The StorageReview.com review database offers in-depth analysis and comparison of the latest storage products. The latest HDD reviews (hard disk drive), SSD reviews (solid state drive), external storage reviews and related accessories are listed below.
April 19th, 2013 by Doug Crowthers
Corsair Obsidian Series 900D Case Review
Corsair's Obsidian Series 900D Super Tower is the manufacturer's most robust, high-end case with ten expansion slots, up to fifteen internal 3.5" drive bays, support for dual bottom-mounted power-supplies, and loads of other features for a wide-range of applications. The 900D has vaulted to the top spot as Corsair's most premium case, adding to the well-established Corsair Obsidian Series 800D. This rig is for serious builders with big projects; whether users want to build an ultimate dream PC, add state-of-the-art liquid cooling, create a monster file server, or design a workstation capable of the most challenging design tasks, the 900D provides plenty of configurable space.
April 16th, 2013 by Josh Shaman
HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 Review (HUS724040ALE640)
HGST's Ultrastar 7K4000 3.5" form factor enterprise-class HDD now ranges up to 4TB in capacity and spins at 7,200RPM while interfacing over SATA 6Gb/s. The drive offers the enterprise a 33% capacity leap over previous models, and it accomplishes that task of delivering robust capacity by utilizing five platters at 800GB each to attain the maximum 4TB capacity. This is a huge feature for enterprise customers who need to maintain the same footprint for their drives without increasing their costs. Another significant feature on the Ultrastar 7K4000 is that it is offered in Advanced Format which uses a 4096-byte sector size that is still backward-compatible with the 512-byte sector size. The HGST 7K4000 drive also features 64MB of drive cache.
April 12th, 2013 by Brian Beeler
Dell EqualLogic Family Hands-On
We recently spent a few days at the Dell EqualLogic headquarters in Nashua, NH to experience a deep dive on the EqualLogic family, management software and performance capabilities of the arrays. The EqualLogic full-immersion treatment was to prepare us for the latest generation EqualLogic PS6110 array to hit our lab for full review in the coming weeks. We split time between detailed briefings on features like Linux management and VMware integration and several hours of in-lab time working hands on with the entire PS (peer storage) family ranging from the entry-level PS4110 to the full-on PS6110 hybrid array that combines flash storage with 15K hard drives.
April 12th, 2013 by Kevin OBrien
OCZ Deneva 2 Enterprise SSD Review
The OCZ Deneva 2 is an enterprise-class SSD that interfaces over SATA 6GB/s and has several different models utilizing an array of NAND. Our test model incorporates eMLC NAND to offer users more write cycles than standard MLC, and simultaneously it provides economics closer to MLC than the more expensive SLC. The Deneva 2 also comes in two different series to provides users flexibility in their choices. The R series includes a similar feature set to the C series but with a couple of additional features including power loss data protection and over-provisioning. The over-provisioning is geared more toward heavier write scenarios and is noticeable when users check capacity differences between the C and R models. Our test model is the OCZ Deneva 2 R eMLC NAND 200GB capacity drive. One more design note is that architecturally, the Deneva 2 comes in a 2.5" form factor, but OCZ can tailor it per application.
April 9th, 2013 by Josh Shaman
Micron M500 Enterprise SSD Review
The Micron M500 is part of the new SSD family created by Micron and Crucial geared toward personal storage applications with the Micron M500 slotted as an enterprise-class SSD that ranges in capacities up to a robust 960GB, uses 20nm MLC NAND, a Marvell controller, interfaces over SATA 6Gb/s, and features a slim 7mm drive height. The Micron-branded M500 is also targeted at Cloud and Web 2.0 segment. As we mention in our review of the near-identical consumer-oriented Crucial M500, the Micron brand is established and is known for its long-term reliability and its compatibility. Adding to that is the robust capacity and value offered by Micron. On that note, while Crucial's M500 offers top capacity in the consumer-market, there are existing enterprise SSDs that meet and exceed 1TB. Yet, what Micron brings to the table is affordability. While other drives might range up to $4,000, the Micron M500 960GB comes in low at less than a quarter of the price.
April 9th, 2013 by Josh Shaman
Crucial M500 SSD Review
The Crucial M500 (and the OEM-tailored Micron M500) are a new mainstream SSD family that offers a SATA 6Gb/s interface, Marvell controller, 7mm drive height and Micron's latest 20nm MLC NAND. Along with the top-level hardware components, the Crucial M500 comes with Micron's firmware which is made in-house. The M500 builds on a longstanding heritage of reliability and compatibility - Micron's calling cards with both their consumer and enterprise SSDs. What makes the M500 family unique though isn't blazing burst speeds; this time the story is more about price and capacity. The M500 is the first mainstream SSD that offers a drive at the near terabyte capacity, 960GB. The suggested MSRP is under $600 as well, which while still expensive, presents the market with the first viable opportunity from a trusted brand to go SSD-only. What's more, this is all within a 7mm drive body, which makes the M500 a solid fit for just about any client computing platform.
April 7th, 2013 by Kevin OBrien
Aberdeen AberNAS N31L Review
The Aberdeen AberNAS N31L is among Aberdeen's ultra-dense NAS storage arrays that are all designed to offer maximum capacity levels at more affordable prices than the upper echelon providers. The AberNAS is packed with features including capacity for up to 64TB of storage via 16 3.5" bays. The 3U form factor NAS also features Intel Xeon E5 family processors, up to 512MB RAM, and exceptional connectivity via 10GBe LAN and six standard PCI Express 3.0 slots. The Aberdeen N31L also features LSI SAS 6G RAID and extra compatibility via full support for Aberdeen's SAS 6G 4U/45Bay and 3U/28Bay JBOD for users that need to expand their array's capacity.
April 4th, 2013 by Josh Shaman
HP StoreEver LTO-6 Ultrium 6250 Review (EH970A)
HP's LTO-6 Ultrium 6250, the sixth and latest iteration in the Ultrium tape drive series, is designed for server customers using DAS environments who require superior data transfer rates and long-term cost efficiency over other forms of storage. The Ultrium 6250 hosts a major update over previous generation models with its 6GB/s SAS interface that connects directly to SAS-based-servers. Additionally, the Ultrium 6250 has backwards-compatability, writing to and reading fifth generation tapes and reading fourth generation tapes. The latest sixth generation tapes now have an expanded capacity that ranges up to 6.25TB of uncompressed data. With a ratio of 2.5:1, that still provides users with 2.5TB of compressed data, which is 1TB more than LTO-5 offered.
April 1st, 2013 by Doug Crowthers
Tripp Lite SmartRack SRCOOL12K Review
As we've continued to expand our Enterprise Testing Lab, we've needed to look for ways to improve our cooling within the lab environment without the large expense of external cooling units. The team over at Tripp Lite offered us an easy all-in-one solution with its SMARTRACK Series SRCOOL12K, Self-Contained Portable Air Conditioning Unit. The SRCOOL12K is available in 120V (SRCOOL12K) or 230V (SRXCOOL12K) models. The unit offers 12,000 BTU of cooling power that provides adequate cooling for a 500 square foot room. That makes the SRCOOL12K well-suited for our Enterprise Testing Lab's footprint.
March 30th, 2013 by Josh Shaman
Imation RDX Media Secure USB 3.0 Review (RDX-USB3)
The Imation RDX Media Secure Docking Station and its paired RDX cartridges featuring Media Secure Client software provide users with an alternative to tape storage solutions and standard external hard drives used for backup purposes. The RDX Docking Station furnishes users with the speed of USB 3.0 connectivity and the long-term scalability tapes have historically provided. The cartridges have wide-ranging capacity offerings and beyond that, they come in both standard and encrypted models allowing users to choose the features that they need to meet budget or compliance restraints. That said, the Imation RDX Media Secure is positioned for the SMB market and this particular iteration can meet the backup needs of either a workstation or a small server group.
