Enterprise Reviews
by Josh Linden

LaCie 5big Office + Review

The 5big Office + is one of LaCie’s latest prosumer NAS devices, updated with a 1.6GHz Dual-core Intel 64-bit Atom processor and 2GB of RAM. LaCie has swapped its standard NAS OS found in other LaCie solutions for  Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials in the 5big Office + to better fit into Windows-based environments. This edition of Windows Server caps the number of concurrent users to 25, reflecting the SOHO market LaCie is targeting with its newest 5big system. But with features like five drive bays, 802.3AD link aggregation support, and a super-rugged aluminum chassis, the 5big Office + brings lots of enterprise-grade features to small offices.

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by Kevin OBrien

Toshiba MK01GRRB/R 2.5-inch 15K SAS Enterprise Hard Drive Review

Toshiba launched the MK01GRRB series of enterprise hard drives at the end of last year. The 2.5" 15,000RPM 6Gb/s SAS drives are available in 147GB and 300GB capacities, making the MK01GRRB the fastest enterprise hard drive Toshiba offers in the 2.5-inch form factor. Toshiba isn't just about spindle performance with this family of drives though, they've also spent quite a bit of engineering to improve power consumption, further driving a better total cost of ownership.

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by Kevin OBrien

StorageReview Test Lab: Eaton S-Series Rack

As the focus at StorageReview transitions to an increased enterprise-centric slant, it's more important than ever to properly deploy an enterprise environment for reviewing SMB and enterprise-grade storage solutions. The latest enhancement to the StorageReview Test Lab comes via Eaton and their latest generation S-Series Rack. The 42U rack is an ideal framework to house our burgeoning collection of servers, rack-mount storage solutions, and networking products, as well as infrastructure pieces like our Eaton 5PX UPS to keep tests running smoothly regardless of the power conditions outside of our building.

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by Kevin OBrien

SanDisk Lightning Enterprise SSD Review (LB 406S)

When SanDisk invested $327 million to acquire Pliant one thing was clear; SanDisk saw an opportunity to leverage their expertise in NAND and storage with Pliant's SAS controller knowledge and storage technologies to create class-leading enterprise SSDs that would excel in both performance and reliability. The current result is the SanDisk Lightning enterprise SSD family that includes both MLC and SLC SAS 6Gb SSDs.

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by Kevin OBrien

Hitachi Ultrastar SSD400S.B Enterprise SSD Review

In early February, Hitachi added to their line of enterprise SSDs with the Ultrastar SSD400S.B. Following on the heels of the original SSD400S, the .B is the industry's first to move to 25nm SLC NAND. Structurally, the two drives are nearly identical, it's simply a NAND die change from 34nm SLC to 25nm SLC. Both drives leverage a 6 Gb/s SAS interface and Intel NAND with a Hitachi/Intel co-developed firmware and controller. The SSD400S.B takes over flagship enterprise SSD status for Hitachi and sits alongside their eMLC Ultrastar SSD400M offering.

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by Kevin OBrien

OWC Mercury Enterprise Pro 6G SSD Review

OWC recently announced its latest enterprise SSD offering, the Mercury Enterprise Pro 6G. While related to their Mercury Extreme Pro 6G client SSDs, the Enterprise Pro has plenty of upgrades to make it ready for both entry and mainstream enterprise duties. The Extreme Pro features the SandForce SF-2582 enterprise SSD controller, Toshiba 24nm eMLC Toggle NAND, enterprise grade firmware and the industry's longest warranty of seven years. 

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by Kevin OBrien

Smart Storage Systems XceedStor 500S Enterprise SSD Review

The Smart Storage Systems XceedStor 500S SSD leverages standard MLC NAND and a mainstream SATA 6Gb/s interface to deliver cost effective high performance throughput in entry enterprise duty. Don't let the NAND and focus on price fool you though, the enterprise has shown increasing acceptance for MLC NAND, especially as those like Smart Storage Systems have been able to prove out its endurance and reliability. That makes the XceedStor 500S an ideal candidate then for read heavy environments often seen in scenarios like boot, web/file serving and read-caching.

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by Kevin OBrien

OCZ Z-Drive R4 Enterprise PCIe SSD Review

When we first reviewed the OCZ Z-Drive R4 last year, the PCIe SSD amazed us with it's class leading performance numbers, as well as its ridiculous IOPS/$ performance. It was so fast in fact, that it made us re-develop our testing platform to better accommodate the burgeoning PCIe SSD space, dedicating a testing platform specifically for enterprise storage solutions. In this re-review, we look at the Z-Drive R4 in our enterprise testing environment to better emulate what enterprise users should expect out of the R4.

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by Kevin OBrien

Micron RealSSD P400e Enterprise SSD Review

The Micron RealSSD P400e is designed for the entry-level enterprise SSD space, an increasingly popular segment that is largely read centric, making it the perfect playground for low cost MLC SSDs. The P400e features Micron's home grown 25nm MLC NAND, SATA 6 Gb/s interface and Marvell controller. Micron uses the popular 2.5" form factor, but with a 7mm z-height, giving the P400e more flexibility for use within 1U servers and embedded applications like switches and routers.

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by Kevin OBrien

SMART Storage Systems XceedIOPS2 Enterprise SSD Review

SMART Storage Systems (formerly SMART Modular) offers a robust lineup of enterprise SSD products. The XceedIOPS2 is their SandForce SF-2500-based solution that's geared toward blended enterprise use and backed up with the endurance of Toshiba eMLC NAND. Equipped with a SATA 6Gb/s interface, the XceedIOPS2 delivers up to 520MB/s sequential reads and 500 MB/s writes, with random I/O performance topping 60,000 IOPS. Layered on top is custom firmware, power protection features, and expertise from SMART's engineering team. Other highlights include AES 256-bit encryption, robust 2.5 million hour MTBF, a five year warranty and endurance up to 6PBW for the 400GB SSD.

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