WD Ships 2TB Enterprise-Class Hard Drives With Greenpower Technology

Oracle to Buy Sun

TUL Partners With Arctic Cooling For Mainstream Graphics Cards

MSI Introduces N260GTX Lightning Twin Frozr, an AirForce Panel and 10 Phase Power PWM

LaCie Introduces Three Storage Solutions for Video Professionals

G-Technology Announces G-SPEED SAS Expansion Solution

WD Ships 2TB Enterprise-Class Hard Drives With Greenpower Technology

Western Digital today expanded its enterprise family of hard drives to include its largest 2 TB enterprise-class solution. Combining 64 MB cache, dual processors, and increased areal density, WD RE4-GP hard drives are claimed to yield twice the processing power resulting in 25 percent performance improvement over the previous generation.

WD's GreenPower technology platform is the first 3.5-inch hard drive platform designed with power savings as the primary attribute. According to the press release, these drives reduce average drive power consumption by up to 50 percent over currently available competitors' drives.

The new WD RE4-GP 2 TB hard drive provides enterprise-class reliability for cloud-computing infrastructure, large-scale data centers, data archive and tape replacement systems, commercial video surveillance and digital video editing houses. Addressing the growing high-capacity enterprise market, WD RE4-GP 2 TB drives are reliability-rated at 1.2 million hours MTBF in high duty cycle environments.

These are some of the features of WD RE4-GP hard drives with GreenPower technology:

• Faster - 64 MB cache, dual processors, and increased areal density yield twice the processing power resulting in as much as a 25 percent performance improvement over the previous generation.
• Greener - Improvements in our power-conserving technologies (IntelliSeek, IntelliPark, and IntelliPower) deliver up to an average 25 percent reduction in power consumption over our previous generation of WD RE-GP drive.
• Improved Rotary Vibration Tolerance - Advanced mechanical and servo control optimization along with system characterization and validation enable rock solid performance under extreme vibration conditions, with negligible impact to performance, substantially more robust than the previous generation, making this drive ideal for the most industrial IT applications.
• Active Power Management - WD drives with GreenPower technology monitor work load and automatically invoke idle mode whenever possible to further reduce unnecessary power consumption by up to an additional 40 percent. Drive recovery time from idle mode is less than one second, providing seamless power management between the drive and the host controller.
• StableTrac - Secures the motor shaft at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations.
• RAID-specific Time-limited Error Recovery (TLER) - Pioneered by WD, this feature prevents drive fallout caused by the extended hard drive error-recovery processes common to desktop drives.
• Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF) - This second generation WD RE-GP model increased rotational frequencies up to 1500 Hz, therefore optimizing operation and performance when the drives are used in vibration-prone multi-drive systems such as rack mounted servers or in systems deployed at industrial type locations.

The WD RE4-GP 2 TB hard drive (WD2002FYPS) is available with the MSRP of $329.00 (U.S.). The WD RE4-GP 2 TB will also be shown by WD partners AMCC (booth number SL13007) and Promise (booth number SL12008) at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, NV.

Source: WD

Oracle to Buy Sun

Sun Microsystems and Oracle Corporation announced today they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Oracle will acquire Sun common stock for $9.50 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun's cash and debt.

"We expect this acquisition to be accretive to Oracle's earnings by at least 15 cents on a non-GAAP basis in the first full year after closing. We estimate that the acquired business will contribute over $1.5 billion to Oracle's non-GAAP operating profit in the first year, increasing to over $2 billion in the second year. This would make the Sun acquisition more profitable in per share contribution in the first year than we had planned for the acquisitions of BEA, PeopleSoft and Siebel combined," said Oracle President Safra Catz.

"The acquisition of Sun transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems," said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. "Oracle will be the only company that can engineer an integrated system - applications to disk - where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves. Our customers benefit as their systems integration costs go down while system performance, reliability and security go up."

There are substantial long-term strategic customer advantages to Oracle owning two key Sun software assets: Java and Solaris. Java is one of the computer industry's best-known brands and most widely deployed technologies, and it is the most important software Oracle has ever acquired. Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle's fastest growing business, is built on top of Sun's Java language and software. Oracle can now ensure continued innovation and investment in Java technology for the benefit of customers and the Java community.

The Sun Solaris operating system is the leading platform for the Oracle database, Oracle's largest business, and has been for a long time. With the acquisition of Sun, Oracle can optimize the Oracle database for some of the unique, high-end features of Solaris.

The Board of Directors of Sun Microsystems has unanimously approved the transaction. It is anticipated to close this summer, subject to Sun stockholder approval, certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Source: Sun Microsystems

TUL Partners With Arctic Cooling For Mainstream Graphics Cards

TUL Corporation announced its collaboration with Arctic Cooling that should bring premium cooling solutions, typically only found in performance and enthusiast cards, to the mainstream market.

With its 92mm cooling fan, this soon to be part of the Professional Cool Solution (PCS) product line increases airflow at a lower fan speed that dissipates heat from an optimized heatsink that fully covers the PWM and memory. The special fan design avoids direct contact with high temperatures emanating from the heat sink, extending the life cycle of the cooling fan. Keeping fan noise at a minimum with PowerColor's fan control technology, the fan speed automatically adjusts while it's under idle, in 2D or 3D mode—helping to deliver better heat dissipation.

Source: TUL Corporation

MSI Introduces N260GTX Lightning Twin Frozr, an AirForce Panel and 10 Phase Power PWM

Today, MSI released its custom-designed GeForce GTX 260 graphics card: MSI N260GTX Lightning made of 'Military Class' parts. With its 1792MB memory and Twin Frozr thermal design, MSI N260GTX Lightning is claimed to be the most unique GeForce GTX260 on the market.

Furthermore, this graphics card has overclocking features like V-Check points to measure the voltage and MSI exclusive "AirForce Panel" only in the limited Black Edition.

Military Class is the new standard for top-quality graphics cards. It implies use of ultra long lifespan solid cap which is 2.5x times of lifespan of normal solid cap and ultra high stability Hi-C Cap that can withstand 20% higher temperature.

N260GTX Lightning is MSI's first graphics card with 10 Phase PWM for a maximum overclocking performance. The GPU needs more power than a CPU, so that is why 8 phases are reserved for the GPU and 2 phases for the memory, improving stability.

This card's memory is doubled to 1792MB GDDR3 and reaches, in combination with the original processor, a frequency ratio of 680/2100 MHz.

AirForce Panel, the exclusive bundled device, uses the touch panel to provide the complete voltage and clock settings. Just simply slide the panel to overclock the card. The AirForce panel features different profiles for office work, gaming, etc so you can easily jump to the right VGA cards settings.

In addition, MSI N260GTX Lightning is equipped with V-Check points for measuring the voltage during overclocking activities. You can simply use the multi-meter to detect the core and memory voltages.

MSI's N260GTX Lightning has an intelligent thermal design with dual fans called "Twin Frozr". The card produces ultra-low noise under regular load and dynamically adjusts the fan speed during intensive game play and other 3D-operations. Moreover, the thermal design provides a great cooling efficiency to reach the best overclocking performance.

There are 2 SKU's of the N260GTX Lightning. The AirForce panel is only included in the N260GTX Lightning Black Edition which comes with a special weapon-style packing.

* The limited black edition is shipped with factory default frequencies of 650/2000 MHz. The mentioned figures were reached using the AirForce panel with game settings set at the highest level.

Source: MSI

LaCie Introduces Three Storage Solutions for Video Professionals

Today LaCie announced a new 8TB model of the LaCie 4big Quadra and three new product combinations for video professionals. LaCie also premiered the 4big Quadra Bundle, which boasts capacities up to 32TB and fast transfer speeds up to 700MB/s. LaCie also announced today a new 8TB model of the 4big Quadra, an integral part of the 32TB LaCie 4big Quadra Bundle.

LaCie 4big Quadra is a 4-bay RAID solution featuring four hot-swappable disks and seven RAID modes including RAID0 and RAID5. Featuring three options for customization, the LaCie 4big Quadra Bundle includes the choice of two or four 4big Quadra, a LaCie eSATA II PCI Express Card 3Gb/s – 4Ports, and a LaCie Rescue Kit (available with Bundles 16TB and 32TB). The Rescue Kit, which consists of a spare hard disk and power supply, is designed for workflow respect in case of common storage issue with simple maintenance, hot-swappable drive replacement and automatic rebuild.

• 8TB LaCie 4big Quadra Bundle: 2 x 4TB LaCie 4big Quadra, LaCie eSATA II PCI Express Card 3Gb/s – 4Ports
• 16TB LaCie 4big Quadra Bundle: 4 x 4TB LaCie 4big Quadra, LaCie eSATA II PCI Express Card 3Gb/s – 4Ports, and LaCie Rescue Kit
• 32TB LaCie 4big Quadra Bundle: 4 x 8TB LaCie 4big Quadra, LaCie eSATA II PCI Express Card 3Gb/s – 4Ports, and LaCie Rescue Kit

Compared to traditional RAID towers, the 4big Quadra Bundle has been optimized for ultimate efficiency, including an automatic standby mode to reduce power consumption of each tower by up to 80 percent compared to standard 4-bay RAID tower. Ideal for noise sensitive working environments, each 4big Quadra also incorporates the ultra-reliable Noctua cooling system, making it almost 50 percent quieter than comparable systems. Designed in aluminum by the product designer Neil Poulton, the 4big Quadra design is stackable and space-saving, fitting into modern working environments.

Also made for Sever backup, the LaCie 4big Quadra Bundle comes with Genie Backup Manager Pro for Windows and Intego Backup Manager Pro for Mac, supporting customizable backups and computer recovery.

The LaCie 4big Quadra Bundles will be available for the suggested retail price starting at $1999.00 (excluding VAT). The 8TB LaCie 4big Quadra and 32TB LaCie 4big Quadra Bundle will be available in May.

Source: LaCie

G-Technology Announces G-SPEED SAS Expansion Solution

G-Technology by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies today announced its new G-SPEED eS PRO XL, a rack-mount, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) expansion solution, with mini-SAS connectivity, providing high-performance, low-cost RAID for professional content creation applications. The new G-Technology G-SPEED eS PRO XL comes in a 2U 12-drive, or 3U 16-drive rack-mount enclosure, with hot swappable SATA 3Gb/s hard drives for high-performance, high-capacity, expandable direct-attached storage for small film studios and production houses.

The G-SPEED eS PRO XL in a 3U RAID 5 delivers sustained read/write speeds of more than 650MB/sec, making it well-suited for real-time video editing and digital intermediate film applications. A simple-to-use, web-based control panel allows users to easily manage, configure and monitor the system.

The G-SPEED eS PRO XL ships with a two-port mini-SAS RAID controller card and a locking, two-meter mini-SAS cable, allowing users to easily and affordably scale from an entry-level 12 TB 2U solution up to an incredible 192 TB. The PCIe x8 RAID controller supports JBOD and RAID levels 0, 1, 3, 5 and 6. Up to eight G-SPEED eS PRO XL units can be connected to one RAID controller card, allowing an enormous amount of data-intensive video, graphic material and audio files to be centrally stored and managed.

Mac OS X and Windows compatible, the G-Technology G-SPEED eS PRO XL will ship in May 2009. It comes with a three-year standard warranty with pricing starting at $6,999 MSRP for 12 TB in a 2U rack-mount enclosure.

Also, as a tribute to loyal content creators and A/V professionals, G-Technology is giving away 42, commemorative, limited-edition, G-Technology G-DRIVE mini external drives, skinned by Infectious, a company that creates consumer art products in collaboration with an online community of global artists. Just like G-Technology's family of external storage solutions, the rules are simple. Simply sign up to become a fan on the G-Technology page on Facebook and you're automatically entered into the drawing. Starting today through May 3, three fans per day will be randomly chosen to win a G-DRIVE mini. Each drive will be "skinned" with one of three exclusive designs by Paul Burgess, Dalek, or Shadow Chen, all renowned artists contributing to the Infectious community. Visit the G-Technology page on Facebook for more details.

The G-Technology G-DRIVE minis are ultra sleek, portable drives designed for the Mac market. With capacities up to 500 GB, the G-DRIVE mini features a FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interface, giving A/V professionals and multimedia enthusiasts fast, high-capacity portable storage. Compact and light weight – around 10 oz – the G-DRIVE mini easliy slips into a computer, camera or camcorder bag, holding more than 45 hours of high definition video, 200,000 5 Mpixel JPEG photos, or 125,000 MP3 files. Because the device is bus-powered, no bulky AC adaptor is required.

Source: Hitachi GST

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