Enterprise Reviews

May 5th, 2012 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.

May 2nd, 2012 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.

April 23rd, 2012 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.

March 31st, 2012 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.

March 29th, 2012 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.

March 8th, 2012 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.

March 5th, 2012 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.

February 22nd, 2012 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.

February 21st, 2012 by Kevin OBrien

QNAP TS-879 Pro 10GbE Review

The QNAP TS-879 Pro is QNAP's latest entry in the SMB NAS space. The TS-879 Pro is an eight-bay unit that is designed to be used for backups, file sharing, mass storage and the like. While certainly tageted at the SMB, QNAP has loaded the TS-879 Pro with features that may broaden its appeal for VMware, Citrix and HyperV environments; a dual core Intel Core i3 3.3 GHz processor and support for optional 10 GbE for speeds up to 1,000MB/s and 100,000 IOPS.

February 14th, 2012 by Kevin OBrien

Hitachi Ultrastar SSD400M Enterprise SSD Review

The Ultrastar SSD400M is Hitachi's effort to provide a serious contender in the burgeoning eMLC enterprise SSD space. The SSD400M offers all the pedigree that enterprise buyers could want, including not just Hitachi's longstanding leadership in the storage industry, but Intel's as well. The SSD400M leverages Intel's highest quality 25nm eMLC NAND and SSD processor technology, combined with Hitachi/Intel jointly engineered firmware. The resulting SSD400M carries Hitachi's brand name but is the result of a strong co-development effort.