New Samsung microSD P9 Express targeted at gaming, professional workflows

Samsung Electronics has launched a new microSD Express card lineup, the Samsung P9 Express. This new family is designed to deliver next-gen gaming experiences and is optimised for leading platforms, including the Nintendo Switch 2.

Source: Samsung. The Samsung P9 Express is available in two memory capacities with 512 GB being the higher capacity. 

Based on the PCIe interface and NVMe protocol, the SD Express technology significantly enhances data transfer performance compared to UHS-I cards, making it ideal for environments that demand high-capacity processing and fast data transmission.

The P9 Express is ideal for dedicated console gamers who regularly enjoy a wide variety of games and downloadable content (DLC), often requiring additional storage beyond what is available internally. It is available in both 256 GB and 512 GB options to meet different gaming needs.

The P9 Express also provides an ideal solution for multiple users sharing a single console, where ample capacity is required for several different game installations, helping gamers overcome limited internal storage and enjoy a wide variety of titles without compromise. When used with a dedicated SD Express interface, the P9 Express delivers sequential read speeds up to four times faster than UHS-I²), enabling creators and professionals to efficiently move large volumes of data from devices to PCs, laptops, or workstations³). 

This combination of high-speed performance and reliability makes the P9 Express an excellent choice for both immersive gaming experiences and demanding professional workflows, such as editing, rendering and managing large media files. By leveraging ultra-fast transfer speeds, Host Memory Buffer (HMB) support, and advanced Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) technology, originally developed for solid state drives (SSDs), the P9 Express delivers a smooth gaming experience. 

The DTG technology intelligently monitors and regulates the card’s temperature, preventing overheating and maintaining consistent performance, even during long gaming sessions. The HMB support also enhances performance by efficiently utilising the host system’s memory to accelerate data access, further improving responsiveness during gameplay. 

With maximum sequential read speeds of up to 800MBps, up to 4x faster than conventional UHS-I cards, this combination ensures stability, allowing gamers to stay fully immersed in gameplay without throttling or interruptions. 

 To protect valuable data, whether it’s saved game progress for gamers or large media files for creators and professionals, the P9 Express features six-proof durability, safeguarding against water immersion, extreme temperatures, X-ray exposure, accidental drops, dust, and pressure. These robust protections ensure data integrity and sustainable performance, giving users peace of mind during extended gaming sessions as well as demanding professional workflows. Details 

 The 256 GB and 512 GB⁴ models will be available for purchase at Samsung.com and through authorised retailers in Singapore from 17 November 2025. The manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRPs) for the Samsung P9 Express are S$89 for the 256 GB model and S$171 for the 512 GB model. 

 

Samsung P9 Express Specifications

Interface		PCIe Gen 3.0 x1, NVMe 1.3, SD 7.1, SDR 1045
Hardware information	Form factor	microSDXC
	User capacity	256 GB / 512 GB 256,288,751,616 bytes / 512,644,612,096 bytes6
	Dimensions (mm)	15 x 11 x 1.1 (L x W x T)
	Weight	Approx. 0.25 g (card only)
Performance	Speed class	Class 10, V307
	Speed grade	Grade (U3)
	Sequential read speed8	(SD Express) 800 MBps (UHS-I) 90 MBps
Reliability	Temperature9	Operating: 0°C to 45°C Non-operating: -40° C to 85° C
Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) certifications		FCC (IC), CE (UKCA), VCCI, RCM
Warranty		3 years limited10

2 Based on internal testing with the P9 Express microSD card 512 GB measured using a PCIe test board, compared to UHS-I microSD cards tested with PRO Ultimate microSD card 512 GB and Samsung readers. Actual performance may vary depending on the host device, interface, usage conditions, and other factors.

3 Compatible with devices with a microSDXC card slot and microSD Express host device. Transfer speeds may be limited to UHS-I speeds depending on the host device’s compatibility.

4 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Actual storage capacity may be lower than the labelled capacity. Part of the storage may be used for system files and other storage control purposes.

5 SDR104: 1.8 V signalling, Frequency up to 208 MHz, up to 104 MBps, maximum current consumption 800 mA (varies by test conditions). 

6 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Actual usable storage capacity may vary. User capacity measured with SD Formatter 3.1 tool with the FAT file system.

7 V30 : Video Speed Class means sustained video capture rates of 30MB/s(V30) which enable to support real-time video recording to UHS Bus interface products. Transfer speeds may vary by host device.

8 Performance results are based on internal testing conditions. Actual read speeds may vary depending on user environment.

9 Stated temperature is defined as the ambient temperature. Sufficient cooling airflow or effective heat-dissipation are recommended to be operated properly on heavier workloads within device operating temperature.

10 Warranties provided herein do not extend to any use of the product for or with continuous recording instruments or any other write-intensive devices, including without limitation security cameras, surveillance systems, dashboard cameras, black box cameras, Internet protocol/network cameras, continuous recording set top box devices and continuous data logging devices like servers, dedicated devices for benchmarking test, the primary drive for certain devices and any other excessive uses.

Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD has more capacity, power efficiency and speed

Source:  Samsung. The 990 EVO Plus SSD.

Samsung Electronics Singapore has released the 990 EVO Plus SSD (solid state drive), which comes with PCIe 4.0 support and the latest NAND technology to offer higher performance, capacities and power efficiency. 

Optimised for business and creative endeavours as well as gaming, the 990 EVO Plus is an ideal solution for consumers who are seeking faster data processing speeds and expanded storage capacities on their PCs.

“As consumers create higher quality images, video content and engage in next-generation gaming, this creates a corresponding demand for high-performance, high-capacity storage options to facilitate quick transfers for valuable data. As the world leader in advanced memory technology, Samsung is introducing the 990 EVO Plus to users who want enhanced performance and efficiency on their laptops and desktop PCs. 

"With faster data read and write speeds, expanded storage capacities and improved power efficiency, the 990 EVO Plus offers the best-in-class SSD experience to consumers, workers and gamers alike," Jacus Long, Head of Display Business, Samsung Electronics Singapore.

The 990 EVO Plus is built on decades of Samsung’s pioneering semiconductor technology with proven reliability. Featuring Samsung's latest 8th generation V-NAND technology and a 5-nanometer (nm) controller, the 990 EVO Plus offers sequential read speeds of up to 7,250 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) and write speeds of up to 6,300MBps3,4, enhancing its performance by up to 50% compared to its predecessor, the 990 EVO. The 990 EVO Plus also incorporates an innovative nickel-coated heat shield that minimises overheating, which enhances its power efficiency by 73% compared to its predecessor.

The 990 EVO Plus offers a 4 TB model and comes with Samsung’s TurboWrite 2.0, revamped for maximised performance, to facilitate rapid file transfer speeds and reduce lag.

The 4 TB model has a random read speed of 1,050 K input/output and 1,400 K IOPS3,4 for random write, putting its performance almost on par with SSD products with DRAM (without using the DRAM cache)*. This feature makes it an optimal solution for gaming and AI tasks that require high performance.

To enhance the functionality of all Samsung SSDs, including the 990 EVO Plus, users can make use of the optimisation tools available with the Samsung Magician software. The software can help users to streamline the data migration process for SSD upgrades while monitoring SSD health and offering customised performance optimisation.

Details

The 990 EVO Plus will be available in Singapore from the end of October via the Samsung Online Store, the Samsung Official Store on Lazada and Shopee as well as at selected consumer electronics stores. 

The recommended retail price for the 1 TB 990 Evo Plus is S$159, while the 2 TB model retails for S$268, and the 4 TB model retails at S$479. 

Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus specifications

Category	Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus
Interface	PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 / 5.0 x2 NVMe 2.0
Form factor	M.2 (2280)
Storage memory	Samsung V-NAND 3-bit TLC
Controller	Samsung in-house controller
Capacity2	1 TB	2 TB	4 TB
Sequential read/write speed 3,4	Up to 7,150 MBps, 6,300 MBps	Up to 7,250 MBps, 6,300 MBps	Up to 7,250 MBps, 6,300 MBps
Random read/write speed (QD32) 3,4	Up to 850 K IOPS, 1,350 K IOPS	Up to 1,000 K IOPS, 1,350 K IOPS	Up to 1,050 K IOPS, 1,400 K IOPS
Management software	Samsung Magician Software
Data encryption	AES 256-bit full disk encryption, TCG/Opal V2.0,
	Encrypted Drive (IEEE1667)
Total bytes written	600 TB	1,200 TB	2,400 TB
Warranty 5	5-year limited warranty 6

 

For more information — including warranty details — please visit samsung.com/sg/memory-storage/all-memory-storage/?ssd. Get the installation guide for the 990 EVO Plus at https://semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/ssdupgrade/.

*DRAM and NAND can both be used to store data, but DRAM is faster than NAND at storage and retrieval. When the power is switched off, any data in DRAM is lost, whereas data in NAND is retained. NAND is also more durable than DRAM, but there is a maximum number of times it can write data. 

2 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes by IDEMA. A certain portion of capacity may be used for system file and maintenance use, so the actual capacity may differ from what is indicated on the product label.

3 Sequential and random performance measurements are based on IOmeter1.1.0. Performance may vary based on an SSD’s firmware version, system hardware and configuration.

4 Test system configuration: AMD Ryzen9 7950x 16-Core Processor CPU@4.5GHz, DDR5 4,800 MHz 16 GB x 2), OS-Windows 11 Pro 64-bit, chipset - ASRock X670E Taichi.

 5 Samsung Electronics shall not be liable for any loss, including but not limited to loss of data or other information contained on Samsung Electronics’ products or loss of profit or revenue which may be incurred by the user. For more information on the warranty, please visit samsung.com/SSD or semiconductor.samsung.com/internal-ssd/

6 Five years or total bytes written (TBW), whichever comes first. For more information on the warranty, please refer to the enclosed warranty document in the package.

Western Digital launches microSD card with 400GB capacity

The 400GB SanDisk Ultra
microSD card.

Western Digital Corporation, has launched a 400GB* SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card, the world’s highest-capacity microSD card for use in mobile devices.

As a UHS Speed class 1 card, it can support the shooting of full HD videos comfortably. Compatible smartphones support the SDXC standard.

"As long as you have digital content, look for us. We have a product for you," said Margaret Koh, Sales Director, Asia South, Western Digital Corporation. 

Details: 

The 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSD card features a 10-year limited warranty** and is now available at Challenger and Mustafa with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of S$459.   

*1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Actual user storage is less.  

**www.sandisk.com/wug. 

Acronis True Image 2018 has AI technology for ransomware detection

Beloussov introducing Acronis ahead of the launch of Acronis True Image 2018.

Acronis, a global player in hybrid cloud data protection for business and consumers, will be leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in all of its products. "AI is a very conceptually complicated field today but it doesn't require many people," Serguei Beloussov, co-founder and CEO of Acronis, shared. "We will invest in the use of AI across all products."

What's new in Acronis True Image 2018. Eight of the over 240 new enhancements are highlighted.

Beloussov was speaking at the launch of the flagship Acronis True Image 2018, an intelligent backup solution with an AI-based ransomware defense for both personal and home office data protection. While classic cybersecurity tools focus on discovering and preventing malware, Acronis True Image safeguards the data directly so that even if data loss should occur, the data is safe, Beloussov said.

Data loss through ransomware may have captured the public imagination in recent months but the truth is that data loss can occur in many ways. Acronis has found that people can lose data through accidental deletions, malware, damage to hardware, hardware failure, theft, or through simply forgetting their passwords. This makes a good backup solution paramount. Acronis True Image 2018 includes major updates to the software's backup and recovery capabilities, and is the first personal backup tool to incorporate AI-based technology designed to actively protect data against ransomware, Acronis said.

“As the first company to offer full image backup for consumers, Acronis pioneered intelligent backup for home use,” said Beloussov. “Acronis True Image 2018 continues that tradition as the first and only personal backup software that uses artificial intelligence to defend consumers against one of the fastest growing threats to their data.”

Acronis True Image is built on the three pillars of reliability, ease of use, and security, said Beloussov: users want recovery success every time, on every device; they want setups completed in a handful of clicks, with no interruptions or maintenance time; and they want their data to be protected. “We believe that everybody should be completely protected in what they do without making an effort,” he said.

By combining the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) based ransomware defense, called Acronis Active Protection, with a new generation of enhanced backup and recovery capabilities such as active disk cloning and automated WinPE boot media creation, Acronis is positioning Acronis True Image 2018 as a new standard of intelligent backup for individuals, families and small businesses.

In a survey of Acronis customers during July 2017, 95% of respondents said they choose and recommend Acronis True Image because the backups are so reliable. The 2018 release improves on those core backup and recovery capabilities even more, with enhancements such as:

Active disk cloning

Users can create an exact replica of an active Windows system without stopping and restarting using bootable media, making migration to a faster or larger disk even easier. More than 50% of Acronis customers use disk cloning to migrate from smaller drives to larger drives, from hard disk drives (HDD) to solid state drives (SSD), and from old drives to new ones.

Updated media builder

Acronis further found that over 50% of Acronis customers use bootable media to recover or migrate to the new hardware. Acronis True Image 2018 automatically creates boot media for a Windows preinstallation environment (WinPE), so users can quickly resolve driver configuration issues and recover their systems to the same or new hardware.

Continuous backup to the cloud

Users can update their backups as they work on files while securely storing an offsite version in the cloud. Updates are made every five minutes, on a low system footprint that has no visible impact on system performance, the company said. Acronis statistics show that 50% of Acronis customers use both local and cloud backup.

Support for slow connections

Incremental backups are now up to three times faster with new Changed-Block Tracker technology that tracks image changes in real time. This helps the 90% of Acronis customers who use incremental full image backup. Acronis shared that 30% of them have slow Internet connections.

Network-attached storage (NAS) support

More than a quarter of Acronis users (26%) have NAS at home, Acronis notes. With this feature, backing up a mobile device can begin automatically, as soon as the mobile device connects to the same Wi-Fi as the NAS. The process can be done with a QR code and a mobile app.

Instagram backup - available in Asia in September

Acronis True Image 2018 also addresses the needs of digital users by expanding its support for social media with automatic backups of Instagram accounts, including photos, comments and statistics, such as the number of likes, tags or comments a post gets. The company noted that Instagram backup is the feature that is most requested by users of Facebook backup.

Virtual drive conversion

Users can test the recoverability of the full image backups, or run their system in a Hyper-V virtual environment to test various applications without risking the primary system,. They can also move complete system image as a virtual drive to another computer.

Status updates

A new visual interface addresses the preferences of 83% of Acronis customers who reported that they want more information and insights into their backups. Graphically displaying backup activity and statistics, it allows users to manage their backups at a glance – including how much data they have stored, the types of files in storage, and the status of backups.

Ransomware protection through Acronis Active Protection 2.0

Expect to see more ransomware, so much so that it will be like catching the flu - it will be everywhere, and everyone will get it sometime, Beloussov said. "The number of ransomware attacks will only grow because it is a very, very good way to make money," he observed, predicting that ransomware protection will become mandatory for any backup software.

More than 60% percent of Acronis customers surveyed said they worry about ransomware, and Acronis has addressed their concerns across different stages of the ransomware cycle in the 2018 edition. "We believe that at the moment we have the best anti-ransomware software on the market – with Windows Defender and Acronis True Image installed on top of it you are completely safe from a ransomware attack," Beloussov said.

Ransomware damages are expected to top US$5 billion this year, and Acronis’ self-defense of backup files is Acronis True Image 2018’s way to ensure a user’s data remains untouched. While cybercriminals increasingly target backup files to keep users from restoring their system without paying the ransom, Acronis’ technology specifically defends backup files as well as the original data.

Acronis True Image 2018 not only makes recovery automatic, it takes the initial protection a step further by preventing ransomware from corrupting a user’s data in the first place. With new real-time monitoring, Acronis Active Protection 2.0 verifies all processes so approved activities are allowed to run, while potentially dangerous behaviour is detected and stopped. Should any files be encrypted during a ransomware attack, Acronis True Image 2018 automatically restores those files from backup.

Using machine learning models and trained on a dataset of over 100 million events, Acronis Active Protection recognises unusual patterns of file access in real-time, even if they are disguised as legitimate processes. These models are generated in Acronis’ dedicated Cloud AI infrastructure, and incorporated directly into Acronis Active Protection, allowing Acronis True Image 2018 to protect a system’s data independently, without the need for an Internet connection.

When Active Protection detects unusual activity, it checks the process using both heuristics analysis as well as those models of expected and unexpected behaviour. If the process is identified as potentially malicious, Acronis True Image 2018 alerts the user of the suspicious activity in one or two millseconds. Beloussov shared that the software has 99.95% accuracy in detecting ransomware and that the capability to predict potential software, hardware and system failures are in the works.

He explained: "We can deal with things that are not known to be ransomware. As more and more users use our software we will get better and better at the prevention of ransomware." Ransomware like Cerber, for instance, do not follow the typical profile of ransomware today, he said. The malware will work very slowly to encrypt file headers instead of the entire file, corrupting files at an undetectable rate versus ransomware which encrypts all of the files at one time.

A new Security Dashboard gives users complete visibility over Acronis Active Protection so they can track the number of processes that have been flagged as potentially dangerous, see which ones were blocked, and manage a whitelist of trusted applications.

Active Protection 2.0 is also available for the Mac, and has already identified the Patcher ransomware masquerading as Adobe Premiere CC as well as KeRanger, distributed as a popular BitTorrent app.

Acronis True Image has more than 1 million consumer customers in Asia, more than 100,000 business customers in Asia and 30,000-plus partners worldwide. Acronis Active Protection, developed in Singapore, had over 10,000 unique users globally with version 1.0 that released January 2017.

Interested?

Review the new features in Acronis True Image 2018. Instagram backup is available in selected markets and will be available worldwide on September 4, 2017

Acronis True Image 2018 is available for purchase online and through major software resellers and retail stores worldwide. Three editions of Acronis True Image 2018 are available, all of which include Acronis Active Protection against ransomware and cover an unlimited number of mobile devices:

The Standard version is a perpetual license that is offered without any cloud storage or access to cloud-based features for customers who prefer to store their data on local drives only. Annual pricing starts at S$69.99 for one computer.

Advanced is a one-year subscription that includes 250 GB of cloud storage and access to all cloud-based features. Pricing starts at S$69.99 per year for one computer.

Premium is a one-year subscription that includes Blockchain-based data certification and electronic signature capabilities, as well as 1 TB of cloud storage. Pricing starts at S$99.99 per year for one computer.

Advanced and Premium subscribers can purchase additional cloud storage within the application. Advanced Licenses can upgrade to a maximum of 500 GB. If more storage is needed, Advanced users can upgrade to a Premium License, which offers cloud storage of up to 5 TB.

Watch the Instavideo on disk cloning in Acronis True Image 2018

Sony launches high-speed, high-capacity hard disk drives

· High-speed data transfers of up to 138MBps (read/write)

· Shock resistant, splash resistant and dust resistant

· Silicon lid protects connection terminals from dust and water

Source: Sony. The new 2TB drive.

Sony has expanded its line of portable storage devices, delivering faster speeds, greater connectivity, increased reliability and enhanced durability with new 1TB and 2TB hard disk drives (HDDs).

The dual interface models support USB Type-A connectivity using a tethered cable to ensure no cables are lost, in addition to a USB Type-C port, ideal for memory card backup in the field. The drives are preformatted in exFAT*, and allow for data transfer up to 138MBps (read/write).

The rugged shuttle drives’ rubber damper design offers increased durability, making it shock resistant and capable of withstanding a drop of up to 6.5 feet. The HDDs are splash resistant (IPX4 rating) and dust resistant (IP5X rating). The drives are specially designed with a silicon lid protecting the connection terminals from dust and water. The PSZ-HC1T and PSZ-HC2T come packaged in a sturdy library box for additional protection during shipping or storage.

Sony’s free Memory Media Utility software, available for download at www.sony.net/mmu, offers additional protection by providing a record/rewrite life indicator, simultaneous content backup to multiple destinations, a re-formatting tool and more.

Interested?

The new HDDs, models PSZ-HC1T (1TB) and PSZ-HC2T (2TB) will be available at all Sony authorised dealers from July 2017.

*Extended File Allocation Table or exFAT is a Microsoft file system standard that is optimised for flash memory such as USB flash drives and SD cards.

posted from Bloggeroid

Seagate announces Seagate DJI Fly Drive

Source: Seagate. The Seagate DJI Fly Drive.

Drones are creating more content than ever before, and with the announcement of the Seagate DJI Fly Drive, managing that data is about to get easier. 

The first data solution to come from Seagate and DJI’s strategic partnership, Fly Drive portable external drive will allow drone pilots to efficiently back up their photo and video content on location, thanks to its large storage capacity, integrated MicroSD card slot, quick transfer speeds and durable build. It also comes with a complimentary two-month subscription to Adobe Premiere Pro CC*, part of Adobe Creative Cloud.

Fly Drive features:

• Up to 2TB of storage. On average, an hour of 4K 30fps compressed footage creates 30GB of data.
• MicroSD card slot
• Protective bumper provides shock resistance. A USB-C cable is stored in the bumper. 
• USB 3.1 Type C interface 

Interested?

The Seagate DJI Fly Drive will be available this summer (editor's note: roughly Q2 to Q3)

*Adobe Premiere Pro CC offer valid where available. 

posted from Bloggeroid

The digital hoarding struggle is real

Source: Veritas infographic. More than two thirds of office professionals give up on organising their files.

Veritas Technologies, the information management provider, has released research* showing that 79% of IT decision makers (ITDMs) in Singapore admit they are hoarders of data and digital files.

Following its Data Genomics project, which analysed tens of billions of files and their attributes from many of its customers’ unstructured data environments, Veritas conducted a study to analyse the data storage habits of ITDMs and global office professionals.

Source: Veritas infographic. What makes a data hoarder?

The research, commissioned by Veritas, was conducted among office professionals and ITDMs globally, with 1,000 respondents from Singapore, to look into how individuals manage data. Significant concerns regarding data hoarding were highlighted, with 82% of all respondents indicating that they store data that could be potentially harmful to their organisations.

These include: unencrypted personal records, job applications to other companies, unencrypted company secrets and embarrassing employee correspondence. Major issues highlighted in the research include:

The findings highlighted that digital hoarding ITDMs keep 52% of all the data they create. They also concede that the oldest files on their computers are six years old, on average.

While this indicates that data hoarding behaviour is common across organisations, many office professionals, 57%, admit that they wouldn’t trust a data hoarder to turn in a project on time, higher than the global average at 48%. And nearly one in three (32%) digital hoarding office professionals have never followed through on a plan to delete old files.

Respondents are also willing to do the unexpected in order to keep the files they’ve hoarded, giving up their clothes and weekends rather than deleting their files. Close to half (45%) would rather get rid of all their clothes than their digital files while 37% would rather work weekends for three months than get rid of all their digital files.

A significant majority of ITDMs were also overwhelmed by the extent and amount of data that they are hoarding. However, while 76% of ITDMs feel that digital hoarding is one of the biggest IT problems at their company – 86% said they feel that non-IT executives don’t understand how big of a problem it can be.

More than three quarters (77%) of ITDMs frequently have to take time away from their daily responsibilities at work to solve problems caused by digital hoarding – and on average, they encounter four issues per week. On average, ITDMs feel that 44% of the employees at their company are digital hoarders, whereas 70% of office professionals self-identify as digital hoarders. What is clear is that employees struggle to determine if data has long-term importance or value. As a result, 47% of them are afraid they will eventually need to refer to the data again and they are not sure which files should be kept or deleted.

The amount of data their company stores would increase the time it takes to respond to a data breach, according to 83% of ITDMs. Moreover, what is being retained could itself be harmful, with 73% of office professionals and 91% of ITDMs in Singapore admitting they save ’harmful’ files – which is significantly more than office professionals (62%) and ITDMs globally (83%). These include: unencrypted personnel records, job applications to other companies, unencrypted company secrets and embarrassing employee correspondence. Personal files also make up quite a bit of the ‘junk’ saved, with 91% of ITDMs admitting to saving unnecessary personal files.

In May 2018, the European Parliament will implement the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a set of EU-wide laws that also affect those outside the EU doing business
within it. Maximum non-compliance fines are at the higher end of US$22.3 million, or up to f4% of worldwide turnover.

“As Singapore moves towards becoming a digital society, virtually every organisation struggles with the challenges brought on by exponential data growth. As a result, office professionals and IT departments have the tendency to safeguard all the information on hand for ‘potential’ use in the future,” said Victor Cheng, MD, Asia South Region, Veritas. “To make matters worse, employees do not view data hoarding as a threat, thus placing data cleanup on the low priority list. It’s time to make data cleanup a priority while causing minimal disruption within the organisation in order to prevent breaches in the future.”

Interested?

Explore the Data Genomics Index

View the complete data hoarders infographic

*This research was conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of Veritas Technologies across 13 countries and more than 10,000 office professionals and ITDMs.

The Veritas Data Genomics Index is the first data benchmark that accurately details real environments – from the file type composition and average age distribution, to the size proportions of their individual files. Veritas analysed tens of billions of files and their
attributes from many of its customers’ unstructured data environments in 2015 to get a better understanding of what their environments really consisted of. Over 8,000 of the most popular file type extensions were considered in the analysis. Generally, this data is a representative subset of the entire file system environment of a respective customer.

posted from Bloggeroid

Seagate makes desktop backup solution more versatile

Seagate has introduced the Seagate Backup Plus Hub, with up to 8TB capacity, for backup storage.

Based on Seagate’s Backup Plus Desktop the solution includes two USB 3.0 ports for connecting and charging devices. The USB slots can charge up to two devices even if the computer is not powered on.

Devices connected directly to the Backup Plus Hub can be used for data transfers as if they were plugged directly into a computer. The Backup Plus Hub is also compatible with Android and iOS devices.

Cloud backup is available with the Seagate Dashboard software, which includes 200GB of Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage free for two years.

Interested?

The 8TB Backup Plus Hub is available at Challenger outlets in Singapore for S$599.

posted from Bloggeroid

BEAM provides app-based self-storage in Singapore

BEAM, a service provider with a fresh take on self-storage, has launched in Singapore. The self-storage process can be managed through an accompanying app.

Whereas most self-storage providers rent fixed areas of space, BEAM provides flexible per-item storage so users only pay for what they store and not for unused space. Traditional storage facilities are typically in remote areas and require customers to drop off and pick up items. BEAM offers a free pick-up and delivery service, all scheduled through the BEAM app, to BEAM’s 6,000 sq ft high-security facility, complete with CCTV and access control.

“People need a place to keep things and existing self-storage solutions do not offer them much flexibility. Traditional self-storage facilities are a hassle to reach by public transport thus resulting in people simply not using them. This just leads to clutter in homes. With BEAM, anyone can enjoy on-demand fully-itemised storage with ease of interaction with savings of as much as 40% over the costs of traditional self-storage,” explains Kash Patel, BEAM’s CEO and co-founder.

BEAM caters to both consumers and business users, storing anything from seasonal items such as clothes and holiday decorations to small furniture, appliances, and bicycles. Business users can store confidential document boxes, marketing/promotional materials and other event-based items that they do not use regularly. BEAM’s storage facility space covers over and is expandable.

BEAM’s service is the only one in the market which allows users to manage their storage end-to-end through an app. All items are photographed, inventoried, and barcoded, so users can review stored items by their images. With the BEAM app, users can schedule free pickups with as little as four hours’ notice. Professional concierges are trained to ensure items are handled with the utmost care. Retrieval of items can be scheduled with as little as a day's notice. BEAM’s in-house storage concierges use an app to manage pickup and delivery scheduling and the checking of items in or out of the customer’s home or office. Customers must sign off the items being picked up or delivered to ensure full end-to-end tracking. Insurance coverage is included.

The technology behind BEAM was built to be highly scalable for entry into new markets. BEAM, which is incubated by Fatfish Internet Group, aims to pave its way into another major Asian city by end of this year and expand into other countries next year. 

Interested?

BEAM is free to download on both Android and iOS software.

Box Zones gives customers more flexibility in where they can store data

Enterprise content management platform Box has announced Box Zones to provide enterprises with the choice to store data regionally across Europe and Asia. By leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) and IBM Cloud, Box Zones will allow content in Box to be stored in Germany, Ireland, Singapore and Japan based on customer needs, the company said.

“Businesses today are more connected, collaborative and global thanks to the power of the cloud,” said Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box. “Yet for many companies, local laws and regulations have forced them to make technology tradeoffs that limit their success and place a drag on employee productivity and collaboration. Box Zones will help power digital transformation for enterprise customers across Europe and Asia and accelerate our international presence.”

Today, more than 57,000 businesses, including 59% of the Fortune 500 rely on Box for secure content management and collaboration. Multinational businesses like Amadeus, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, General Electric, P&G and Schneider Electric have teams spanning the globe that require secure international collaboration to be successful.

"At Royal HaskoningDHV, we have more than 6,500 employees around the world and Box Zones addresses many of the major challenges that we face," said Roland Daane, Corporate Information Manager, Royal HaskoningDHV, which lists more than 20 offices in locations in Asia, Australia and the Middle East. "With this news, we're thrilled that Box is giving us even more choice around how we control and secure our content. This lets us focus on our goal of combining global expertise with local knowledge to deliver a multidisciplinary range of consultancy services in over 150 countries."

Box recently introduced services like Box KeySafe and Box Governance to provide customers with more flexible deployments. According to Box, Box Zones will support the needs of customers that require regional content storage without sacrificing any of Box’s modern collaboration features like document watermarking, granular permission controls, commenting and tasks, wide-ranging file preview, as well as integrations with business tools like Office 365 and Salesforce.

"Security is the top priority for AWS and our customers. With the recent launch of Box KeySafe running on AWS, Box offers companies of all sizes greater control over their business-critical, sensitive content, and furthers that mission with today's introduction of Box Zones,” said Terry Wise, Vice President of Worldwide Partner Ecosystem, Amazon Web Services. “We believe customers should have the freedom to choose where and how their data is stored. With Box Zones leveraging Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), customers can better meet the highest levels of security and regulatory compliance required in their respective geographies.”

"As enterprises turn to cloud as an innovation platform, data is at the centre," said Robert LeBlanc, SVP, IBM Cloud. "Box Zones on the IBM Cloud, with new technology from the recent acquisition of Cleversafe, will provide a platform for clients who prefer to store data in country for performance, security or other advantages. We look forward to expanding our partnership with Box and helping serve clients in Europe and Asia through our network of IBM Cloud Data Centers.”

Interested?

Box Zones is scheduled to be available next month for an additional fee and leverages Amazon S3 on AWS Regions in Germany, Ireland, Japan and Singapore. Box Zones is also scheduled to be available via IBM Cloud in Europe and Asia later this year for an additional fee.

HPE lowers threshold to entry storage portfolio

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) recently announced enhancements to its entry storage portfolio to help customers with limited budgets harness content and accelerate applications. The new HPE MSA Storage options enable the most affordable dual-controller hybrid flash array from a major vendor¹ while the new HPE StoreEasy 1650 Expanded transforms the economics of storing large volumes of information.

The ability to quickly and efficiently harness the value of information is critical for success. “In today’s economy, agility and speed are critical to stay competitive, regardless of business size,” said Manish Goel, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Storage, HPE. “That’s why Hewlett Packard Enterprise is bringing enterprise storage scale and performance within reach of customers who have even the most constrained budgets.”

Hybrid flash performance for 45% less²

HPE has enhanced its HPE MSA Storage family to include solid state drive (SSD, also called flash) support for the HPE MSA 1040. This expanded support for SSDs results in new hybrid flash configurations starting at under US$8,500³. SSDs have the advantage of requiring less power and space while offering better performance than traditional mechanical hard drives. Both the MSA 1040 and 2040 can now take advantage of flash media. These new SSDs deliver hybrid flash acceleration at prices that are 30% lower⁴ for the same capacity point, putting higher performance and latency reduction within reach of more businesses.

The enhanced HPE MSA 1040 can:

· Boost storage efficiency with advanced storage virtualisation capabilities such as thin provisioning, enhanced snapshot services, wide-striping, and flash-based acceleration.

· Make read caching 70% faster and performance tiering 90% faster for an incremental investment in SSD capacity that costs from US$1,599⁵

· Up to 75% lower storage costs by taking advantage of MSA’s archive tiering capabilities, which automatically place data in the appropriate storage tier - data that is required the most often is stored in more expensive, faster storage, while data that is rarely required is stored in cheaper storage with longer retrieval times⁶.

Network-attached storage (NAS) at 41% lower cost, in 80% less space⁷

For customers who need an affordable solution for bulk and secondary file storage, the HPE StoreEasy 1650 Expanded NAS appliance accommodates 28 large form factor (LFF) drives for up to 224 TB of internal capacity in the 2U form factor, making it the most dense 2U NAS appliance on the market⁸. This scalable solution enables customers to store unstructured data at 41% lower cost in 80% less space with 82% fewer components than the equivalent NetApp FAS system⁹.

This new addition provides rapid configuration tools, storage provisioning templates, and a centralised monitoring dashboard to simplify management. The system features many layers of security—including drive, file system, and data-in-flight encryption—as well as sophisticated data access policies based on automatic file classification. The StoreEasy solution also provides secure anywhere sync-and-share support for Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows devices.

Interested?¹⁰

The HPE StoreEasy 1650 Expanded and the HPE MSA 1040 are part of the HPE Just Right IT portfolio and are available through the HPE Small Business Marketplace. The new MSA SSD drives are currently available at the following prices and capacity points: 400GB for US$1,200; 800GB for US$2,278; 1.6TB for US$4,300; 3.2TB for US$7,500.

SSDs on the MSA 1040 are supported via firmware update GL220, which is posted on hpe.com and free of charge to customers on warranty or a current service contract. The MSA 1040 Advanced Virtualization Upgrade license is priced at US$384 as of February 15, 2016.

The StoreEasy 1650 Expanded starts at US$14,720 with 32TB of capacity.

¹Based on published US List pricing from Dell, EMC, IBM, HPE and Network Appliance, January 2016.

²Cost reduction is based on US list price for MSA 2040 SAN small form factor (SFF) array with 4 x 1GbE iSCSI small form factor pluggables (SFPs)  and 2 x 200 GB SSDs (US$14,768) as compared to the US Smart Buy list price for 1GbE iSCSI MSA 1040 SFF array with 2 x 200 GB SSDs and MSA 1040 Advanced Virtualization upgrade (US$8,038).

³Based on publicly available US list Smart Buy price for 1.4TB, 1GbE iSCSI MSA 1040 SFF array with one 200 GB SSD, four 300GB 10k (10,000 revolutions per minute) HDDs and MSA 1040 Advanced Virtualization upgrade, totaling US$7,817.

⁴Based on US list prices for 400GB SSD at US$2,220 (previously US$3,099), 800GB SSD at US$4,219 (previously US$5,999), 1.6TB SSD at US$7,979 (previously US$10,969).     

⁵Based on US list price for a single 200 GB SSD and a series of workload tests performed by Demartek in coordination with Read Cache and MSA Performance R/W Tiering functionality. Full reports can be found at the Demartek website under the following links – Exchange, SQL, Mixed Virtualized Workloads.

⁶Expressed as cost per gigabyte for storage moved to the Archive Tier and based on HPE internal testing using Archive Tiering capabilities to store infrequently accessed data from Enterprise SAS (10k/15k) drives to Midline SAS (7.2k) drives.

⁷Based on publicly available product information. As compared to NetApp FAS2520 with 216 TB of raw capacity.

⁸Based on HPE internal analysis of publicly available information, February 2016

⁹Based on publicly available product information. As compared to the NetApp FAS2520 with 216 TB of raw capacity.

¹⁰US list prices or publicly available US Smart Buy prices where indicated. Actual prices may vary.

Dell introduces midmarket backup appliances, free Windows data recovery software

· New data deduplication appliance models are built for midmarket, deliver higher capacity, speed and performance

· Free set-and-forget recovery solution protects Windows clients

Dell has announced data protection solutions to help small and midmarket organisations better protect business-critical systems, applications, and data – either on premises or in the cloud. Offerings include data deduplication appliances models; and the new Dell Data Protection | Endpoint Recovery – Free Edition.

Back up more and store less 

New releases to the Dell DR series of deduplication appliances include the new Dell DR4300e, DR4300 and DR6300. Dell DR appliances relieve network bandwidth congestion and boost ingest performance, ensuring that backups get completed on time, every time. Ingestion refers to the reformatting of captured data into a form suitable for storage.

· The DR4300 delivers up to 108TB of usable capacity while ingesting up to 23TB of data per hour. The entry-level DR4300e is a smaller scale, low-cost appliance that can scale up to 27TB. With these offerings, small and midmarket organisations can now easily adopt enterprise-grade data deduplication capabilities that have traditionally been out of reach.

· The DR63000 is a larger midmarket and small enterprise solution that delivers up to 360TB of usable capacity while ingesting up to 29TB of data per hour.

Freemium protection and recovery for Windows clients

To help companies protect the growing volumes of data created by endpoint devices, Dell Data Protection | Endpoint Recovery – Free Edition will be available as lightweight, easy-to-use software for Windows clients. A no-cost, set-and-forget client protection solution designed for a single user, the freemium offering provides file deduplication and compression to reduce storage costs and enables fast recovery of lost data.

Interested?

Dell Data Protection | Endpoint Recovery – Free Edition will be available in the Singapore beginning in early March, while all other solutions are already available in Singapore.

OWC launches its highest capacity 2.5" solid state drive ever

OWC, a zero emissions Mac and PC technology company whose products are available in Australia, the Philippines and Singapore, today announced the all-new Mercury Electra MAX 6G 2.0TB SSD, the highest capacity 2.5” solid state drive ever offered by OWC. The new drive combines a large capacity with the performance and reliability of the OWC Mercury SSD lineup.

Source: OWC. The 2.0TB Mercury Electra MAX 6G SSD. 

The 2.0TB Mercury Electra MAX 6G SSD features SATA 3.0 6G speeds of up to 490MBps on sequential reads, with write performance up to 471 MBps. It is fully compatible with SATA 2.0 (3G) and SATA (1.5G).

Utilising advanced controller technologies along with 7% over-provisioning; the Mercury Electra MAX 6G 2.0TB SSD provides RAID-like data protection and reliability without sacrificing performance. Global wear levelling algorithms automatically distribute data evenly, maximising the SSD lifespan. The StaticDataRefresh feature manages free space efficiently and safely, preventing data corruption while Hardware Error-Correcting Code corrects errors as they occur for superior data retention. The drive also supports 128/256-bit-AES full-disk encryption, and comes with a three-year OWC SSD limited warranty.

"The Mercury Electra MAX 6G 2.0TB SSD was designed from the ground up for heavy-duty use," said Larry O'Connor, Founder and CEO, OWC. "Our benchmark testing yielded impressive results, but the Electra MAX truly shines when performance matters most, especially in real-world content creation applications."

Interested?

Shipping this January, the Mercury Electra MAX 6G 2.0TB SSD will be available at OWC authorised resellers and MacSales.com. The manufacturers' suggested retail price is US$799.99 with street pricing from under US$700.

Store data more securely with a Kingston encrypted USB flash drive

Kingston, the memory products provider, has released the DataTraveler 2000 encrypted USB flash drive. The DataTraveler 2000 offers hardware encryption and PIN protection with access through an integrated alphanumeric keypad.

Designed for global security IT professionals, small-to-medium businesses and corporate end users who require electronic data protection, the OS-independent DataTraveler 2000 offers hardware-based, full-disk AES 256-bit data encryption in XTS mode on stored data, with no software or hardware drivers needed.

DataTraveler 2000’s alphanumeric keypad allows users to lock the drive with a word or number combination. For additional security, its auto-lock feature is activated when the drive is removed from the host device and the encr

Source: Kingston. 

yption key and password are deleted after 10 invalid login attempts. An aluminum cover protects the drive from elements such as water and dust.

Said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Sales Director, APAC Region, Kingston: “It is the perfect option to deploy in the workforce where a uniform encrypted data storage solution that works on many different OSes are in use.”

DataTraveler 2000 uses Datalock technology licensed from ClevX. ClevX’s innovative security and mobility solutions can be found on other Kingston encrypted USB flash drives.

Interested?

DataTraveler 2000 is available later in Q1 in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities* and is backed by a three-year warranty, free live technical support and Kingston reliability.

Operating System compatibility	USB 3.1 Gen. 1 (USB 3.0)**	USB 2.0
Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 (SP1), Vista (SP2)	✓	✓
Mac OS X v 10.8.x	✓	✓
Linux v.2.6.x	✓	✓
Chrome OS	✓	✓
Android ***	✓	✓

*Some of the listed capacity on a Flash storage device is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage. As such, the actual available capacity for data storage is less than what is listed on the products. For more information, go to Kingston’s Flash memory Guide at kingston.com/flashguide.

**USB 3.1 Gen 1 (USB 3.0)

*** Compatible devices only