Tag Archives: Network storage

New NetApp ASA A-Series boosts block storage performance!

NetApp just unveiled its all-flash ASA A-Series storage systems designed to boost block storage performance! Here is what you need to know…

 

NetApp introduces all-flash ASA A-Series storage systems!

NetApp, a leader in intelligent data infrastructure, has unveiled its cutting-edge NetApp ASA A-Series all-flash storage systems. Designed specifically for block storage, these systems empower organizations to modernize their storage solutions without compromising on operational simplicity, performance, or affordability.

With these new systems and continued advancements to NetApp’s intelligent data infrastructure, customers no longer need to make tradeoffs between operational simplicity, high-end capabilities, and affordability in their storage.

“Our customers tell us that the demands on their infrastructure keep intensifying so they need storage systems that deliver real value through power, affordability and simplicity,” said Sandeep Singh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Storage at NetApp. “With the new NetApp ASA A-Series systems, our customers can modernise their operations to meet the demands of more powerful workloads on block storage without having to choose between operational simplicity and high-end capabilities. Simpler operations at an affordable price point ensure our customers have the time and resources to apply their powerful storage systems to drive innovation across their business.”

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Review : Tech ARP Editor’s Choice!

 

NetApp ASA A-Series : Key Benefits

With the new all-flash ASA A-Series, businesses can manage their most demanding block storage workloads through three pivotal benefits:

Simplicity

The ASA A-Series prioritizes ease of use, enabling quick deployment and management:

  • Fast Deployment: Setup takes just minutes, with provisioning accomplished in seconds.
  • User-Friendly Management: Thanks to built-in AIOps and seamless integration with VMware, everyday management is streamlined, allowing virtually anyone to operate the system without extensive IT training.

Power

Designed to handle advanced workloads, the ASA A-Series delivers outstanding performance:

  • Market-Leading Performance: Experience millions of IOPS and consistent sub-millisecond latency, ensuring your VMware and database applications run efficiently.
  • Advanced Features: Scale-out clustering, workload balancing, and a “six 9s” availability guarantee ensure that your critical operations remain reliable. Additionally, NetApp’s Ransomware Recovery Guarantee and application-aware backup capabilities provide peace of mind.

Affordability

Cost-effective storage solutions are vital for modern organizations:

  • Lower Upfront Costs: Organizations can enjoy a 25-50% reduction in initial expenses while benefiting from high storage efficiency.
  • Total Cost of Ownership: With low power consumption and minimal operational overhead, the ASA A-Series significantly reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO), allowing for better budget management over time.

To complement the ASA A-Series, NetApp has upgraded its Data Infrastructure Insights service (formerly Cloud Insights). These enhancements provide customers with improved visibility and optimization capabilities, helping them maximize savings and performance across their data infrastructure.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Hands-on Preview In All 3 Colours!

 

NetApp ASA A-Series : Models + Availability

At launch, there are five ASA A-Series models – ASA A150, ASA A250, ASA A400, ASA A800, and ASA A900.

NetApp is now accepting orders for the ASA A-Series, which will begin shipping by the end of October 2024.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Business | HardwareTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Synology Unveils ActiveProtect Data Protection Appliances!

Synology just unveiled new ActiveProtect data protection appliances with a highly-scalable architecture! Here is what you need to know…

 

Synology Unveils ActiveProtect Data Protection Appliances!

On 5 June 2024, Synology unveiled new ActiveProtect appliances during Computex 2024, starting with the ActiveProtect DP7400!

ActiveProtect is a new series of purpose-built data protection appliances that combine centralised management, with a highly-scalable architecture, to offer up to 2X faster backups, 2:1 deduplication, and up to 99% lower data transmission.

Quick Deployments

It takes less than 10 minutes to deploy the Synology ActiveProtect appliance, and just 15 minutes to start protecting your data.

IT teams can quickly deploy ActiveProtect appliances in minutes and create comprehensive data protection plans via global policies using a centralized console. ActiveProtect is designed to be intuitive, significantly reducing operational overhead.

Role-Based Access Control

Maintain control over data by granting access permissions such as workload restoration, and data viewing rights.

Protect Against Ransomware

Secure your data with flexible immutable backups. Instead of a fixed lock period of repository, Synology ActiveProtect offers a flexible lock period for your immutable backups.

You can also isolate your data with air-gapped backups – ActiveProtect supports physical and logical air-gapping through the firewall, by disabling network ports, as well as a shutdown schedule.

Recommended : AMD Computex 2024 Q&A With Dr. Lisa Su!

On-Demand Scalability

Scale your data with ease to meet changing business requirements, to support up to 2,500 sites and backup servers, and up to 150,000 endpoint devices and cloud accounts.

Each ActiveProtect appliance can operate in standalone or cluster-managed modes. Storage capacity can be tiered with Synology NAS/SAN storage solutions, C2 Object Storage, and other ActiveProtect appliances in the cluster.

Additionally, existing Synology Active Backup for Business deployments are manageable from the unified interface, providing high deployment flexibility.

Recover With Confidence

Leverage bare-metal or file-level restoration, or perform P2V (physical to virtual) or V2V (virtual to virtual) restoration to instantly recover data.

Guaranteed Data Backup

Detect and restore corrupt data, verify backups, and test your disaster recovery strategy in a sandboxed environment with a built-in hypervisor.

Fast And Efficient

Purpose-built ActiveProtect appliances leverage incremental backups with source-side, global, and crosssite deduplication to ensure fast backups and replication with minimal bandwidth usage. ActiveProtect is up to 7 times faster at backing up with a typical deduplication ratio of over 2:1, significantly reducing operating costs.

Recommended : Synology DiskStation DS223j 2-Bay NAS Review!

“The launch of ActiveProtect reflects Synology’s unceasing commitment to empowering our users with the tools to manage their most valuable asset—data,” said Philip Wong, Chairman and CEO of Synology. “In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, businesses face unprecedented challenges in safeguarding their data. With the new ActiveProtect offering, we aim to empower organizations of all sizes to address cybersecurity challenges head-on.”

ActiveProtect centralizes organization-wide data protection policies, tasks, and appliances to offer a unified management and control plane. Comprehensive coverage for endpoints, servers, hypervisors, storage systems, databases, and Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace services dramatically reduce IT blind spots and the necessity of operating multiple data protection solutions.

“Organizations are tasked with maintaining overly complex and costly data protection strategies, and we aim to solve all the challenges at once with ActiveProtect,” stated Jia-Yu Liu, Executive Vice President at Synology. “ActiveProtect is the culmination of extensive research, development, and experience working with our customers. We are confident in delivering a solution that will exceed modern businesses’ expectations.”

 

Synology ActiveProtect : Models + Specifications

At Computex 2024, Synology only officially unveiled one ActiveProtect model – the DP7400, which is a 2U rackmount appliance.

However, Synology also revealed to us that DP7400 will be followed by two other ActiveProtect appliances – a 2U all-flash array appliance, as well as a thinner 1U rackmount appliance.

Recommended : 4TB Synology Plus (HAT3300-4T) Hard Disk Drive Review!

Specifications Synology ActiveProtect DP7400
Form Factor 2U
Processor AMD EPYC 7272
RAM 64 GB
Management Port 1 x 1GbE
LAN ports 2 x 10GbE
HDD Drives 10 x 20 TB
RAID Type RAID 6 + 1 Hot Spare
SSD Cache 2 x 3840 GB (RAID 1)
Usable Storage 140 TB
Source Data Capacity 83.5 TB
Source Device Limit 350
SaaS Account Limit 3,300

 

Synology ActiveProtect : Cost + Availability

The Synology ActiveProtect DP7400 will be available for deployment in Q4 2024. There is no timeline for the other two unnamed ActiveProtect models.

Synology will offer a simplified storage-based licence for the ActiveProtect appliance:

  • only hardware cost for the first year, with free software licence
  • only software cost for the second year onwards.

While Synology did not reveal the price of the ActiveProtect DP7400, the line-up is expected to provide up to 90% in annual savings over its competitors.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Computer | Enterprise | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

WD NAS Can’t Be Seen In Windows? Here Are The Solutions!

You may be wondering why your WD NAS is no longer visible in Windows 10.

Where did it go? How do you get it back?

Find out why your WD NAS cannot no longer be seen in Windows, and what are the solutions!

 

WD NAS Can’t Be Seen In Windows : What Happened?

You may have been using your WD NAS for some time, but one day, its network share – the “drive” that you directly access – can no longer be seen in Windows 10.

The NAS links in Windows File Explorer will only lead you to the login page for the WD NAS management page, not the actual drive where you can directly read, copy, write or edit your files.

All these NAS issues are happening because Microsoft disabled the Network Browse function from Windows 10 v1709 onwards.

The problems started after Windows 10 Fall Creators Update 1709, which :

The Computer Browser service relies on the SMB 1.0 protocol to discover network devices and display them in the Windows Network Neighbourhood.

Disabling SMB 1.0 breaks the Computer Browser service, so it is automatically uninstalled and your NAS drives “disappear” from Network Neighbourhood.

Disabling guest access prevents guest or public access to your NAS drives, even to folders you specifically set to allow for public access. Hence, the Public folder they had access to earlier “disappears”.

 

Why Did Microsoft Disable Those Network Features?

The SMB1 network protocol was first implemented in Windows back in 1992, so it’s old… very old.

It’s so old that it lacks encryption. Everything transmitted via SMB1 can be captured and read, and even modified, by any attacker who gains access to the network.

Guest logins even on SMB2 do not support standard security features like signing and encryption. This makes them vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.

That’s why Microsoft (finally) disabled them both, starting with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update 1709.

 

WD NAS Can’t Be Seen In Windows : Before We Start…

Preliminary Step #1 : Update Your NAS

Before you do anything, you should log into your WD NAS management system and update its firmware, in case it’s not already set to automatically update.

Updating its firmware will ensure that your NAS supports at least SMB 2, if not SMB 3 as well.

WD NAS Windows URL macOS URL
My Cloud EX2100 http://wdmycloudex2100 http://wdmycloudex2100.local
My Cloud DL2100 http://wdmyclouddl2100 http://wdmyclouddl2100.local
My Cloud EX4100 http://wdmycloudex4100 http://wdmycloudex4100.local
My Cloud DL4100 http://wdmyclouddl4100 http://wdmyclouddl4100.local

Preliminary Step #2 : Use A Higher SMB Protocol

Then, enable the highest SMB protocol your WD NAS supports (Settings > Network). Set it to SMB 3 if possible.

This will ensure that both your WD NAS and your network support the most secure network protocol possible, for your security.

 

WD NAS Can’t Be Seen In Windows : The Solutions!

Best Solution : Map Your WD NAS By Device Name

The best way is to manually map your WD NAS by its device name. This lets you use the more secure SMB2 or SMB3 network protocols, with direct access to your files as usual.

  1. Determine your WD NAS network path, which is based on the device name.If you changed your WD NAS device name to TechARPCloud (for example), the network name will be \\TechARPCloudHere is a list of default network paths for different WD NAS :
WD NAS Default Network Path
My Cloud Home \\MYCLOUD-last 6 digits of serial number
Example : \\MYCLOUD-123456
My Cloud Home Duo
My Cloud \\WDMYCLOUD
My Cloud Mirror \\WDMYCLOUDMIRROR
My Cloud Mirror Gen 2
My Cloud EX2 \\WDMYCLOUDEX2
My Cloud EX2 Ultra \\MYCLOUDEX2ULTRA
My Cloud EX4 \\WDMYCLOUDEX4
My Cloud EX2100 \\WDMYCLOUDEX2100
My Cloud EX4100 \\WDMYCLOUDEX4100
My Cloud DL2100 \\WDMYCLOUDDL2100
My Cloud DL4100 \\WDMYCLOUDDL4100
My Cloud PR2100 \\MYCLOUDPR2100
My Cloud PR4100 \\MYCLOUDPR2100
  1. Open Windows File Explorer and click on Network on the left pane.
  2. Key in the network path of the WD NAS, which is based on its device name. Make sure you include \\ before the network path.

  1. You will be asked to key in a user name and password.
    This can be the administrator’s login, or the login of any registered user of your WD NAS.
    Remember – Windows 10 no longer allows guest logins or public access. So you will need to create a password-protected account even for guests to use.

  1. Once you successfully authenticate your user name and password, the network shares of your WD NAS will become visible in File Explorer under Network!You can stop here, but you will need to keep keying in the network path and login to access your NAS every time you boot into Windows.

  1. For more convenience, you can create a password-protected Private Share.Start by right-clicking on a network share from your WD NAS and select Map network drive…

  1. Select a drive letter for the network share.
    Check Reconnect at sign-in if you don’t want to automatically log into the drive.
    Then click Finish to map the drive.

That’s it! If you expand This PC in Windows File Explorer, you should now see that the WD NAS network drive has now been mapped by its device name!

 

Alternate Solution : Enable Network Discovery Without SMB1

This Windows 10 workaround can be used if your WD NAS supports SMB2 or SMB3 and you prefer not to map the network drives.

  1. Go to Windows Services.
  2. Start these two services :
    Function Discovery Provider Host
    Function Discovery Resource Publication
  3. Set the Startup type for both those services to Automatic (Delayed Start).
  4. Open Windows File Explorer and go to Network.
  5. When prompted, enable Network Discovery.

Your WD NAS shares should now be visible in Windows File Explorer.

 

Worst Case Solution : Enable Network Discovery Without SMB1

This should only be attempted if your WD NAS simply cannot support SMB2 or SMB3, and can only use SMB1.

  1. Go to Control Panel > Programs.
  2. Click on Turn Windows features on or off.
  3. Expand the SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support option.
  4. Check the SMB 1.0/CIFS Client option.
  5. Click the OK button.
  6. Restart Windows 10

After Windows 10 restarts, your WD NAS shares should now be visible in Windows File Explorer.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Computer Hardware | Home

Support Tech ARP!

If you like this review, please support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


How To Fix NAS Connection Failure In macOS Catalina!

One of the issues you may face after upgrading to macOS Catalina is a sudden failure to connect to your NAS. And no matter what you do – you just can’t access your NAS!

Fortunately, we have the solution for this problem. Here is our guide on how you can fix the NAS connection failure in macOS Catalina!

 

The macOS Catalina NAS Connection Issue

After upgrading to macOS Catalina, you may experience a sudden and persistent inability to connect to your NAS.

When you try to access your NAS, it will say Connection Failed. And nothing happens when you click the Connect As… button – you don’t get the usual security pop-up to log into your NAS.

This is beyond annoying, because you have now lost all access to your NAS on macOS Catalina.

It is definitely a macOS Catalina issue because if you try using a Windows PC or an old macOS system, you will have no issue accessing the same NAS.

So what should you do?

 

The Cause Of The macOS Catalina NAS Connection Failure

From what we can tell, this issue is happening because Apple apparently dropped support for SMB1 and SMB 2.0 in macOS Catalina.

With many NAS defaulting to SMB1 for compatibility reasons, users will immediately lose the ability to connect once they upgrade to macOS Catalina.

 

How To Fix The macOS Catalina NAS Connection Failure

The key is to set your NAS to use SMB 3.0 or later. This should not be a problem if your NAS is less than 5-6 years old, because SMB 3.0 was introduced in 2012.

In our guide, we are going to use the screenshots from our Synology NAS. But it should be similar in concept to NAS from other brands like QNAP and WD :

  1. Log into your NAS
  2. Go to Control Panel > File Services.
  3. Under the SMB section, click on Advanced Settings.

  1. In the Advanced Settings pop-up, you will find that the Maximum SMB protocol is probably set to SMB1.
  2. You need to set the Maximum SMB protocol to SMB3.

  1. Now, this is not necessary, but while you are here, you might as well just set the Minimum SMB protocol to SMB2 and Large MTU.
  2. Then click Apply at the bottom of the Advanced Settings pop-up to save the settings.

  1. If it works, you should be able to connect to your NAS after you log out of your NAS. However, in many cases, you need to take an additional step by manually connecting to your NAS.
  2. To do that, you need to select Go > Connect to Server… in Finder.
  3. Then key in smb://ServerName/ (in our example, smb://DiskStation/) and click Connect.
  1. This should finally launch the security login pop-up, where you can key in your Name and Password to log into your NAS.

After logging into your NAS, you should have no issue accessing your NAS. You can also drag and add your NAS folders to the Favourites list in Finder.

 

Recommended Reading

[adrotate group=”2″]

Go Back To > Software | Computer | Home

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


The 2019 Acer Altos Product Showcase + Demonstration!

In addition to their consumer gaming products, Acer also has an Altos subsidiary that offers enterprise-grade cloud computing and network storage solutions. Here is the 2019 Acer Altos product showcase and demonstration!

 

The 2019 Acer Altos Product Showcase + Demonstration

Altos Computing Inc President, Jackie Lee, flew in from Taipei to introduce the 2019 Acer Altos product line-up for business and enterprise users.

Acer Altos QSAN XN3004T Tower 4+1 Bay NAS

The Acer Altos QSAN XN3004T NAS (Network-Attached Storage) runs on the QSM 3 operating system, and comes with a USB One Touch Copy Button, which allows the automatic back-up of USB flash drives and external hard disk drives to pre-set folders.

It has an auto-tiering architecture, that will progressively optimise the data to allow users to retrieve their data quicker. Its real-time remote replication and cloud backup also allows for additional backup of important assets.

Thanks to its hybrid (N+1) storage system, the XN3004T NAS allows you to add a SSD for better data access performance from its four 3.5-inch hard disk drives. It also boasts a screw-less tray design, which allows you to install, upgrade, or replace existing HDDs without tools.

Given the importance of data security, Acer Altos QSAN XN3004T NAS has built-in anti-virus protection. In addition, its self-encrypting drive (SED) technology protects the data from Day 1, and secures it even if the physical drives are stolen or misplaced.

Acer Altos P Series Workstations

The Acer Altos P30 F6 workstation comes with the latest 8th Generation Intel Core processor and NVIDIA Quadro graphics card to deliver the performance and reliability expected by creative professionals, engineers, scientists and financial analysts. It also supports up to 64 GB of RAM and 32 TB of storage.

Acer also offers the Altos P330 F4, which is equipped with the powerful and reliable server-grade Intel Xeon Processor Skylake-W Family and NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics cards. It supports up to 512 GB of RAM, and comes with a 900W power supply as well as a dual-fan option for increased airflow.

Acer AltosCloud VDI Solution

Acer also showcased the AltosCloud VDI (Virtual desktop infrastructure) solution, which allows users to easily set up their own virtual desktop computing system. It is ideal for organisations such as call centers, hospitals and even the library setups of private schools, colleges and universities.

The AltosCloud VDI allows an organisation to provide a desktop computing experience by simply connecting a keyboard, mouse, monitor and a LAN cable to the Acer Altos TC400 or TC410 thin client terminals.

Organisations can also leverage other computing devices like desktop PCs, laptops, Chromebook and even Android smartphones. The AltosCloud VDI solution is powered by the Acer Altos server range at the backend.

Price + Availability

[adrotate group=”2″]

The complete range of 2019 Acer Altos products will be available for purchase at Acer official online stores, and select Acer authoriser resellers soon.

Equipped with four 2 TB hard disk drives, the Acer Altos QSAN XN3004T Tower 4+1 Bay NAS, will be priced at RM 4,699 / ~US$ 1,149 / ~£ 862.

The Acer Altos P30 F6 workstation is priced from RM 4,280 / ~US$ 1,046 / ~£ 785 onwards, while the Acer Altos P330 F4 workstation is priced from RM 8,799 / ~US$ 2,149 / ~£ 1,615 onwards.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Business + Enterprise | Home

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!


Western Digital Introduces New WD Pro Series

In an exclusive media event yesterday, Western Digital introduced the new WD Pro Series, spearheaded by the My Passport Wireless Pro mobile WiFi storage, and the My Cloud Pro NAS series. In this video, Albert Chang, Senior Manager of Product Marketing at WD Asia Pacific, explains the key features of both WD Pro Series devices.

Designed for the creative community, the new WD Pro Series is designed to enable seamless transfer of content between devices, whether the users are on a remote shoot, in the studio or editing their work at home. Both WD Pro Series devices use the My Cloud mobile app to manage their content. They are also both compatible with the Plex Media Server, and My Cloud OS 3 software.

 

My Passport Wireless Pro

The new My Passport Wireless Pro mobile WiFi storage is an upgraded version of the original My Passport Wireless mobile WiFi storage drive. Using the direct WiFi connection, users can automatically back-up content from up to eight compatible cameras or devices. You can also use the built-in SD card reader and USB 2.0 port for data transfers.

The My Passport Wireless Pro is available in 2 TB and 3 TB capacities, and will come with a 6,400 mAh battery that can last up to 10 hours. The battery can even serve as a power bank to recharge smartphones and other digital devices. [adrotate banner=”5″]

 

My Cloud Pro Series NAS

Offering up to 32 TB of storage, the My Cloud Pro Series NAS are optimised to import from cameras and memory card readers or other USB storage using a simple one-touch backup button. But it doesn’t just serve as a backup NAS.

The My Cloud Pro Series NAS boasts a hardware-accelerated video processor, giving it powerful transcoding capabilities. This allows the My Cloud Pro Series NAS to store, edit and stream content to and from a variety of formats with ease.

 

WD Pro Series Pricing & Availability

Both WD Pro Series devices will be available at select retailers in August and is distributed by Eternal Asia (M) Sdn Bhd in Malaysia.

The My Passport Wireless Pro mobile WiFi storage will have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of RM 1,099 / ~US$275 (3TB). It will come with a 2-year limited warranty.

[adrotate banner=”4″]

The My Cloud Pro Series NAS will be available in two versions – the 2-bay My Cloud Pro PR2100, and the 4-bay My Cloud Pro PR4100. Both will have a 2-year limited warranty for diskless models and 3-year limited warranty for populated models.

The My Cloud Pro PR2100 will have a MSRP of RM 1,759 / ~US$439 for the diskless NAS, RM 2,699 / ~US$675 for 4TB, RM 3,279 / ~US$819 for 8TB, RM 4,229 / ~US$1059 for 12TB and RM 4,599 / ~US$1,149 for 16TB.

The My Cloud Pro PR4100 will have a MSRP of RM 2,589 / ~US649 for the diskless NAS, RM 4,159 / ~US$1,039 for 8TB, RM 5,749 / ~US1,439 for 16TB, RM 7,699 / ~US$1,929 for 24TB and RM 7,999 / ~US$1,999 for 32TB.

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Synology DSM 6.0.1-7393-1 Update Now Available

Synology have released an update with several important enhancements for the DSM 6.0. It is available for download on your DSM: Control Panel > Update & Restore. It is always recommended that you install the latest update to obtain an even smoother user experience. Should you encounter any issues, please do not hesitate to contact their expert support team.

If you haven’t upgraded to DSM 6.0.1-7393, it can be found at our Download Center

Please skip this message if your Synology NAS is not DSM 6.0 compatible or if you have already installed the latest update.

 

DSM 6.0.1-7393-1

Fixed Issues

  • Improved system stability when Synology NAS serves as a VPN server.
  • Fixed several security vulnerabilities regarding NTP module (CVE-2016-4957, CVE-2016-4953, CVE-2016-4954, CVE-2016-4955, and CVE-2016-4956).
  • Fixed an issue where DSM user interface might become unresponsive under normal operation.
  • Fixed an issue where shared links created by LDAP users in DSM 5.2 might be unavailable after upgrading to DSM 6.0.
  • Fixed an issue where folders cannot be uploaded to File Station.
  • Fixed an issue where encrypted replication tasks cannot be resumed or completed when the sync process has been interrupted.
  • Fixed an issue where log files could not be rotated on the passive server in the HA cluster, which could cause the upgrade failure on the passive server.
  • Enhanced the process of shared folder encryption.
[adrotate banner=”5″]

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Synology DSM 6.0.1-7393 Update Now Available

Synology has just released an update with several important enhancements for the DSM 6.0. It is available for download on your DSM: Control Panel > Update & Restore. It is always recommended that you install the latest update to obtain an even smoother user experience. Should you encounter any issues, please do not hesitate to contact our expert support team.

If you haven’t upgraded to DSM 6.0-7321, it can be found at our Download Center

Please skip this message if your Synology NAS is not DSM 6.0 compatible or if you have already installed the latest update.

 

DSM 6.0.1-7393

What’s New

1. This update includes all bug fixes as well as security fixes in the previously released updates since DSM 6.0-7321.
2. EDS14 can now be upgraded to DSM 6.0.1.
3. SSD TRIM is now supported on DS715, DS1515, and DS2015xs.
4. File Station

  • The sorting algorithm has been changed from sorting by name to natural sort order.
  • Changed the filter function to the search function to locate files efficiently.
  • Supports search history.

5. High Availability Manager

  • Added the quorum server settings to reduce split-brain error occurrences.
  • Proxy servers are supported.
  • Supports customized DSM ports and HTTPS connection.
  • Reduced by 60% the average time for detecting disconnected networks before automatic failover.
  • Improved HA cluster stability during upgrade.
  • Supports installing DSM on RC18015xs+ in network environments without a DHCP server.
[adrotate banner=”5″]

 

Fixed Issues

  • Fixed an issue where an ext2 external storage device could not be mounted.
  • Fixed an issue where shared folders on NTFS external storage devices could not be remotely mounted to some models via NFS.
  • Reduced memory usage for writing data to an NTFS external storage device.
  • Fixed an issue where Microsoft Excel files in an encrypted shared folder on some models could not be correctly accessed via Windows File Service.
  • Fixed a security vulnerability regarding the p7zip module (CVE-2016-2335).
  • Fixed an issue where files might not appear in search results if their file types were not specified for file indexing.
  • Fixed an issue where backup tasks could not complete when the remote destination was encrypted.
  • Fixed an issue where IPv6 link-local authentication might fail for rsync.
  • Fixed an issue where backup tasks in Time Backup might not run after system upgrade.
  • Fixed an issue where system monitoring processes might demand system memory on RS10613xs+, RS18016xs+, and RC18015xs+.
  • Applied the workaround to mitigate a security vulnerability of ImageMagick module (CVE-2016-5118).
    Minor bug fixes.

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

QNAP TES-x85U Enterprise-Class NAS Unveiled

Taipei, Taiwan, 26 May 2016 – Before the upcoming COMPUTEX Taipei, QNAP Systems, Inc. today gave a sneak-preview of its first “dual NAS OS options system” – the enterprise-class TES-x85U series NAS. The brand-new TES-x85U allows users to install the FreeBSD-based QES or Linux-based QTS into a single rackmount NAS for versatility and high-availability, providing the utmost flexibility for businesses to deploy the ideal operating system on multiple TES-x85U units based on their needs and goals.

 

QNAP TES-X85U

The QNAP TES-x85U series uses 12Gb/s SAS controllers and includes two models (18-bay TES-1885U and 30-bay TES-3085U). Both models are powered by an advanced 14nm Intel Xeon D SoC processor with an integrated PCH (6-core CPU for TES-1885U and 8-core CPU for TES-3085U). It is worth noting that the all-SSD TES-3085U provides up to 24 drive bays and 6 dedicated SSD slots for caching in a 2U rackmount form factor, presenting the best choice for high-performance, all-flash storage.

The all-flash TES-3085U features an excellent combination of hardware and software that delivers high expandability, high reliability, and the tools necessary to satisfy IOPS-demanding workloads and applications.

  1. Intel Xeon D multi-core processor – 14nm energy-efficient SoC, supporting DDR4 RAM and PCIe Gen.3 per-lane throughput.
  2. DDR4 2133 MHz memory – Supports four DDR4 RAM modules for UDIMM and ECC RDIMM (up to 64GB UDIMM RAM, up to 128GB RDIMM RAM).
  3. 12Gb/s SAS controllers – Supports 12Gb/s SAS hard drives and SSD for fast data transfer and highly-reliable storage.
  4. Hot swappable fans – Four 6cm hot-swappable cooling fans for quick and easy replacement.
  5. Built-in 10GbE SFP+ port x2 – Boosts iSCSI/NFS/CIFS network transfer.
  6. 2.5” SATA SSD slot x6 – Used for caching, high-performance storage pools, or the QES OS drive.
  7. PCIe slot x3 – PCIe Gen.3 supports 10GbE/ 40GbE adapters and PCIe NVMe SSD.
[adrotate banner=”5″]

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

5 Reasons To Only Use NAS-Optimised Drives In Your NAS

Network-attached storage (NAS) drives provide fast and secure storage for backup files, or a central repository of shared files that everyone can access. As NAS drives are available 24/7, they offer the convenience of on-call access to data with minimal power consumption. That is why they are now a necessity in many businesses and even homes.

When NAS systems first became popular, they were built around normal desktop drives which were not designed for 24/7 operation. This led to poor performance and reliability. To address this, Western Digital developed the WD Red family of NAS hard disk drives.

Let us show you why you must use NAS-optimised drives like the WD Red drives for your NAS systems, instead of regular hard disk drives.

 

Reason #1 : Tougher, Cooler & Quieter

Desktop drives are designed to run as solitary drives, so they do not need much protection against vibration. Neither do they need to be particularly quiet or cool. When installed in a NAS enclosure, the vibration and heat from multiple drives running in close proximity greatly reduce their reliability and lifespan, while testing your tolerance for noise.

WD Red drives are designed to run cooler and vibrate less. They also come with technologies that offer better protection against vibration, like 3D Active Balance Plus. That’s why you can pack up to 8 WD Red drives (or 16 WD Red Pro drives) in a NAS enclosure without worrying about killing them… or your eardrums!

 

Reason #2 : 24/7 Reliability

Desktop drives are also not designed to run 24/7. WD Red drives, on the other hand, are specifically designed for the “always-on” environment of a NAS enclosure.

Just how reliable are WD Red drives? The latest WD Red drives that feature the NASware 3.0 firmware are rated for a MTBF (mean time before failure) of 1 million hours. If you buy 8 of these drives and run them 24/7, you will likely see a single drive fail only after 14 years of non-stop operation.

That’s why Western Digital backs up their WD Red drives with a 3-year warranty. Their higher-end WD Red Pro drives (which support up to 16 drives in a single NAS enclosure) come with a 5-year warranty.

 

Reason #3 : Optimised For NAS

The performance requirements for network storage is vastly different from that of a desktop computer. Desktop drives will see a rough 50-50 mix of read and write operations over time, and their firmware are designed to support simultaneous read and write operations.

NAS drives, however, will experience far more reads than writes. After all, when you share files (family holiday photos, for example), they are written once but read many times after that. That is why WD Red drives are optimised for a mix of 80% reads and 20% writes.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

 

Reason #4 : Testing, Testing, Testing

WD Red drives are extensively tested with most, if not all, of the NAS systems in the world. WD Red drives also undergo more extensive reliability tests than regular desktop drives. All these tests not only ensure compatibility out-of-the-box, they also ensure the drives run reliably in the more demanding NAS environment.

 

Reason #5 : RAID-Optimised

Regular desktop drives are not designed to be used as RAID drives, and lack the RAID error recovery control called TLER (Time-Limited Error Recovery). TLER is designed to increase the reliability and stability of the RAID array. WD Red drives, on the other hand, support TLER because they are designed to be configured as RAID drives.

 

WD Red Drives

In July 2012, Western Digital revealed the world’s first NAS-optimised hard disk drive designed to run 24/7 – the 3 TB WD Red (WD30EFRX). Since then, they have released many new WD Red drives to meet the high demand for NAS-optimised storage :

[adrotate banner=”4″]

Irrespective of which brand you choose to use, understand this – you must use NAS-optimised hard disk drives in your NAS. Your data depends on it!

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Synology DSM 6.0-7321 Important Update

Synology DSM 6.0 Update

Synology have released an update with several important enhancements for the DiskStation Manager (DSM) 6.0. It is available for download on your DSM: Control Panel > Update & Restore. It is always recommended that you install the latest update to obtain an even smoother user experience. Should you encounter any issues, please do not hesitate to contact our expert support team.

If you haven’t upgraded to DSM 6.0-7321, it can be found at the Synology Download Center.

 

Version 6.0-7321 Update 5

Fixed Issues

  1. Upgraded NTP to 4.2.8p7 to address multiple vulnerabilities (CVE-2016-1547, CVE-2016-1548, CVE-2016-1549, CVE-2016-1550, CVE-2016-1551, CVE-2016-2516, CVE-2016-2517, CVE-2016-2518, CVE-2016-2519).
  2. Upgraded OpenSSL to 1.0.2h to address multiple vulnerabilities (CVE-2016-2105, CVE-2016-2106, CVE-2016-2107, CVE-2016-2108, CVE-2016-2109, CVE-2016-2176).
  3. Enhanced the compatibility of Synology NAS with Hyper-V exports.
  4. Fixed an issue where adding ACL permissions or changing file owner would fail in Windows via SMB.
  5. Fixed an issue where iSCSI ACL could not access LUNs properly.
  6. Fixed an issue where editing shared folders would fail when shared folder netlogn/sysvol existed.
  7. Fixed an issue where channel scan could not be performed on entry Marvell models with certain DVB-T dongles.
  8. Fixed an issue where LUNs could not be backed up to an external SATA device.
  9. Fixed an issue where iSCSI service might cause a system crash in a VMware environment under heavy load.
  10. Before the official patch is released, workaround is applied to mitigate multiple vulnerabilities of ImageMagick module (CVE-2016-3714, CVE-2016-3715, CVE-2016-3716, CVE-2016-3717, CVE-2016-3718).

 

Version:6.0-7321 Update 6

Fixed Issues

  1. Applied the enhanced official workaround to mitigate multiple vulnerabilities of ImageMagick module (CVE-2016-3714, CVE-2016-3715, CVE-2016-3716, CVE-2016-3717, CVE-2016-3718).
[adrotate banner=”5″]

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

QNAP TS-831X Business NAS Launched

Taipei, May 5 2016QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced the release of the powerful 8-bay business NAS QNAP TS-831X that features two built-in 10GbE SFP+ ports to fully support 10GbE high-speed networks as a cost-effective NAS solution. The TS-831X further supports VJBOD (Virtual JBOD) to introduce an economical way to utilize unused NAS storage space for expanding the storage capacity of other QNAP NAS. Taking advantage of TS-831X’s native support of Container Station, organizations can rapidly develop and deploy Internet of Things (IoT) apps to create more business opportunities.

The QNAP TS-831X uses an Annapurna Labs Alpine AL-314 quad-core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A15 processor, and features 8GB/16GB DDR3 RAM (upgradable to 16GB), RAID 5/6 support, hardware-accelerated encryption and an SSD cache. It is 10GbE-ready with two built-in 10GbE SFP+ ports, and allows users to install a third 10GbE port via the extra PCIe slot for flexible high-speed network deployment.

“The TS-831X alleviates budget constraints for most small-to-medium businesses to adopt 10GbE storage solutions,” said Jason Hsu, Product Manager of QNAP, adding “It includes two 10GbE SFP+ ports at a budget price to fulfill applications like virtualization, intensive data transmission, video storage and streaming, and IP video surveillance, which require a fast, high-bandwidth and reliable NAS.”

QNAP VJBOD is network-based JBOD, which helps maximize NAS storage utilization. Besides using physical storage expansion enclosures, users can use the high-capacity TS-831X to economically expand other QNAP NAS storage with VJBOD, and to create virtual storage pools and volumes on virtual disks for operating NAS services. “VJBOD introduces an economical way to utilize unused NAS storage, and provides users with an additional flexible storage expansion solution to maximize the utilization of available storage,” said Ripple Wu, Product Manager of QNAP. “

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Container Station exclusively integrates LXC and Docker lightweight virtualization technologies. Users can operate multiple isolated Linux systems on the TS-831X as well as download apps from the built-in Docker Hub Registry. The QNAP TS-831X with Container Station provides an ideal private IoT cloud platform with countless hands-on containerized apps for developers to initialize microservices, and to easily apply, rapidly develop, and conveniently deploy IoT applications.

The QNAP TS-831X is a comprehensive storage solution for data storage, backup, sharing and centralized management, supporting Windows and Mac desktop/laptop backup, RTRR (Real-Time Remote Replication) with backup versioning, rsync and backup to cloud storage (Amazon S3, Amazon Glacier, Microsoft Azure, ElephantDrive, Dropbox and Google Cloud Storage) as well as file sharing across Windows, Mac and Linux/UNIX. The TS-831X can be used as a VPN server or VPN Client to secure network access. The powerful Qsirch full-text searching tool helps quickly find NAS data, and Qsync provides multiple ways for file synchronization and group file sharing to greatly enhance the flexibility of team projects and collaboration.

Businesses can rely on the scalable QNAP TS-831X as a future-proof storage solution. The TS-831X can attach two QNAP expansion enclosures (8-bay UX-800P and 5-bay UX-500P) to support up to 24 hard drives. With the support of QJBOD Express (JBOD enclosure roaming), users can migrate data from the TS-831X to another NAS using a JBOD enclosure without needing a network connection, saving considerable time for migrating a large amount of backup data.

 

NAS TS-831X Key specifications

TS-831X-8G: 8GB DDR3 RAM (8GB x1)
TS-831X-16G: 16GB DDR3 RAM (8GB x2)
8-bay tower model; Annapurna Labs Alpine AL-314 1.4 GHz quad-core processor, RAID 5/6 support, hardware-accelerated encryption engine; hot-swappable 2.5”/3.5” SATA 6Gbps HDD or SSD; 2 x 10 Gigabit SFP+ ports, 2 x Gigabit RJ45 ports; 1 x PCIe Gen2 ( x2) slot; 3 x USB 3.0 port

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Synology DSM 6.0 Update Now Available

Synology has released an update with several important enhancements for the DiskStation Manager (DSM) 6.0. It is available for download on your DSM: Control Panel > Update & Restore. It is always recommended that you install the latest update to obtain an even smoother user experience. Should you encounter any issues, please do not hesitate to contact our expert support team.

 

Synology DSM 6.0 Update

If you haven’t upgraded to DSM 6.0-7321, it can be found at our Download Center

 

Fixed Issues

  • Fixed multiple issues that might cause the iSCSI service to hang under heavy loading and performing VMware commands.
  • Fixed an issue where the file created time was not correctly set.
  • Fixed an issue where LUN backup tasks of Hyper Backup could not be completed due to insufficient disk space after upgrade to DSM 6.0.
  • Fixed multiple vulnerabilities regarding the Samba module (CVE-2016-2118, CVE-2015-5370, CVE-2016-2110, CVE-2016-2111, CVE-2016-2112, CVE-2016-2113, CVE-2016-2114, CVE-2016-2115).
  • Fixed an issue where changing the VLAN configurations might cause certain packages to operate abnormally.
  • Fixed an issue where configurations at Control Panel > Network > Network Interface could not be edited if IPv6 was configured before upgrade to DSM 6.0 from DSM 5.2.
[adrotate banner=”5″]

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Budget Dual-Core QNAP TS-128 And TS-228 NAS Launched

Taipei, Taiwan, March 2, 2016QNAP Systems Inc. today announced the release of the energy-efficient and budget-friendly dual-core Compact NAS, including the 1-bay TS-128 and 2-bay TS-228. Designed with a mini-tower form factor that takes less desktop space, they are ideal for home users to create their own personal cloud. The feature-rich TS-128/228 helps users to easily handle file backup and synchronization tasks, and also provides remote access and a wide range of multimedia apps to enrich their digital lifestyle.

“As photoshooting and recording with smartphones, tablets and digital cameras has become mainstream and the desire for high-resolution multimedia content becomes stronger, users are eager to find easier and more convenient methods for digital storage and sharing,” said Jason Hsu, Product Manager of QNAP. “The new TS-128 and TS-228 presents an ideal personal NAS at a budget price to provide users with a great base for data storage, backup and multimedia entertainment.”

Running on the QTS 4.2 smart NAS operating system, the TS-128/228 is powered by an ARM® v7 dual-core 1.1GHz processor with 1GB DDR3 RAM to deliver up to 100 MB/s read speed for smooth data transmission, concurrent access from multiple users, and home applications. The TS-128/228 is suitable for serving as a multimedia center as users can back up or download files with the system retaining high performance. The tool-less design makes it extremely easy to remove the TS-128/228’s side cover to add or replace hard drives.

[adrotate banner=”4″]The TS-128/228 provides an easy way to create a secure personal cloud which alleviates storage limitations and data security concerns of public cloud services. myQNAPcloud provides multiple remote access services for users to conveniently access, manage and share multimedia files on the TS-128/228 from anywhere with a web browser. Users can also access and browse files on TS-128/228 by using QNAP mobile apps including Qfile, Qphoto, Qmusic, Qvideo and Qmanager. With the Qsync utility that supports file synchronization across multiple devices, users can acquire the latest files from any device connected to the NAS whenever they need it.

The TS-128/228 provides comprehensive features for file management and backup, including cross-platform file sharing for Windows, Mac, Linux and UNIX; flexible backup solutions for Windows and Mac; disaster recovery solutions including RTRR, rsync and cloud storage backup; and the latest Hybrid Backup Sync app that consolidates backup, restoration and synchronization functions for users to easily transfer data to local, remote and cloud storage spaces (including Amazon Cloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Yandex Disk, Box, Amazon S3, Amazon Glacier, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Storage and WebDAV cloud services).

The TS-128/228 is perfect for serving as a high-capacity home multimedia hub. With DLNA support, users can enjoy photos, listen to music, and watch HD videos stored on the TS-128/228 throughout their home on compatible Smart TVs, game consoles and media players. By using the Photo Station, Music Station and Video Station apps, users can centralize their media collection for easy sharing with friends and coworkers.

QTS App Center offers versatile install-on-demand apps to extend the functionality of the TS-128/228. The TS-128/228 also supports Surveillance Station with 2 free IP camera channels and up to 8 channels by purchasing additional licenses, assisting users in building a professional yet cost-efficient surveillance system for real-time monitoring, video & audio recording and playback.

 

QNAP TS-128/228 Key specifications

TS-128: 1-bay mini-tower NAS
TS-228: 2-bay mini-tower NAS
ARM v7 dual-core 1.1GHz processor, 1GB DDR3 RAM; 3.5” SATA HDD; 1 x USB 3.0 port; 1 x USB 2.0 port; 1 x Gigabit LAN port

 

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Synology DSM 5.2-5644 Important Update

Synology has just released an update with several important enhancements for the DiskStation Manager (DSM) 5.2.

It is available for download on your DSM: Control Panel > Update & Restore. It is always recommended that you install the latest update to obtain an even smoother user experience.

If you haven’t upgraded to DSM 5.2-5644, it can be found at their Download Center.

Please skip this message if your Synology NAS is not DSM 5.2 compatible or if you have already installed the latest update.

 

Synology DSM Version 5.2-5644 Update 5

Fixed Issues
1. Updated Firewall filter policy to address a security vulnerability caused by stack-based buffer overflow (CVE-2015-7547). This fix may impact read/write performance on a number of entry models by no more than 15%, for which Synology is working on an enhancement in the future release.

For more detailed information, please go to Security Advisory.

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra Prosumer NAS Launched

18 February 2016 – Western Digital Corporation today updated its prosumer solutions with My Cloud EX2 Ultra, a high-performance, two-bay network attached storage (NAS) system. The My Cloud EX2 Ultra NAS is designed from the ground up for creative professionals and prosumers that need to automatically sync content across computers, easily share files and folders and enjoy multiple backup options so they can create their own personalized digital library with ease.

“We know our My Cloud users, especially creative professionals, need comprehensive solutions as digital storage needs continue to soar as well as the need for ongoing streaming capability,” said Jim Welsh, executive vice president, WD Branded Products. “With the My Cloud EX2 Ultra, creative professionals are able to combine high performance with multi-tasking optimization and data protection to create a NAS system that simplifies their workflow and provides peace-of-mind.”

 

My Cloud EX2 Ultra

My Cloud EX2 Ultra has been upgraded with a powerful 1.3 GHz dual-core processor enabling users to get ultra-fast transfer rates for high performance and smooth video streaming. Users also have access to 1 GB of DDR3 memory, allowing them to multitask with ease and leverage applications for HD media streaming, surveillance and much more.

Several data management and security features allow users to select a preferred method for managing and protecting their movies, photos, music and digital files. Drive management options include RAID 0, RAID 1; JBOD and spanning modes, while data protection options include NAS to NAS, USB, cloud or LAN/WAN backup. The My Cloud EX2 Ultra NAS comes preconfigured in RAID 1 mode to help protect data right from the start and is easily configurable into other data protection modes.

 

High Capacity and Ultimate Reliability

From unpopulated to 12 TB capacities[1], the My Cloud EX2 Ultra provides several capacity options for customers to choose from. Additionally, customers can attach compatible USB 3.0 hard drives to the USB expansion ports on the My Cloud EX2 Ultra to instantly expand their storage capacity. The populated My Cloud EX2 Ultra features the award-winning WD Red hard drives, specifically built for NAS systems to provide non-stop performance within 24×7 environments. WD Red drives are powered by NASware™ 3.0 technology, improving drive reliability and minimizing data corruption in the event of a power loss or disruption.

 

Easy Sharing with Anywhere Access

With simplified file and folder sharing, users can send customized, private links that allow recipients read/write access to particular files on the user’s My Cloud EX2 Ultra. Whether on a photo shoot, or editing at home, saving creations at full fidelity and sharing with your entire network is a breeze. The My Cloud EX2 Ultra features an intuitive dashboard, so user accounts can be created, features customized and storage can be monitored with ease.

With MyCloud.com web access, or the My Cloud mobile app, users can access their media and manage users from any internet connected device. With WD Sync, users can automatically synchronize their media and files across their computers and their My Cloud device with the confidence that their computer content is up to date and accessible from all devices.

 

Advanced Features

My Cloud EX2 Ultra includes advanced data serving options including an integrated FTP and WebDAV server, backup server, P2P download server and Microsoft Active Directory support. Additionally, users can download and run a host of third party apps, including, Plex, Milestone Arcus surveillance, aMule, Icecast, Joomla!, Anti-Virus Essentials, WordPress, SqueezeCenter, and more.

Users can also stream videos and photos to connected TVs, media players, gaming consoles and other DLNA/UPnP devices with the included Twonky 7.2 DLNA-certified 1.5 media server, and built-in iTunes support.

 

Price and Availability

[adrotate banner=”4″]My Cloud EX2 Ultra will be available at select retailers in March and is distributed by Eternal Asia (M) Sdn Bhd in Malaysia. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) is RM 799 (~US$ 189) for the diskless My Cloud EX2 Ultra, RM 1,559 (~US$ 359) for 4 TB, RM 2,199 (~US$ 519) for 8 TB and RM 3,049 (~US$ 709) for 12 TB.

The WD My Cloud mobile app currently is available for download for free from the Apple App StoreM and Google PlayT. My Cloud EX2 Ultra comes with a two-year limited warranty on the diskless device and a three-year limited warranty on the pre-configured devices.

[1] System is shipped in RAID 1 configuration, which leaves half of the system capacity available for data storage. System is configurable to RAID 0; JBOD or spanned, which leaves all system capacity available for data storage. Up to 0.1TB may be reserved for non-user accessible storage. 

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Setting Up A Secure Storage System For Team Collaboration

Small businesses often operate in lean teams, with each staff member behaving as a “jack of all trades.” This attitude can be useful for acquiring customers and putting in the extra effort SMBs sometimes need, but it doesn’t work for data management and security.

Cyberattacks are not only a risk to large companies like Target or Sony, but are a costly danger to small businesses as well. According to a report by the National Small Business Association, 50 percent of small businesses experienced a cyberattack in 2014, costing an average of more than $20,750.

Storing, managing and protecting sensitive company and customer data is a cumbersome process that can become even more daunting with an expanding team. With tight budgets and an often non-existent IT department, implementing a strong system becomes even more challenging.

Small businesses need a secure storage solution that offers cloud access with local back-up abilities and is scalable (that is, robust enough to meet their current needs, but also able to grow and adapt to future demands). Here are four steps a small business should take to set up and maintain a strong, fast and adaptable secure storage system:

 

1. Identify needs and create a plan.

Work with your key decision makers to determine what kind of file access and management the business needs. Does your sales team need access to documents outside of the office, or does your customer service team need to be able to review complete customer records at any given time?

Identify who in the organization needs access to which data, and develop a written plan. The file management plan should include who will manage the content and be responsible for data backups and who has access to the most sensitive information. The plan will also help determine what storage hardware solutions best fit your needs.

 

2. Set up a scalable storage server.

A network attached storage (NAS) device is an easy and affordable solution that allows designated users to share and access files, media and more from multiple computers and devices. Instead of being tethered by USB cables, users can access data across the business’ personal cloud, via your Wi-Fi network, and still back up data locally.

At a minimum, you’ll want to choose storage that gives you the ability to manage permissions and folder privileges. But to maximize your investment, you should look for a drive that can scale. Some storage drives, like Western Digital’s Red Drive, are built from the ground up to combine easily, so that as your business grows, it’s easy to increase the number of users needing access.

With the WD Red drive, your employees are able to quickly share their files and back up folders reliably. It also comes with software that enables seamless integration with your existing network infrastructure.

 

3. Optimize systems to maximize performance.

Be sure to keep your entire technology network up to date before, during and after installation of a storage server. Ensuring a healthy ecosystem of your storage, router, and modem units is crucial to delivering services to customers in a timely manner and avoiding bottlenecks in the system.

 

4. Enable and manage user access.

When storing sensitive company data, restrictions on security and access are your primary concern. Implement a storage system that allows you to grant file access to those that need it, and rescind it for those that don’t. User access should be described in detail in the written plan, so staff know exactly where to place and find the data they need.

Small businesses typically try to grow quickly, which means shifting roles and responsibilities. When new employees come on, and old ones depart, make sure you are able to maintain control of all of your data. When an employee leaves, revoke access immediately, and when on-boarding an employee, take the time to review your policies and expectations when handling company data and information.

 

5. Develop a good file naming strategy and folder structure.

[adrotate banner=”4″]Keeping your centralized storage system organized, makes it less likely that information will be mismanaged. “Document A” and “Spreadsheet 3” are useless filenames when you are searching through hundreds of documents for one particular file. Use names that are meaningful, but still short.

To help with version control, employ a date and initial system that tells you when and who last updated the document. Descriptive folders will also help you and your team navigate media quickly. Designate folders for financial, sales and operations documents to keep everyone organized.

File storage is only one piece of the puzzle to consider when growing your business, but when properly implemented, can save you and your business thousands of dollars and countless hours. There are a lot of factors to consider, but if you take the time to determine your needs and develop an actionable plan for your company now, as well as in the future, it will give you time to explore your options and make the best choice possible.

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

QNAP QTS 4.2 Now Available For Download

Taipei, Taiwan, February 4, 2016 – QNAP, Inc. today officially released QTS 4.2, the smart NAS operating system, for the QTS-Android Combo NAS TAS-168 and TAS-268. Now users can enjoy the streamlined UI design and enhanced new features on TAS-168/268 for rich multimedia entertainment and for smarter, smoother and more spectacular cloud experiences with stronger security.

QTS 4.2 introduces a new interface design for its desktop, Storage Manager, and multiple other applications for an improved user experience. The TAS-168/268 combines QTS 4.2 and Android™ dual systems to further enrich users’ needs for multimedia applications,” said Hanz Sung, Product Manager of QNAP, adding “The system core of QTS 4.2 is more streamlined and efficient compared with previous versions, providing the Android system with additional resources to run apps smoother, bringing better home entertainment experiences.”

TAS-168/268 is the world’s first NAS-Android Combo. Supporting QTS & Android dual systems that share the same storage database, the TAS-168/268 allows users to simultaneously access media files and documents from either system. With a compact mini-tower design, the TAS-168/268 comfortably fits in homes and small offices/workspaces. Coupled with up to terabytes of storage capacity and 4K (H.264 & H.265) HDMI-out, the TAS-168/268 is the optimal budget-friendly multimedia NAS with unlimited app applications for modern digital lifestyles.

 

QTS 4.2 Availability

QTS 4.2 is available from the QNAP Download Center. Please note that some features may not be available for all models.

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

QNAP QTS 4.2.1 Beta Now Available For Download

Taipei, Taiwan, February 3, 2016 – QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced that the QNAP QTS 4.2.1 beta is now available for download. QNAP sincerely invite users to install QTS 4.2.1 beta to experience the evolution of QNAP QTS and extend the possibilities of the QNAP NAS.

Users can also activate the live update function to receive any new firmware update notification by installing QTS 4.2.1 beta.

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

QNAP Supports Netflix Streaming On TAS-168 / 268 NAS

Taipei, Taiwan, January 21, 2016 – QNAP, Inc. today announced that the QTS & Android dual-system TAS-168/268 NAS now supports Netflix. The QNAP TAS-168/268 is the first Android-based NAS that supports Netflix, and users can download the free Netflix app from Google Play on Android. Simply connect a QNAP TAS-168/268 to an HDMI display to enjoy the numerous programs and multimedia content on Netflix with a smooth and convenient streaming experience.

Netflix is one of the most popular Internet video streaming services in the world, and we are pleased to announce that it is compatible with our Android-based TAS-168/268 NAS.” said Hanz Sung, Product Manager of QNAP, “with the addition of Netflix, TAS-168/268 users can further maximize their home entertainment options by streaming their favorite movies and TV shows to a big screen in their living room.”

Powered by an ARM v7 dual-core processor with 2 GB DDR3 RAM, the QNAP TAS-168/268 is designed as a compact media NAS optimized for home use. Certificated by Google, users can download Netflix and many other multimedia apps from Google Play on TAS-168/268.

Coupled with terabytes of storage capacity and 4K (H.265 & H.264) HDMI output, the TAS-168/268 is the optimal budget-friendly multimedia NAS that provides near-unlimited entertainment possibilities for modern digital lifestyles.

 

Netflix Availability

The free Netflix app for Android devices is available from Google Play, and users can download it from Android Station on their QNAP TAS-168/268.

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

QNAP Updates myQNAPcloud & Discontinues MyCloudNAS

Taipei, Taiwan, December 31, 2015 – QNAP®, Inc. today released the latest CloudLink app that improves the remote access functions of the myQNAPcloud service, making it easy for users to access their QNAP devices anytime through the Internet without complicated domain redirection processes.

By installing the CloudLink app, users can timely access the files on a QNAP NAS using myQNAPcloud or by sharing download links with contacts to track the task status. Users can also simultaneously download and sync files to a remote NAS from shared links without needing to first save them to a PC/Mac.

QNAP is devoted to further developing myQNAPcloud services and in order to provide greater resources to this development, it will unfortunately require the discontinuation of support for MyCloudNAS from January 15, 2016.

The new Follow Shared Links feature breaks through file-sharing limitations and allows users to sync or share files as background tasks between two QNAP NAS without needing an intermediate computer, saving users time and effort in setting up complicated network configurations. To provide additional resources for further myQNAPcloud developments, we have regretfully decided to conclude our ongoing support for the MyCloudNAS service. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes our users, but we encourage them to try out the smooth remote connection functionality provided by the updated myQNAPcloud service,” said Cherry Chen, Product Manager of QNAP.

To experience the updated myQNAPcloud services, the QNAP NAS must use firmware QTS 4.2 (or newer) and have CloudLink 1.1.45 (or newer) installed from the QTS App Center.

 

myQNAPcloud Availability

myQNAPcloud is available from the QTS App Center.