Synology Launch DiskStation DS110+ and DS210+ NAS Servers

Andrew Edney
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0

Today Synology have added another two NAS servers to it’s already large lineup – the DS110+ and the DS210+.

The DiskStation DS110+ is a single bay NAS and the DS210+ is a dual bay NAS.

The DiskStation DS110+

Synology® DiskStation DS110+ offers a high-performance, secure, and full-featured network attached storage solution that helps small and medium-sized businesses centralize backup, protect critical assets and share files quickly and efficiently. Synology protects your investment in the DS110+ with a 2-year limited warranty.

  • 108.81 MB/sec Reading, 68.27 MB/sec Writing
  • 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) Hardware Encryption Engine
  • Power-saving with only 21W in Operation
  • Wake on LAN/WAN
  • Scheduled Power On/Off
  • Includes Feature-Rich Synology DiskStation Manager 2.3 (DSM 2.3)

DS110 front DS110 side DS110 back

For more information on the DiskStation DS110+ click here: http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS110+/index.php

The DiskStation DS210+

Synology® DiskStation DS210+ offers a high-performance, secure, and full-featured network attached storage solution that helps small and medium-sized businesses centralize backup, protect critical assets and share files quickly and efficiently. Synology protects your investment in the DS210+ with a 2-year limited warranty.

  • 108.5MB/sec Reading, 58MB/sec Writing
  • 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) Hardware Encryption Engine
  • Power-saving with only 30W in Operation
  • Wake on LAN/WAN
  • Scheduled Power On/Off
  • Includes Feature-Rich Synology DiskStation Manager 2.3 (DSM 2.3)

DS210 front DS210 side DS210 back

For more information on the DiskStation DS110+ click here: http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS210+/index.php

Here is the full press release:

Taipei, Taiwan—May 17, 2010—Synology® Inc. today launched DiskStation DS110+ and DS210+, high-performance and secure NAS servers for SMB users to share and backup data efficiently and increase productivity with rich business-oriental features.

The Synology DS110+ and DS210+ are ideal for users who require a reliable data storage solution and demand high-performance speed for file sharing. The performance test conducted by Synology’s lab showed that in a Windows® environment, the Synology DS110+ serves an average of 108+ MB/sec reading speed and 68+ MB/sec writing speed while the Synology DS210+ delivers 108+ MB/sec reading and 58+ MB/sec writing. The web server responsiveness is impressive, too. The Synology DS110+ and DS210+ take 85.08 and 78.14 seconds respectively to handle 1,000 simultaneous requests.

“The Synology DS110+ and DS210+ provide users with secure network attached solution that protects data confidentiality while keeps performance high,” said Rosiel Lee, product manager of Synology Inc. The Synology DS110+ and DS210+ are equipped with 256-bit AES hardware encryption engines that can offload the security encryption tasks away from the main CPUs, helping to improve file transfer speeds of the DiskStations. The Synology testing lab shows that the hardware encryption engine boasts reading speed that is about 200% faster than a pure software encryption.

The Synology DS110+ calls for just 21 watts of power under normal operation while the DS210+ consumes 30 watts. Features like Wake on LAN/WAN, scheduled power on/off and hard drive hibernation further help to reduce not only carbon footprint but also operation costs. “The Synology DS110+ and DS210+ follow our commitment of delivering products with minimal environmental impact,” added Lee. Both Synology DS110+ and DS210+ are equipped with a 1.06 GHz CPU with floating point computing, 64 bit memory bus, 512MB RAM, 1 Gigabit LAN port, 3 USB ports and 1 eSATA port.

With limited resources and manpower, SMB encounters difficulty in managing multiple pieces of network hardware. Running on the award-winning system software, Synology DiskStation Manager 2.3 (DSM 2.3), the Synology DiskStation DS110+ and DS210+ can cost-effectively replace other devices and even PC servers on the network. Web Station allows the hosting of up to 30 websites on a single Synology DS110+ or DS210+. Mail Station add-on turns a Synology DS110+ or DS210+ into a mail server. Surveillance Station 4 enables SMB users to safeguard their properties with a centralized interface by deploying IP cameras. File Station 3 and encrypted FTP server simplify Internet access. HTTPS, firewall, and IP auto-block support ensure file sharing over the Internet is protected at a high security level.

The DSM 2.3 includes new features such as easy RAID and volume management with Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR), backup to the cloud with Amazon S3®, EZ-Internet wizard that walks users through all the complex settings like port forwarding and DDNS, and video surveillance with iPhone® DS cam, making the using experience of the Synology DS110+ and DS210+ just got better.

Availability

The Synology DS110+ and DS210+ are now shipping globally.

Synology at a Glance

Founded in 2000, Synology is a young and energetic company dedicated to developing high-performance, reliable, versatile, and environmentally-friendly Network Attached Storage (NAS) products. Our goal is to deliver user-friendly solutions and solid customer service to satisfy the needs of businesses, home offices, individual users and families.

The AVA Media ixVL Media Centre

Andrew Edney
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4

Tranquil have released some details of the forthcoming AVA Media ixVL Media Center, and it’s cool!

Last week we reported on the forthcoming Media Center pcs from Tranquil, the ixL range: Tranquil Talk Media Center PCs and ixL

Well today Tranquil posted a picture of the AVA Media ixVL media center, along with some more information.

ava_media_ixlv

Here’s what Tranquil have to say:

This beautiful ‘Media Centre’ is not only very powerful, being equipped with the latest Intel ‘i’ series processors, it’s also fan less – ensuring silent* or near silent operation.

It’s feature packed, and ticks all the right boxes for an affordable Media Centre.

  • Fan less design for ‘lounge friendly’ use
  • i3 or i5 CPU for instant response and future proofing
  • Integrated IR remote receiver and remote hand unit
  • Slot loading CD/DVD (optional BluRay)
  • Built in IPTV services from popular TV stations and SKY**
  • Measuring a modest 240mm (wide) x 250mm (deep) x 100mm high
  • Constructed from thick black aluminium extrusions and fitted with a blue VFD to the front
  • HDMI / SPDIF consumer connections etc
  • Dual DVB-T tuners

For further information, or to register your interest, please email sales@ava-media.co.uk

* Silent when fitted with Solid State Hard Disk, or near silent with 2.5” or 3.5” hard disk
** SKY Subscription required

This looks very nice and we can’t wait to get our hands on one – expect a review soon.

Review of the OCZ Vertex 120GB Solid State Drive

Andrew Edney
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2

I decided it was about time to upgrade my main system drive on my Windows 7 desktop computer with an SSD, here is how I got on.

Late last year I decided to take the plunge and buy myself an SSD (solid state drive). For those of you who are unfamiliar with SSD’s, they are smaller drives that don’t have any moving parts, unlike conventional hard drives.

Anyway, these drives also tend to be quieter, quicker, last long (because of the lack of moving parts) but are also considerably more expensive.

So after a lot of research, and looking around for the best deal, I settled on the OCZ Technology Vertex Series SATA II 2.5” 120GB SSD (I could have gone for a larger drive, but then I only really wanted it for my system drive and working files, so given the cost I figured 120GB would be perfect).

Here is what OCZ have to say about the Vertex drive:

The OCZ Vertex Series is the industry-leading flash-based storage solution, delivering the performance and reliability of SSDs at a lower price per gigabyte than other high speed offerings currently on the market. The OCZ Vertex Series is the result of all the latest breakthroughs in SSD technology, including the first model on the market to use the Indilinx Barefoot controller, blazing read/write speeds, and 64MB of onboard cache.

All Vertex Series SSDs come backed a leading three year warranty and OCZ’s legendary service and support, giving you added peace of mind for your high performance investment. Additionally, enthusiasts are put at the forefront of cutting edge technology with the available firmware updates and active online SSD community.

Perfect for notebooks and desktops alike, the Vertex Series is ideal for energy-efficient mobile computing to extend battery life, increase the speed of access time, and provide a durable alternative to conventional hard disc drives with superior shock resistance. High capacities and low power consuming NAND flash technology provide the necessary performance and battery life boosts generated by the proliferation of mobile gaming and new ultra-thin laptops.

The OCZ Vertex drives feature a durable yet lightweight alloy housing, and because OCZ SSDs have no moving parts, the drives are more rugged than traditional hard drives. Designed for ultimate reliability, Vertex Series SSDs have an excellent 1.5 million hour mean time before failure (MTBF) ensuring reliability over the long term.

I also knew that the SSD wouldn’t fit in my Dell computer, so I would need some sort of case for it, so I settled on the Icy Dock SSD & SATA HDD Converter, which was very cheap and on next day free delivery (I was planning on doing this upgrade to my computer last year, I finally got round to doing it on Friday!).

WHATS IN THE BOXES?

For the OCZ Vertex SSD, the only thing in the box is the SSD itself.

IMG_2399 IMG_2400

IMG_2401 IMG_2402

IMG_2403 IMG_2404

IMG_2405

For the Icy Dock SSD convertor, there is the convertor, four little screws and an instruction sheet.

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IMG_2408 IMG_2409

FITTING THE SSD INTO THE CONVERTOR

Fitting the SSD into the convertor was very simple, I just had to slide the top cover off, click the SSD into place and slide the cover back on. There were no screws needed (the four screws are for fitting the convertor into your desktop computer) and the drive was held in place without incident.

IMG_2410 IMG_2411

IMG_2412

All I had to do then was fit it into my Dell computer, plug it in, pop the Windows 7 DVD into the computer and perform a clean install.

Only it wasn’t all I had to do.

USING THE SSD

Prior to doing all of the above, I did some research on the OCZ website and found that there were at least 2 firmware updates that had been released since I purchased the drive last year. Having read through the release notes I found that I had to do them in order, I couldn’t just jump to the last one. So, I downloaded the small ISO images, burnt some CDs and proceeded to flash the firmware (twice) – all in all took about 10 minutes for both updates and then I was finally ready to begin.

One of the many things I had read about using an SSD for your system drive was that after installing Windows you had to do a lot of tweaking and turning off of services, such as the disk defragmentor service as this can reduce the life of your SSD.

But thankfully with Windows 7, Microsoft have set everything up for you, so Windows 7 automatically recognises your SSD and you don’t have to do anything else – well done Microsoft!

So, the install was very quick – exactly as I have come to expect from a clean install of Windows 7 (if you are not using Windows 7 yet, I highly recommend you do, and soon!).

The first thing I noticed was just how fast Windows 7 booted and shut down. Now to be fair, whenever you have a clean install of an OS you always notice this, then you start adding software and it eventually takes longer and longer, but this was noticeably faster even than that!

So, I figured I would check out the figures in the Windows Experience Index.

And the SSD came out at 7.1! In fact, it was the lowest score I had on my computer (not bad for a Dell I bought in December 2008)!.

Windows Index for SSD

For those of you interested in the performance testing, I used HT Tach :

16-05-2010 14-22-14

A few quick checks to make sure that Windows had disabled the services I needed disabled proved that it had – so I was very happy.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

What can I say, I love the SSD drive – if they were no so expensive I would get some more. I have also noticed how quick searching for files on the C drive is now compared to how it used to be.

If you have the money, I can highly recommend an SSD, you will wonder how you got on before without one. You don’t have to go for the 120GB drive either, there is a 30GB and 60GB if you want something smaller and less expensive.

For more information on the Vertex drive, including links to the firmware updates, click here: http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/solid_state_drives/ocz_vertex_series_sata_ii_2_5-ssd

Introducing the myDitto Server

Andrew Edney
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0

Last month at the Gadget Show Live I got to have a look at the myDitto Server from Dane-Elec.

Unfortunately it was connected to anything so there was no chance to see the interface, or how it was to use, but it certainly sounds like an interesting little device.

IMG_2302 IMG_2303 IMG_2304 specs

Here is what Dane-Elec said about the myDitto Server:

Dane-Elec also designed the myDitto Sever as a one-step, plug ‘n play home network server. Home users are able to easily drag and drop any digital file from either their wired or wireless devices within the home, to their myDitto Server. Everyone in the home can then access and share all of their data, including movies, music, pictures and critical files, from the centralized myDitto Server.

With up to four terabytes of memory, myDitto Server also turns into a customized media center, where consumers can stream multimedia directly from it to their TVs, media adapters, picture frames and gaming consoles.

home_bottom

SPECIFICATIONS:

Maximum storage capacity : 2 x 2TB (Accessible capacity maybe less)

Transfer rate : 10/100/1000 Mbps

Interfaces :
Ethernet (RJ-45) port
2 x UBS2.0 ports

Hard drives :

3.5 inch SATA 1 and 2
RAID 0 and 1

Networking protocols : Samba (SMB), myDitto proprietary

Multimedia protocols : UPnP, DLNA 1.5, iTunes

Supported USB file systems : NTFS, FAT, EXT

Physical dimensions

Width : 3.31”   77mm

Depth : 6.49”   165mm

Length : 7.48”   190mm

Weight : 2.62 lbs , 1.19 Kg (not including hard drives)

Power : DC 12V, 4A

Environmental specifications

Operating temperature : 0°~40° C      32°~104° F

Humidity : 10% – 90% (non-condensing)

Compatibility

Computer OS :
Windows® 7, Windows Vista™, Windows® XP
Macintosh® OS X 10.5 or higher
Linux® Fedora and Ubuntu

Mobile handheld OS
Windows Mobile™ 6.1 or higher
iPhone®/iPod® touch OS 3.1 or higher

To learn more about the forthcoming myDitto Server, click here: http://www.my-ditto.com/home.html

We should be getting one soon, so expect a full review when it is available. Currently there is no information on when it will be released, or how much it will be.

Diskeeper Talk WHS Vail Storage Provisioning

Andrew Edney
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0

The guys over at Diskeeper have just posted a really good blog post on WHS Vail Storage provisioning.

If you want to know more about storage provisioning in Vail, and how it all works, you really should have a read of the post, which is reproduced below:

As a Gold Partner, the first commercial defragmenter designed for WHS, and even one of the first 8 products to declare support for WHS when Bill Gates first announced it at CES several years back, we’ve been real close with the development team at MS.

The MS team’s insight into the needs and capabilities of defrag has led to significant cooperation as they complete the new Drive Extender. We’ve had many calls over the past months and are very happy to say that many of our suggestions and requests have been accommodated. The functionality that has been added from those meetings will result in well integrated and functional third party software solutions.

Supporting Drive Extender 2.0…

Vail, which is in public beta, has already been generating a great deal of buzz on WHS forums. Drive Extender (DE) is a storage subsystem that extends storage functionality above and beyond what a typical Windows NTFS volume offers. Key purposes of DE are to offer fully automated and easy to use storage. All the complexities associated with fault tolerance solutions like RAID to provide drive reliability, expanding storage over time, and even solving data reliability concerns of commodity drives.

Drive Extender in Windows Home Server today implements drives independently and pools them into a common volume. This pool of storage is then presented as a single volume to the user (i.e. D:\). And, just off the root of this pool (D:\shares) you had all your WHS shared folders; e.g. Users, Photos, Videos, etc…

The user experience of WHS today is already such that you don’t need to care or interact with the volumes, you could even argue that its discouraged.

What is unique in DE 2.0 is that this paradigm has kind of been flip flopped. While it all still looks like a common repository the delineation of storage now begins with those shared folders. So, as an example, let’s take the shared folder “Photos”. In DE 2.0 that folder now becomes a dedicated NTFS volume presented out of the shared storage pool. The folder “Videos” becomes its own NTFS volume, and so on. This design was introduced to support features like real time folder level duplication, etc.. The only minor side effect is that because there are only 26 letters in the English Alphabet, there will be a limitation of the shared folders you can create in this location on WHS. Not a big deal, given the value of the features that this new design offers.

If you’ve read this blog and the comments, you’ll pick up that DE is extending a volume (i.e. a shared folder), in 1 GB chunks, taking those chunks from the total available storage pool.

What you effectively have with Drive Extender, then and now, is storage virtualization. Any time you pool storage and then divvy it up exclusively to requestors (in this case the shared folders that become lettered volumes) you need some form of logic for allocating data from the pool. SAN and virtualization administrators already understand this concept, including related technologies such as Thin Provisioning.

DE 2.0 now adds this to their storage virtualization solution. As you add more data to a shared folder, DE 2.0 will allocate, in 1 GB chunks, more space to the shared folder/volume from the common storage pool. And, should you delete ALL the data in a 1 GB chunk, the 1 GB chunk will dynamically return to the available storage pool to be allocated to any other shared folder that may need the space. DE is well designed to fill up 1 GB chunk before requesting to use more. Very cool stuff!

Here’s a demo of how the provisioning works. Assuming 20GB of space (divided into those 1GB chunks)

You now start to fill up storage adding a little over 4GB of photos and a little over 2GB of music files. That has now pulled eight 1GB chunks from the common pool and these volumes have dynamically expanded to hold up to 5 GB and 3 GB respectively. Keep in mind that files place in the Photos folder will NOT reside on the same 1 GB chunk that contains Music files. In this case, under the DE “covers” they are on completely separate Windows volumes.

And, as those eight 1 GB chunks are provisioned to shared folder volumes, the storage pool shrinks by 8GB.

Now… If you delete all the MP3 music files that reside in one of those 1GB chunks…

DE can return that chunk back to the storage pool for re-provisioning re-use with any other shared folder.

Subsequently shrinking the Music folder/volume to two 1 GB chunks:

However, there are some conditions in which this provisioning technique can use some assistance, and Diskeeper will be helping out (per the request of the WHS/DE team at MS). Should you delete some of the data from 1 GB chunks, but not all of the data within a 1 GB chunk, you can have a lot of 1 GB chunks allocated to a shared folder/volume, but not actually using all of the space it is taking from the common storage pool. Diskeeper will be helping in these cases to group together all the data spread across sparsely filled 1 GB chunks. We’ll effectively be squishing the data together aligning it along 1 GB boundaries. The benefit of this is that some 1 GB chunks may then be freed up and returned to the storage pool to be assigned to your other shared folders.

Here’s a quick graphic to explain the process. Five 1 GB chunks are taken up by the Photos folder/volume. Over time, unwanted photos may be deleted, but the space they were taking up is not made available to any folder other than Photos. In order to make the space (3GB in this example) available for Videos or Music, you would need to move the data out of the sparsely filled chunks. Once done, those now empty 1 GB chunks can be used elsewhere.

Is this an issue you’ll come across? Maybe. If you do, it’ll likely be a bit of time and a lot of file deletions down the road. The Microsoft provisioning design is well suited to most users who mainly add and retain data. Those who do housecleaning or more involved data management can benefit from the upcoming Diskeeper solution – stay tuned.

While we’d like to take credit for this new feature in a future release of Diskeeper HomeServer, it was quite frankly MS directly asking us, as a partner, to add this into our product. Perhaps they’ll add this data squishing into WHS down the road? In the mean time, you can look to Diskeeper to help.

PS: thanks to the Microsoft WHS team for reviewing and approving this blog post.

Excellent work guys – looking forward to seeing the new version of Diskeeper.

Here is the link to the original post on the Diskeeper blog: http://www.diskeeper.com/blog/post/2010/05/13/Diskeeper-support-for-Vail-storage-provisioning.aspx

The Home Server Show 90

Andrew Edney
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0

Dave and the guys over at the Home Server Show have just released show 90 – can you believe it’s been two years already?

 

home_server_show_small

 

Here is what Dave has to say about this week’s show:

 

Episode 90 is a light show with news and a contest announcement by Icy Dock.  The guys make fun of my iPad and I air some homeservershow.com dirty laundry!  Something I didn’t mention on the show was the milestone of “The Home Server Show Podcast” 2nd year.  It’s been 2 years of shows.  Thanks to everybody for keeping it going.

 

Congratulations Dave – keep up the great work!

 

As usual here is the link: http://homeservershow.com/the-home-server-show-90.html

 

Well spotted Phil!

Review of the Swann PRO-555 Security Camera

Andrew Edney
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7

Swann Security have released a new security camera with state of the art night vision capabilities for helping you to protect your home.

We have reviewed security cameras in the past, including cameras from Swann: Review of the Swann ADW-300 Digital Wireless Security Camera and this is the latest, the PRO-555 Compact Day/Night Security Camera.

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  • Superb video quality utilizes 1/4” CCD technology with 420 TV line resolution
  • Complete with day (colour) and night (B&W) dual-viewing mode
  • State-of-the-art night vision captures high-image clarity up to 50ft away
  • Easily connects to any TV or Swann DVR to record and store footage or view online remotely
  • Simple “plug & play” installation with dual wall or ceiling mounting options
  • Durable, all-weather aluminium housing protects the internal components from damage
  • Includes 60 ft. of BNC cable

    • SPECIFICATIONS:

    The specifications for the PRO-555 camera are as follows:

    Pro 555 Specs[5]

    IMG_2386IMG_2387

    IMG_2388IMG_2389

    WHATS IN THE BOX?

    The box contains the PRO-555 camera itself on a mount, a 60ft BNC cable, a BNC to RCA adaptor, the power adaptor, screws, stickers and instructions.

    IMG_2390IMG_2391

    IMG_2392[5]

    It’s all very neatly packaged, which is pretty standard for Swann.

    SETTING UP AND USING THE PRO-555

    Getting the camera ready to use was very simple, it was just a case of putting the camera where I wanted it to monitor, connecting the power supply and then connecting the camera to either a TV or a monitor (in my case, a Dell widescreen monitor). The camera could also be connected to one of the Swann DVR’s or to any other recording device, such as a video recorder (for those of us old enough to remember what they are) or anything that can take the input.

    The image quality was excellent – don’t be put off by the picture below, it is taken off the monitor – the actual quality was significantly better and sharper.

    IMG_2396

    FINAL THOUGHTS

    This is a very good little security camera that is designed for use outside and well as in, and even had a little weather protector built-in. The night-vision mode was very good as well (sorry, the pictures were not very good so I haven’t included them).

    If you want to have some cameras around to watch your home or anything else, then you should definitely consider the PRO-555.

    There isn’t really a lot else to say about the PRO-555, you just fit it, plug it in and that’s it – it just works, and works well. I like that you can connect it to any TV, monitor or anything else that has the right inputs, and not just another device from Swann – although there are a number of DVRs from Swann you could connect it to, including the DVR-4-2500 which we shall be reviewing shortly.

    The PRO-555 retails for around £79.99 in the UK and around $130 in the US.

    The Media Center Show Podcast 256 Out Now

    Andrew Edney
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    0

    Ian over at the Digital Lifestyle.com has released the Media Center Show Podcast number 256, which includes an interview the Home Server Show Podcast’s very own Jim Collison.

    TDL logo

    Here is what Ian has to say about this week’s show:

    This week on The Media Center Show I am talking to Windows Home Server and Windows Media Center enthusiast Jim Collison about Windows Home Server Vail, Windows Home Server addins and using WHS and Windows Media Center together. Jim is a part of the Home Server Show an excellent podcast on WHS so its great to be chatting with Jim.

    I also have news including new a Media Center box from Tranquil and and new Windows 7 compatible devices.

    As usual you can listen to the show here: http://thedigitallifestyle.com/cs/TDL/b/podcast/archive/2010/05/13/the-media-center-show-256-jim-collison.aspx

    BIOS Update for Acer Aspire easyStore H340 Windows Home Server Released

    Andrew Edney
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    12

    Last week Acer released a BIOS update for its Aspire easyStore H340 Windows Home Server.

    We were contacted by one of our readers yesterday to ask about this new BIOS and how to update it. Well, we have downloaded the BIOS but we don’t know either what is in it yet, and we are also having problems!

    First things first……..

    To download the BIOS Update click here: http://us.acer.com and then select Service & Support, Driver Downloads, Desktop, easyStore, easyStore H340 and then click BIOS.

    Acer BIOS Update selection

    Click on the orange arrow and save the file:

    Acer BIOS Update

    To install the update you need your original easyStore installation DVD. Pop it in your computer and select Software Update from the menu:

    bios update

    Update

    This will install the update program on your computer, if you haven’t previously installed it:

    BIOS Update 113-05-2010 07-49-21

    13-05-2010 07-49-3613-05-2010 07-49-42

    13-05-2010 07-49-4813-05-2010 07-49-54

    Next click on Software Update from your Start Menu.

    software update

    Select your home server, browse for the BIOS update you downloaded and then enter the account details, followed by clicking the Install button.

    Update screen

    Well at least that is what you are supposed to do, but like our reader, and ourselves, we couldn’t select the home server as there was nothing in the drop down list and the Rescan button didn’t work (in fact it didn’t look like it did anything!)

    We tried a few different machines and haven’t had any luck.

    Has anyone else out there had this problem and got round it? Let us know….

    We will post an update if and when we get this working.

    UPDATE: Well spotted by Norbert, the BIOS isn’t new at all, it is the same BIOS that is already on the Aspire (I can confirm this), so it looks like Acer just added it to the website and put last weeks date on it! Although that doesn’t solve the problem of the update not actually working!

    Tranquil Talk Media Center PCs and ixL

    Andrew Edney
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    6

    Today Tranquil have dropped some more hints about their forthcoming Media Center PCs – the ixL series.

    Last week we talked about the forthcoming T7-MP2 : Tranquil Announce the T7-MP2 Media Center PC

    Here is what Tranquil have said today:

    Tranquil PC have been quiet on the Media Centre, and performance PC front for the last two years or so.  Certainly the focus on OEM embedded systems and Home Servers etc has kept the organisation very busy.  With the exception of the recent T7-MP2 there have been no new ‘Media Centre’ appliances listed for a long time.

    Those two years have been spent working and waiting. as have you.  That wait is over.

    Raw computing power has always come at a price – real operating costs in pounds / dollars, as well as environmental cost.  The power PCs have always had to be big, not always ugly, but certainly noisy !  – all of that is about to change.

    VIA and more recently Intel have been great in bringing lower power CPUs and chipsets to market, and the latest D150 dual core Atom CPU from Intel is a testament  to Intel’s commitment to power, without power !

    But these ‘light-weight’ CPUs have often been criticised for under performance – not a fair comment really – what can you expect from a CPU consuming just a few watts !?Those days of low power = low power are over.

    Of course the grail of computing is to create affordable style, efficiency, power on demand – and reliability.  The ‘desktop replacements’ that some notebooks can reasonably say they are, tick many of the boxes – but ‘performance notebooks’ come with a price, and reliability – well ?

    A new day is dawning – and Intel call it ‘Not just faster. Smarter’ – of course you’ve seen then advertised everywhere, even TV – yes, it’s the i3 / i5 / i7 Core series

    clip_image001

    Coming soon, is the Tranquil ixL series of PCs – yes, you guessed it, powered by the i3 and i5 CPUs

    Over the next few weeks, will be highlighting :

    • why i3 / i5
    • why fan-less
    • why British engineering
    • why …

    – oh, and of course, when and how much !

    Please visit the Tranquil PC blog below – and Stay Tuned

    http://green-pcs.co.uk

    So as usual we will keep you updated, and expect more news, pictures and reviews shortly and Tranquil will be shipping these babies by the end of June. These look very interesting and we have been talking to Tranquil about these for a little while now and are very excited by the possibilities they bring.

    Sony Announce New Vaio P Ultra Portable Notebook

    Andrew Edney
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    0

    Sony have announced a new version of its slim Vaio P ultra portable notebook, and it has a few new features.

    Earlier this year I reviewed the Sony Vaio P ultra portable: Review of the Sony Vaio P Series Ultra Portable Notebook.

    I first saw these notebooks at CES in January 2009, and then again with an updated spec at CES in January 2010. Now Sony have announced a new version that isn’t just a updated spec, it’s got new features as well.

    The update and new features include a faster Atom Z560 processor, a touchpad on the sides of the screen and an accelerometer that lets you tilt the machine to the navigate the Internet.

    Vaio P Mk2 - backVaio P Mk2 - frontVaio P Mk2 - side

    The VAIO P11S1E has an Intel Atom Z540 1.86 GHz Processor & Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500 with Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB DDR2 RAM a 64GB SSD Flash Drive and comes in Orange, Pink, Green, White or Black.

    Engadget have a full review including videos of the new model, so why not take a look here: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/sony-vaio-p-series-review/

    If I can get my hands on one I will post a full review – they are due for release in June, and yes, they are still very expensive compaired to a netbook, or even a lot of notebooks with a similar spec.

    First Picture of SiliconDusts New 3-Tuner CableCard Product

    Andrew Edney
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    6

    SiliconDust have released a picture of their new 3-Tuner Network Attached – M-Card Ready – CableCard Product.

    Tim and I are both big fans of SiliconDusts products, in fact the SiliconDust HD HomeRun won the 2009 UWHS Readers Award for Best Media Device.

    Well today SiliconDust have released a picture of their brand new 3-tuner network attached CableCard product.

    SiliconDust 3 Card Tuner

    And apparently there is a beta starting next week. Unfortunately being in the UK rules me out completely, but hopefully we can get Tim on it, as I know he is very excited about it Smile

    To learn more about SiliconDust and it’s products, click here: http://www.silicondust.com/

    And here is a video Tim did at CES of the dual tuner: CES 2010 – Video of the HDHomeRun CableCARD tuner

    More news when we get it – so stay tuned!

    Windows Home Server Vail Beta Now in German and Japanese

    Andrew Edney
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    2

    If you are wanting to test the new version of Windows Home Server, Code Named Vail in either German or Japanese, then you are in luck.

    Today Microsoft have released the beta for WHS Vail in both German and Japanese to go along with the versions that had already been released a few weeks ago.

    24-04-2010 08-55-39

    To learn more about Vail click here: Windows Home Server Vail Public Preview

    To download the beta, click here: https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer

    And don’t forget if you are having any problems with Vail, you can visit the official Microsoft Forum here: http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/whsvailbeta/threads

    DVBLogic Hint At New DVBLink Server Network Pack

    Andrew Edney
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    0

    Today DVBLogic have hinted about things to come with a new version of the DVBLink Server Network Pack.

    DVBLogic logo

    This is what DVBLogic says:

    Just wanted to let everyone know that we are making a new version of DVBLink Server Network Pack. This version will be especially useful for those football fans who do not want to miss the WorldCup games even when they are not at home.

    The new version will enable streaming of TV channels from the home computer over the internet – to web browsers and, potentially, mobile phones.

    Stay tuned for more news later this month!

    This is very interesting – whilst I have no interest at all in football or the World Cup, I think that one or two other people might be interested, but even if you are like my and you don’t care about that, the possibilities that this might add are very interesting.

    So, like DVBLogic say, stay tuned for more news!

    For more information on DVBLogic and DVBLink, click here: http://dvblogic.com/

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