Today, CDRLabs brings you a review of Samsung's latest portable SSD, the T5. Designed especially for content creators, business and IT professionals as well as mainstream consumers, this pocket-sized SSD is lightweight, yet durable. Thanks to a sturdy metal body and shock-resistant internal frame, the drive can withstand accidental drops of up to 2 meters. On the inside, the T5 is powered by Samsung's MGX controller and is available with up to 2TB of their 64-layer V-NAND flash. It is also equipped with a USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface which lets users transfer a 4.8GB 4K UHD movie in as little as 12 seconds. To top it all off, the T5 offers password protection of data with AES 256-bit hardware encryption.

Synology Inc. today released RackStation RS3618xs, a high-performance 12-bay rackmount storage solution that can be used as a private file server, backup target, virtualization solution, and more for growing businesses.

RS3618xs is a 2U RackStation NAS powered by an Intel Xeon D-1521 quad-core CPU and 8GB DDR4 ECC UDIMM RAM, expandable up to 64GB. The four plug-and-play Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports can be expanded with higher performance 10GbE NICs through the PCIe 3.0 slot, providing over 3,900 MBps throughput and 143,500 iSCSI IOPS.

In addition to the native 12-drive support, storage capacity can be further expanded up to 432TB when connecting to two RX1217(RP), providing on-the-fly volume expansion. Its capability to support massive storage space on demand makes it ideal to serve as a virtualization solution, a centralized file server, a backup target or iSCSI storage.

Toshiba Memory Europe GmbH has announced three new additions to the EXCERIA family of microSDXC cards, named M303. With capacities of up to 256GB, maximum read/write speeds of 98MB/s and 65MB/s respectively, as well as a new Video Speed Class 30 (V30), the M303 allows users to record and store 4K Ultra HD content.

The M303's speed rating supports 4K Ultra HD video recording; a prerequisite for the latest action cameras, video recorders and drones. Smartphones compatible with microSDXC specification will benefit from the M303's ability to write high-resolution videos and images at high speed. Rated with Video Speed Class 30 (V30), the M303 provides a minimum data transfer rate of 30 MB/s with a recommended UHS device under the conditions regulated by SD association.

As mobile content and applications grow increasingly sophisticated, Western Digital Corporation is transforming the mobile experience with new industry-leading mobile solutions designed to enable consumers to better capture, share and enjoy rich content on their devices. At Mobile World Congress, the company is releasing the world’s fastest UHS-I flash memory card, the 400GB SanDisk Extreme UHS-I microSDXC card, and demonstrating the future of flash memory card technology with Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe)-enabled cards, designed to deliver the performance required for the next wave of data and content-intensive applications.

Whether it’s exploring a new world in an immersive virtual reality app, or capturing 4K footage on a smartphone or drone, consumers can count on Western Digital to deliver even more robust mobile flash memory technology that offers them a premium experience on their favorite device.

The company’s new 400GB SanDisk Extreme UHS-I microSD card is designed to help consumers move their high-quality content faster than ever. At 160MB/s, the new card is more than 50 percent faster than current SanDisk Extreme UHS-I microSD cards. The card is able to reach this unprecedented speed by leveraging Western Digital proprietary technology. The card will also feature the A2 specification to help launch and load apps at blazing speeds.

Addressing the needs of a growing landscape of Internet of Things (IoT) and Fast Data applications at the edge, Western Digital Corporation today announced two new NVMe SSDs – Western Digital PC SN720 and Western Digital PC SN520 – powered by a new NVMe storage architecture, scalable for a range of emerging implementations, from IoT and edge computing to mobile computing systems.

The new Western Digital NVMe client architecture and product portfolio will enable manufacturers of IoT devices, computing devices such as thin and light, 2-in-1 and embedded PCs and monitoring systems to enable the capture and transformation of the massive quantities of data in real-time at the edge of smart city, smart home and personal data environments. Cisco GCI estimates that nearly 850 zettabytes (ZB) will be generated by all people, machines and things by 2021. With the advent of high-bandwidth technologies like 5G, augmented reality and facial recognition, new applications can benefit from the exceptional performance, power efficiency and capacity of NVMe and Western Digital 3D NAND to deliver an optimal user experience.

CDRLabs has taken an in depth look Plextor's latest PCIe SSD, the M9Pe. Optimized for high-level PC gaming, this M.2 form factor drive is powered by Marvell's 88SS1093 "Eldora" controller and is available with up to 1TB of Toshiba's 64-layer BiCS3 3D TLC NAND flash. To compensate for the slow write speeds typically associated with TLC NAND, the M9Pe uses Plextor's exclusive PlexNitro cache acceleration technology to optimize performance without taking up any space on the drive. The M9P is also equipped with a PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe 1.2 interface to provide higher bandwidth and lower latency than SATA SSDs.

Sonnet Technologies today announced that the new 1TB version of its popular Fusion Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Flash Drive is now shipping. A rugged, pocket-size solid-state drive (SSD) storage device with a Thunderbolt 3 interface, the Mac- and Windows-compatible drive is equipped with 1TB of NVMe flash storage and leverages the 40Gb/s bandwidth of Thunderbolt 3 to deliver data transfer speeds up to 2600 MB/s.

The Fusion Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Flash Drive was designed for pro users requiring ultimate performance in a truly portable storage device, unencumbered by the need for an AC power adapter. The storage device connects to any compatible Mac or Windows computer, or at the end of a Thunderbolt 3 device daisy chain, with its 0.5-meter Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) cable. Based on the latest PCIe Gen 3 flash memory technology, the Fusion Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Flash Drive is more than five times faster than 6Gb/s SATA SSDs and USB 3 SSD drives.