drive in the array. So, with an array made up of one 1TB drive and three 2TB drives, the capacity of each drive becomes 1TB in the eyes of the RAID controller...
Getting digital content from the computer to the TV has long been a challenge. The fairly recent arrival of the Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3 have brought a solution to the mainstream that put the capability in the hands of the technically sophisticated. They both offer internal media players that will stream video, music, and photos across the network to the HD screen now found in the average living room. But such multi-media integration should be in the hands of the average computer users, regardless of their technical awareness or skill. The first product to do this, and do it well has arrived: Western Digital's WD TV Live HD.
Its a name that won't roll off the tongue, no matter how you practice. But the device works, and it works well. Where game consoles suck as the 360 and the PS3 make the computer based media available, accessing that content is still more difficult than it should be and still requires customers to shell out some big bucks to get the game console in the first place. The WD TV Live is a box that is currently listing for about $119 on Amazon.com and BestBuy.com. It is a small unit with its own remote control. It plugs into a HD TV and connects to movies music and photos by either linking to a networked computer in the house, or an external hard drive connected to the box via USB...
I was talking with my neighbor the other day and he was going on about his disappointment that while it was easy to watch Divx and Xvid movies over the network on his Xbox 360, there is no support for MKV files he had downloaded. Each video he had was a 720p or 1080p high definition download. And if he wanted to watch the video on his 360, he had to transcode the video to Xvid before he could watch it in his living room. This was taking him 8-12 hours to transcode even on his high end Mac.
I did some digging and found an obscure reference in a forum indicating that the transcoding wasn't really necessary after all as long as you had QuickTime Pro and used the correct settings. It turns out that the QuickTime export for MP4 has an option in its video settings to allow "Video Passthrough". This lets us open a MKV file in QuickTime Player 7 and export the video out to MP4 (Xvid really) in a fraction of the time it takes to transcode the video...
I have to say that I have been very impressed with Windows 7. I downloaded the RC 1 build the morning it was released to the masses. I installed it on my MacBook Pro using Boot Camp the following day. It was fast, visually very impressive, and really put a smile on my face. Since that time, I have been working full time on my Mac but I roll over to Windows whenever possible to see how things are working on the other side of the street.
I installed Office 2007, Hamachi, Firefox, and Dropbox. The usual core applications I like to keep handy. Prior to all of this, of course, I installed Kaspersky Antivirus. It was the first antivirus to catch my eye offering actual support (though preliminary as it is listed as a technical preview) for Windows 7. I was impressed that the system didn't seem unduly bogged down by the AV solution and off I went...
Project Motorsport started out as a fun way to spend an afternoon. We set out to shoot some motorcycle video and have a good time. Once when we brought the video back and began to edit, we realized we had the making of a music video.
Check out the video and see for yourself. And, if your interested in further information on the project, we give you that too!
The Freedom to Switch:
In 2003 Apple Computer released a marketing campaign with the intention of showing Wintel users how easy it would be to "switch" platforms.
One of the Mac's main selling points, ironically enough, was Digital Video Editing. Apple wanted the world to see how easy it was to edit video on the Mac platform. And, in overwhelming response, Mac users set out to show the world just how easy it really was.
The campaign was effective for Apple, but also spawned a unexpected parody campaign in the Mac underworld. Users from all of the world whipped out their camcorders and set to work making spoofs in the same cinematic style as the acclaimed commercial line.
With this, Maclive.net rose to the challenge and shot our own spoof. We think it proves that a Mac can be a powerful tool in the wrong hands. It also shows how far a couple of Mac fans will go for a laugh. We hope you enjoy our contribution, aptly named The Freedom to Switch.
I recently had the chance to evaluate a couple of iSCSI solutions for a pair of clients looking for a massive network based storage solution. Rather than attach large external hard drives to several workstations on the network, we wanted to consider a SAN solution. In this case, a single drive chassis with at least 4 RAIDed hard drives. I had previously evaluated the Drobo Elite from Data Robotics Inc. This time I took a look at the TS-509 Pro Turbo NAS from QNAP.
Amazon.com jumpstarted the stagnated ebook market with the release of the Kindle. Though at a glance the device comes off as a simple e-reader, it boasts a feature set that make the device as powerful as it is comfortable to read. A built in QWERTY keyboard makes it easy to annotate text, highlight passages, and leave notes beyond what would have normally fit in the magian of a conventional book. All without doing physical damage to the book in the process.
I have had two clients ask me about the Drobo Elite, an 8 bay BeyondRAID SAN solution from Data Robotic Inc. I'm already a fan of the 4 bay Drobo for USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 equipped machines, so I started reading up on the Drobo Elite. My first interest was in the disk speeds. I wanted to know what kind of data access speeds workstations could expect when connecting to the Drobo Elite via iSCSI. To my surprise, no benchmarks were available online. So when I had the chance to evaluate the Elite first hand, I ran some tests and put it through the paces.
Getting digital content from the computer to the TV has long been a challenge. The fairly recent arrival of the Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3 have brought a solution to the mainstream that put the capability in the hands of the technically sophisticated. They both offer internal media players that will stream video, music, and photos across the network to the HD screen now found in the average living room. But such multi-media integration should be in the hands of the average computer users, regardless of their technical awareness or skill. The first product to do this, and do it well has arrived: Western Digital's WD TV Live HD.
I was talking with my neighbor the other day and he was going on about his disappointment that while it was easy to watch Divx and Xvid movies over the network on his Xbox 360, there is no support for MKV files he had downloaded. Each video he had was a 720p or 1080p high definition download. And if he wanted to watch the video on his 360, he had to transcode the video to Xvid before he could watch it in his living room. This was taking him 8-12 hours to transcode even on his high end Mac.
