Today, CDRLabs brings you a review of SanDisk's new Ultra II solid state drive. This easy, affordable upgrade solution is available in capacities ranging from 120GB up to a 960GB, and, depending on the capacity, is powered by one of two controllers from Marvell. The Ultra II is also the first SSD from SanDisk to use TLC NAND flash. To overcome the challenges typically associated with this type of NAND, the drive is equipped with SanDisk's new nCache 2.0 technology which utilizes a two-tiered caching architecture to optimize drive speed and endurance.

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ASUSTOR Inc., a leading innovator and provider of network storage solutions, has announced the launch of its new enterprise-class AS70R series devices, featuring high capacity rackmount network storage servers. The devices in the AS70R series are powered by Intel Core i3 3.5GHz dual-core processors (AS7009RD/AS7012RD) and Intel® Xeon E3 3.4GHz quad-core processors (AS7009RDX/AS7012RDX). All models are also compatible with the highest capacity hard disks on the market (6TB), enabling users to create substantial storage spaces of 54TB and 72TB respectively.

Furthermore, all models come with 4 gigabit Ethernet ports along with 2 expansion slots for 10GbE network or SAS cards. In addition to the built-in 4GB UDIMM DDR3 RAM (expandable to a maximum of 32GB) all devices also feature 4 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports and 2 eSATA ports for added expansion possibilities. ASUSTOR has also added a variety of output ports including HDMI and VGA, allowing IT administrators to more conveniently manage the system.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, today launches the Choice HC500 2.5” Hard Drive with TV recording support features. The HC500 external storage hard drive attaches to your smart television or PC via a super-fast USB 3.0 cable, and sports a sandblasted titanium or gold casing. Available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, the Choice HC500 Hard Drive comes with smart backup software that allows you back up data, and then set up your very own personal data cloud using a PC or smartphone!

Flawlessly crafted in either titanium or gold matte, the HC500 Hard Drive offers both the easy connectivity of directly attached personal data and TV media storage. For those who require direct connectivity, simply plug the hard drive into your PC or smart TV. Store and manage any kind of personal media via super-fast USB 3.0 on your PC, and then connect the HC500 to your smart TV to enjoy full-featured video capabilities such as playback, rewind and fast-forward. Too busy to enjoy your favorite TV programs? Just leave your Choice HC500 Hard Drive plugged into your television and record hours of movies and programs to enjoy later!

Pioneer Japan recently sent out a press release, announcing its new portable, clamshell type Blu-ray Disc writer, the BDR-XD05J2. This USB 3.0 equipped drive measures only 133 × 14.8 x 133 mm and weighs in at a mere 230g. The BDR-XD05J2 is capable of 6x BD-R, 6x BD-R DL, 6x BD-R LTH, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 6x. It also writes to triple- (100GB) and quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 4x and triple-layer (100GB) BD-RE media at 2x.

The BDR-XD05J2 includes features like Pioneer's PureRead2+ technology and an "advanced silent mode" for when playing movies and audio discs. It also includes a new "intelligent eco mode" which shortens the recording time and reduces the drive's power consumption when in standby mode by about 40%. The BDR-XD05J2 ships with authoring and playback software from CyberLink and is expected to hit stores in late October for about 13,000 Yen ($121US).

Silicon Power, the world’s leading provider of memory storage solutions, today launches the new collection of designed USB flash drives- USB 2.0 Touch T50 and USB 3.0 Jewel J50. The stylish exterior design, with exquisite openwork carving and matte-surface metallic casing, makes them stand out among numerous products in the market. Moreover, cap-less and compact Touch T50 and Jewel J50 are easy to be stored and carried around, and they will be an awesome choice as a storage device and a fancy accessory to impress people.

Do you pursue high-quality life style in a fast-paced environment? Are you trying to keep personal space in an age of information explosion? The newly-launched USB 2.0 Touch T50 and USB 3.0 Jewel J50 can meet the above demands perfectly. By combining two concepts of structure aesthetics and stylish trends into design, Touch T50 and Jewel J50 feature hollow openwork-carving exterior which can show elegant and noble qualities. In addition, characteristics such as durable zinc alloy casing and compact size for easy carrying build up an extraordinary taste and a lifestyle of self-expression. By applying the COB (Chip On Board) technology, both Touch T50 and Jewel J50 offer complete data protections against water, dust and vibration to keep the golden finger away from impairments that might lead to data damages and losses. Users will enjoy safe and delightful storage experiences.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun mass producing the industry’s first 3-bit multi-level-cell (MLC) three-dimensional (3D) Vertical NAND (V-NAND) flash memory, for use in solid state drives (SSDs).

“With the addition of a whole new line of high density SSDs that is both performance- and value-driven, we believe the 3-bit V-NAND will accelerate the transition of data storage devices from hard disk drives to SSDs,” said Jaesoo Han, Senior Vice President, Memory Sales & Marketing, Samsung Electronics. “The wider variety of SSDs will increase our product competitiveness as we further expand our rapidly growing SSD business.”

The 3-bit V-NAND is Samsung’s latest second generation V-NAND device, which utilizes 32 vertically stacked cell layers per NAND memory chip. Each chip provides 128 gigabits (Gb) of memory storage.

CDRLabs has taken an in depth look at Crucial's MX100 SSD. This consumer-oriented drive offers powerful speeds and advanced features at a low cost per gigabyte. The MX100 combines Marvell's 88SS9189 controller with a custom firmware and Micron's new 16nm 128gb NAND to deliver up to 550MB/s read and 500MB/s write speeds. The MX100 also offers a long list of features including AES 256-bit encryption, thermal and power loss protection, TRIM support and active garbage collection. Additionally, it uses Native Write Acceleration to deliver consistent throughput by spreading the drive’s workload across several elements. It also employs technologies like Data Defense and Redundant Array of Independent NAND (RAIN) to increase security and protection of data to a level that’s rarely found in consumer-class SSDs.