QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced the new business-class TS-x31XU series rackmount NAS; available in 4, 8 and 12-bay models with single and redundant power supply options. Powered by an AnnapurnaLabs, an Amazon company Alpine AL-314 quad-core 1.7 GHz ARM® Cortex-A15 CPU, the TS-x31XU features 2GB or 4GB DDR3 RAM (expandable to 16GB), includes two built-in 10GbE SFP+ ports, and supports the innovative VJBOD (Virtual JBOD) and Container Station, providing a high-performance, multifunctional and power-efficient storage solution.

Coupled with a hardware encryption engine and SSD cache support, the quad-core TS-x31XU series offers two 10GbE SFP+ ports that ensure top notch networking capabilities of up to 1,242 MB/s transfer speeds. An additional single-port 10GbE PCIe card can be installed for more flexible deployment. The TS-x31XU is ideal for small-and-medium businesses looking for backup, restoration, virtualization storage, private cloud, and to future-proof their IT infrastructure for 10GbE networks.

Buffalo Americas, a leading provider of USB storage, network attached storage (NAS) and networking solutions, announces the availability of the LinkStation 520DN, a network attached storage device made specifically for the home. The LS520DN is a customizable NAS solution designed to serve as the hub of consumers’ connected home by making it easier to store, share, and secure all digital data for the modern family.

“We are excited to introduce the Buffalo LS520DN as a way for consumers to organize and protect their digital life,” said Arthur Traub, Director of Strategic Accounts at Buffalo Americas. “This new product allows home users to easily store, organize, access, stream and protect all their digital assets. We provide NAS grade disk drives for always-on performance in the LS520DN to ensure ease of use and reliability. And, as with all our Buffalo products, if a customer needs any help they simply need to contact our 24/7 US-based customer support team.”

Pioneer Japan sent out a press release today, announcing two new 16x Blu-ray Disc writers, the BDR-S11J-BK and BDR-S11J-X. Both drives are equipped with a Serial ATA Revision 3.0 interface and are capable of 16x BD-R, 14x BD-R DL, 8x BD-R LTH, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 12x. The BDR-S11J-BK and BDR-S11J-X also write to triple-layer (100GB) BD-R media at 8x, quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 6x and triple-layer (100GB) BD-RE media at 2x.

What makes the BDR-S11J-BK and BDR-S11J-X unique is their ability to play back Ultra HD Blu-ray content. When installed in a Windows 10 PC with the included WinDVD software and an i7 or i5 Kaby Lake processor, users can play back movies at 4K resolutions. The two drives also ship with authoring software from CyberLink and are equipped with Pioneer's PureRead4+ technology, which greatly improves the reading performance of scratched and dirty discs.

The top of the line BDR-S11J-X takes things one step further by adopting a low resistance flat cable, anti-vibration parts and high gloss paint. It also has the ability to check and display the playback quality of an audio CD (CD-DA) and, in the case of a low quality level, recommend the settings for optimal playback.

Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend), a leading manufacturer of industrial-grade products, proudly presents the industrial-grade SuperMLC JetFlash 740 USB flash drive. Positioned between its SLC and MLC NAND flash offerings, Transcend’s exclusive SuperMLC technology is a cost-effective solution that offers performance close to that of SLC NAND flash. Compliant with USB 3.1 Gen 1 specifications, the JetFlash 740 boasts excellent performance and endurance at affordable prices, making it ideal for demanding industrial grade applications.

Blazing-Fast Performance up to 120MB/s
Drawing on the strengths of both Single-Level Cell (SLC) and Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash, Transcend has developed SuperMLC technology by reprogramming the two bits per cell of MLC into one bit per cell, greatly boosting performance. Compliant with USB 3.1 Gen 1 specifications, the transfer speeds of Transcend’s JetFlash 740 USB flash drive can reach up to 120MB/s read and 90MB/s write, double those of MLC flash chips. Transcend’s SuperMLC technology is a great match for industrial applications that demand quality comparable to SLC NAND flash at a cost-effective price.

CDRLabs kicks off the New Year with a review of Samsung's 960 PRO SSD. First unveiled at the 2016 Samsung SSD Global Summit in Seoul, this cutting-edge NVMe SSD is powered by the company's new 5-core Polaris controller and is available with up to 2TB of their 48-layer V-NAND flash. Also, thanks to its PCIe Gen 3.0 x4 lane interface, the 960 PRO is capable of delivering up to 3,500 MB/s sequential read and 2,100 MB/s sequential write speeds.

Western Digital Corporation, a global storage technology and solutions leader, today announced its fastest, high-capacity USB flash drive to date with the launch of its high-performance 256GB SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1 Solid State Flash Drive. The new drive delivers the speed, capacity, and reliability of an SSD in the convenient form factor of a small USB flash drive, and is ideal for creative professionals, tech enthusiasts, or anyone who creates and shares massive files.

A game-changer in the USB storage category, the drive is capable of read speeds up to 420MB/s and write speeds up to 380MB/s1. With its unprecedented speeds, you can transfer full-length 4K movie to the drive in less than 15 seconds2. With its USB 3.1 interface, people can rapidly access and move files on the go, without having to worry about a cable. The new drive also features a sophisticated design with a durable aluminum metal casing and a retractable connector for ultimate style and reliability.

Western Digital Corporation (“Western Digital”) today announced the availability of new WD Black PCIe solid state drives (SSDs), the first WD-branded client PCIe SSDs. The new SSDs complement the recently announced WD Blue and WD Green SATA SSDs, as well as the company’s industry leading family of hard drives for PCs and workstations, providing a full portfolio of WD storage devices for virtually any application.

The WD Black PCIe SSD is a performance PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe-based SSD that delivers more than three times the sequential read speeds of current SATA SSDs. The 256GB and 512GB capacities make it ideal as a boot drive when paired with a high-capacity hard drive, or as primary storage when building a future-ready PC. Consumers who are using the new WD Black PCIe SSD to boot up, load read-intensive games or applications, or shut down a system may realize a performance improvement of more than 10 seconds when compared to SATA SSDs.