CDRLabs has put together a brief review of iStorage's diskAshur PRO2 USB 3.1 portable hard drive. Designed to be the ultimate secure data storage device, the diskAshur PRO2 offers real-time military grade AES-XTS 256-bit full disk hardware encryption as well as a dedicated on-board Common Criteria EAL4+ ready secure microprocessor to protect itself from any external tampering, bypass laser attacks and fault injections. Despite its many layers of security, the diskAshur PRO2 is very easy to use. Simply connect the integrated cable to any device with a USB port, enter your PIN on the keypad and you have access to your data.

OWC; a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company and one of the world’s most respected creators of SSDs, Thunderbolt external drives, PC & Mac docking solutions and performance upgrade kits, today proudly announced its new line of Aura Pro X2 SSDs for select MacBook Pro Retina, MacBook Air, Mac Mini and Mac Pro models. OWC believes the need for more storage capacity shouldn’t force users into spending $1,300-$4,000+ for a new MacBook when a DIY upgrade for a fraction of the cost of a new model keeps Macs running at peak performance for years to come.

Up to 16X the Capacity

It is easy to underestimate how much storage you need and how fast that original stock drive inside your Mac can fill up, especially with photo and video files, games, or even just email. Aura Pro X2 SSDs are available in capacities up to 2TB, giving users a massive (up to 16X) boost in space to work and play. Benefiting from nearly a decade of SSD design experience to use less power and run cooler, Aura Pro X2 is the best way to upgrade most 2013 to 2017 model year Apple Macs.

Synology Inc. today launched RackStation RS819, a compact and scalable 4-bay rackmount NAS with snapshot technology support, designed for business workgroups to effectively manage, share, synchronize, and back up data.

"For growing business workgroups on limited budgets, setting up an effective data protection and backup plan is sometimes not their first priority, leading to catastrophic losses in case of server failure," said Michael Wang, Product Manager at Synology Inc. "By adopting a new 64-bit quad-core CPU, RS819 is our first RackStation in the Value Series to support snapshot technology, bringing easy data protection solutions."

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, and mobile accessories is pleased to announce the launch of the ADATA UV350 USB flash drive. The UV350 flash drive features an understated, elegant look with a capless design that does away annoying caps. A hanging hole at the end makes for easy attaching to keychains and lanyards for excellent portability. The drive comes with up to 64GB of storage space and USB 3.1 for hassle-free storage of photos, music, video, and everything else.

Elegantly Styled, Easy to Carry
The glossy surface finish of the UV350 is stylish and elegant, and along with a tail-shaped hanging hole, it presents a refined and understated design that's ideal for the busy business professional. The hanging hole lets users easily fasten it to just about anything ultimate portability. What’s more, with a capless design, fumbling around with and misplacing annoying caps is a thing of the past.

Optiarc, Inc., best known for its professional line of optical disc drives, has entered the world of digital flash storage with a new line of high-grade Solid State Drives (SSD). The Optiarc VP Series SSD focuses on protecting data integrity to safeguard the user’s vulnerable content by protecting against cell corruption and permanent fatal errors, ensuring the user will be able to maintain their content indefinitely.

Data retention has become an integral concern in the flash storage industry. As the capacity continues to increase with advanced 3D NAND flash memory technology, currently utilizing 96-layer memory cells, SSD manufacturers are able to increase flash memory storage while decreasing the device's physical footprint. The problem is that 3D NAND cells are built vertically in strings, meaning a defect in a single cell will most likely negatively affect the performance of the entire cell string. This minor contamination could lead to massive failure potentially causing total data loss.

“Given that SSD offers higher performance with less power consumption than a standard magnetic hard drive (HDD), plus capacities are increasing while costs are decreasing, SSD are becoming the de facto hard drives, for personal computers,” declares Ryan Swerdloff, VP of Sales and Marketing. With more people using SSD as their primary hard drive, these SSD will contain both the user’s operating system as well as their personal data. If that SSD were to irretrievably fail, the user could lose content that is extremely valuable and irreplaceable.

Western Digital Corp. today unveiled the new Western Digital WD Purple SC QD312 Extreme Endurance microSD card for designers and manufacturers of AI-enabled security cameras, smart video surveillance and advanced edge devices that capture and store video at higher bit rates than mainstream cameras.

According to IHS Markit, global shipments of professional video surveillance cameras are expected to grow from 127 million to over 200 million between 2017 and 2022, and those with on-board storage are expected to grow by an average of approximately 19 percent per year1.

With the migration to 4K and higher video resolutions, and the introduction of more smart cameras with built-in AI and improved local processing capabilities, surveillance cameras need to be able to store both video and raw data to facilitate these AI capabilities. As a result, storage with higher capacity, more intelligence and greater durability is increasingly required.

QNAP Systems, Inc. (QNAP) today launched the TR-002, a 2-bay hardware RAID expansion enclosure that can be utilized as a NAS storage expansion solution, and also as hardware RAID storage for Windows/macOS/Linux computers and NAS. The TR-002 connects to a PC/NAS via USB 3.1 Gen.2 Type-C and provides a dependable storage solution for various user requirements.

The TR-002 supports individual, JBOD and RAID 0/1 storage configurations. QNAP NAS users can use the TR-002 with their NAS to set RAID parameters and create a storage pool by using the “Storage and Snapshots” app within QTS. Alternatively, the TR-002 can be used as an external storage device for the NAS. Windows, macOS and Linux users with limited storage upgrade options can also use the TR-002 as an expansion unit, and a dedicated QNAP External RAID Manager utility (for Windows and macOS) can help them view disk health, change RAID configurations, check logs, and update the firmware of the TR-002.