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Iomega Offers 1TB Network Storage for "Ridiculously Cheap" $300 Price

Paul Lilly — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:00:58 -0500

EMC earlier this year acquired storage and network security solutions company Iomega Corporation, who is perhaps best known for its line of Zip and Jaz drives. Today Iomega announces the first co-produced storage drive between the two companies, resulting in the StorCenter ix2. For $300, consumers get a network storage solution the company describes as being "smaller than a large dictionary." The price point works out to $0.30 per gigabyte.

"These are market-based prices," Iomega division president Jonathan Huberman said. "It's ridiculous how cheap these things are, but it is what it is. A great value for the consumer."

Upping the bang for buck factor, a 2TB version is also being made available for $479, or about $0.24 per gigabyte. Of course, the StorCenter ix2 offers more than raw hard drive space. The unit comes with EMC's Retrospect backup software, virus encryption technology, and RAID 1. A bult in media server and Bluetooth, UPnP (Universal Plug and Play), and DLNA (Digital Living Netwrok Alliance) media device capabilities also come part of the package.

LaCie 5big Network Drive Holds 5 Drives, Won't Call You Dave

Andy Salisbury — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:51:28 -0500

LaCie has always been good about their design, and that trend looks like it’s going to continue with designer Neil Poulton’s HAL 9000 inspired 5big Network Drive.

The 5big is aimed at small and medium sized workgroups with nerves of steel, and a need for a ton of storage. It will feature five hot-swappable Serial ATA drive bays that can hold up to 7.5 terabytes of storage total (more than HAL 9000 had, I bet). Should 7.5 terabytes not be enough, you can always add additional drives through the included USB ports.

The drives that you decide to put in the 5big can be put in several different raid arrays, including RAID 5, RAID 5+Spare, RAID 6, RAID 10 and RAID 0. And thanks to an included Gigabit Ethernet port, anyone connected to your local network can access it.

And don’t worry, should you decide to get a new network drive somewhere along the line you won’t be having the same issues that a certain Dave Bowman did.

Quantenna Chips to Reinforce WiFi Signal, Prevent Interference

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:34:48 -0500

Many of you might have played cat and mouse with WiFi signals inside your home. WiFi coverage tends to be inconsistent if the client and the WiFi access point are separated by walls. But a Sunnyvale-based startup, Quantenna Communications, is readying three chipsets to ensure that you don’t have to search for WiFi sweet spots inside you house ever again.

The chips will not only prevent WiFi signals from loosing their strength while traversing walls but also reign in on any interference from other devices operating in the 2.4 or 5GHz bands. The chipsets are expected to cost between $20 and $40 each. These chips are expected to make their maiden commercial appearance sometime in 2009.

Researchers Working on LED-based Alternative to Wi-Fi

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:29:49 -0500

Wi-Fi is fast emerging as the most popular technology for wireless communication between disparate gadgets, but security remains a major concern. However, researchers at Boston University’s College of Engineering are working on an alternative way of connecting devices that will be innately more secure than Wi-Fi.

They intend to use LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) for wireless communications. If they are able to develop an optical communication technology, LEDs could then be used in the same manner as Wi-Fi access points. These LEDs could also be used as a low-power source of light.

Moreover, an LED-based communication technology will enjoy a distinct security advantage. It will be more secure compared to Wi-Fi due to the inability of light to penetrate through opaque surfaces like walls.

“Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires,” said an ebullient Thomas Little, a BU engineering professor, about the idea. Soon, our networks will quite literally “light up”.

D-Link DAP-1522 Wireless Bridge/Access Point

Michael Brown — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:53:51 -0500

This multi-function Wi-Fi device is super handy in some applications; utterly useless in others. It’s great if you have an extensive hardwired network and want to deploy a wireless access point and a three-port switch in a room your Wi-Fi router can’t otherwise reach. But it sucks as a wireless bridge because of its extremely poor range.

WiMax Epoch in U.S Begins with Launch of Sprint XOHM in Baltimore

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:02:46 -0500

The Netbook movement, if it may be labeled as such, has received a shot in the arm in the U.S with the launch of Sprint’s XOHM WiMax network in Baltimore. The launch effectively ushers in the WiMax epoch in the U.S.

Subscribers will have unabated mobile broadband access throughout Baltimore as the XOHM network envelopes the entire city. Sprint is claiming downlinks speeds of 2-4 Mbps, effectively faster than 3G.

Netbooks are expected to become more practical and even indispensable to a fair degree as more cities appear on the WiMax map in coming months. Moreover, netbook are beginning to make much more sense due to the financial meltdown.

Google to Rescue Doomed WiFi Network, Offer Free Access

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:23:03 -0500

The abandoned remains of EarthLink’s ambitious free WiFi service are scattered across various U.S cities. Many of the WiFi networks that EarthLink founded have been rescued by private investors and saved from their inevitable demise. The latest savior happens to be Google, which has decided to run the WiFi network in Milpitas. It has joined hands with I-Net Solutions and a few others to save the network. There will be no access fee unlike the time when EarthLink ran this particular network . The Milpitas network didn't figure on EarthLink's list of free WiFi networks.

Russian Cabal Infiltrating Large Networks, Causing Infections by the Hundreds of Thousands

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:47:35 -0500

Be warned, a cabal of Russian cyber criminals is on the loose and actively pillaging vast expanses of the internet. The gang slyly assumes the administrative responsibilities of large corporate and government networks and then quickly plants malicious tools on thousands of computers in that network. Security analysts reckon this to be the most well coordinated, systematic use of administrative tools for malicious purposes.

The group’s activities came to light when Joe Stewarts of Atlanta-based computer security firm SecureWorks found that a central program belonging to the Russian bandits was running at a Wisconsin-based Internet hosting facility. He estimated that 100,000 computers had been compromised. He promptly notified a federal law enforcement agency that proceeded to boot of the central program. But the gang, unfazed, quickly relocated the tool to a network in Ukraine.

According to a report, its central program called Coreflood infects computers with spyware that logs keystrokes and screen information. This puts sensitive financial data of users at great risk. The Coreflood software running at the Wisconsin facility accrued 500GB of sensitive data, according to Stewart.

Have you had your financial information like online banking passwords stolen and subsequently misused? If the answer is yes, you have your suspects.