IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 08/05/2014

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 08/05/2014

TweakTown

Leaked email shows close working relationship between NSA, Google
Google remains an outspoken critic of mass surveillance operations by the National Security Agency (NSA), but it appears both sides were exchanging a large amount of emails. NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander and Google executives Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt exchanged emails - including personal meetings and invitations to briefings and meetings.

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At least one meeting, between U.S. government departments and Silicon Valley tech leaders, was focused on Enduring Security Framework - with a focus on mobile security.
Despite the emails, Google gave the Huffington Post this statement: "We work really hard to protect our users from cyberattacks and we talk to outside experts, including occasionally in the US government, to ensure we stay ahead of the game."
However, even with Google speaking out against NSA spying, it shouldn't be surprising to hear of the close relationships major corporations have with the group. "Apart from SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] filings, companies are under no real obligation to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, unless in sworn testimony," said John Pike, Global Security director and founder, in a statement to VentureBeat.

Medical researchers hope to use 3D printers to make human hearts
Medical researchers hope to use 3D printing technologies to create human hearts which can be realistically used for transplants and other life-saving situations. Being able to use a 3D-printed heart in a human test subject is still years away, but researchers are keen to push the boundaries and see if it's possible.

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University of Louisville researchers have created heart valves and small veins, and have found success with tiny blood vessels that are being tested in lab mice. Researchers believe they will be able to create an entire human heart within five years, and the "bioficial heart" could be a major medical breakthrough.
"With complex organs such as the kidney and heart, a major challenge is being able to provide the structure with enough oxygen to survive until it can integrate with the body," noted Dr. Anthony Atala, as his team at Wake Forest University hopes to use 3D printing to create viable human kidneys.

NPD: More than 20 percent of subscribers use TV Everywhere service
A recent study found that 21 percent of paid TV subscribers utilize their subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) TV everywhere service, as providers step up their offering. In addition to providing content in the living room, there is greater interest in bringing content to mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

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There was a concern that Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon would lead to greater cord cutting - and cable and satellite providers have responded appropriately. However, SVOD and pay TV subscribers are finding TV Everywhere to be beneficial, and 30 percent use TV Everywhere at least once per week.
"TV everywhere is about mobility and control," said Russ Crupnick, Industry Analyst Senior Vice President, in a press statement. "Customers, especially subscription streamers, are becoming accustomed to over-the-top options where the location and device are no longer barriers, and they crave a similar experience with TV Everywhere. The way to keep SVOD subscribers using TV Everywhere platforms is to make the experience even more portable."

Epson Moverio BT-200 smartglasses now shipping for whopping $700
The Epson Moverio BT-200 augmented reality smart glasses can now be purchased with a $699.99 price tag, and while the headset may not be stylish, could end up being a great tool for use in the enterprise space.

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Epson first showed off the Moverio BT-200 during CES in January, and added intrigue by including two screens. The company says using the glasses is the equivalent of looking into an 80" HDTV right in your face, and requires a handheld touchpad to use.
"Moverio BT-200 is Epson's second-generation smart glasses and incorporate much of the feedback provided by both the AR developer and end-user communities," said Anna Jen, Epson America New Ventures/New Products Director, in a press statement. "With these improvements, Moverio BT-200 is poised to deliver an AR experience that will revolutionize workflow, training and repair in the enterprise environment."
Although the consumer market is growing on the idea of augmented reality and smart glasses, these types of products already have growing interest in the enterprise market.

Maryland police department plans to live tweet prostitution sting
The Prince George Police Department in Maryland plans to live tweet a prostitution sting later this week, providing street-level insight into a problem that many people believe is a victimless crime. However, the police department wants to enforce the idea that prostitution - and the folks that arrive to enjoy these types of services - aren't welcome in Prince George's County.

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"The intent all along has been to put on notice and/or arrest the very people who exploit women and even young girls in our community," according to a press release from the police department.
However, the idea of live tweeting results from the prostitution sting hasn't gone over well, with some advocates saying it won't help, and could increase public safety risk.
Twitter users also sounded off:

This is sick on so many levels. RT @PGPDNews: #PGPD to live Tweet prostitution sting. http://t.co/AJOjAAvGcV http://t.co/O0H292BPxw
- Julian Sanchez (@normative) May 1, 2014

A violation of human rights and a misguided perspective on #prostitution. Shame on you #PGPD http://t.co/4RHrJFUP1N
- Darci Jenkins (@JenkThis) May 1, 2014

Crucial begins sampling next-generation DDR4 RAM for the enterprise
This morning Crucial Memory announced that it has begun shipping samples of its new DDR4 modules to its partners through its new Technology Enablement Program. This program is aimed at channel partners who are actively developing and evaluating DDR4 platforms. Crucial says that this mornings announcement is the result of Micron's recent ramp-up in DDR4 module production.

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"Memory is one of the biggest limitations when it comes to enterprise server environments. Many memory-dependent server applications are crucial to the day-to-day operations of a business, but they require higher densities of memory and increased performance," said Michael Moreland, worldwide product marketing manager, Crucial. "Crucial DDR4 memory enables servers to perform faster and run more efficiently than ever before, reducing power and cooling expenses along the way - essential for meeting the ever-increasing workload demands of data centers."

Designed to enable next generation enterprise environments, Crucial DDR4 server memory delivers data rates that start at 2133 MT/s (up to twice as fast as DDR3 when it was introduced) and is expected to get even faster as the technology matures. What's more, when used with Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family-based systems, Crucial DDR4 server memory doubles memory bandwidth from 8.5 GB/s to 17 GB/s. Additionally, Crucial DDR4 memory uses up to 20 percent less voltage than DDR3 technology, operating at 1.2V compared to 1.5V for standard DDR3 memory, and delivers up to a 40 percent reduction in power usage.

Shuttle unveils new fanless single-bay NAS with built-in Wi-Fi Hotspot
Network attached storage is quickly becoming common place in the home networking environment, and today Shuttle announced a new product that will make adding a NAS to your network easier than ever. The new KS10 is a fanless, single-bay NAS solution designed for the the entry-level storage consumer who may not need a massive storage array just yet.

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The KS10 is capable of housing a single HDD up to 4TB in capacity and features two USB ports for additional storage expansion as well as an SD card slot. The Ethernet port located on the rear is Gigabit compatible and allows transfers up to 80MB/s. Additionally, a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot allows for communication for those who prefer wireless networks over wired solutions.

"Once you've taken the machine out of the box, it can be set up in just a few simple steps. A multilingual wizard guides newcomers by the hand through the process," explains Tom Seiffert, Head of Marketing & PR at Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH. "The supplied OMNINAS Finder tool and OMNINAS apps for Android and iOS offer additional convenience for use on the move."

Volvo starts public road trials of its self-driving cars
Self-driving cars are the future of automotive transportation, and today one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world has announced that it's self-driving car program has entered the public road testing phase. Volvo announced this morning that it has begun road-testing its self-driving cars on public roads, and is happy to report that the cars can now handle most of the roadway duties autonomously.

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"The test cars are now able to handle lane following, speed adaption and merging traffic all by themselves," said Erik Coelingh, a technical specialist at Volvo. "This is an important step towards our aim that the final 'Drive Me' cars will be able to drive the whole test route in highly autonomous mode."

Volvo says that its near-term goal is to have a fleet of 100 of these self-driving vehicles on a 50km route in Gothenberg, Sweeden by the beginning of 2017. "That Volvo Cars' hometown of Gothenburg becomes the world's first arena for self-driving cars in everyday driving conditions demonstrates both our technological leadership and Sweden's dedication to pioneering the integration of self-driving vehicles," stated Coelingh. "This public pilot will provide us with a valuable insight into the societal benefits of making autonomous vehicles a natural part of the traffic environment."

Bungie's Destiny could top GTA 5 as most expensive game ever
When it comes to entertainment budgets, video games reign king in development cost with budgets routinely surpassing $100 million. In the last few years we have seen that trend skyrocket with some games costing upwards of 1/4 of a billion dollars to develop. GTA V was a prime example of this, with development and marketing costing Rockstar $256 million.

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Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V may not hold the title of most expensive video game ever for much longer though. During a conference last week, Activisions CEO, Bobby Kotick, said that his company will be investing $500 million into Bungie's upcoming title, Destiny. While Bungie has already sunk $140 million into Destiny, this $500 million infusion will be used to set-forth a massive marketing push which could accelerate Destiny to more than $1 billion in sales after its launch on September 9th.

Unfortunately, for Activision to see a return on this investment, Destiny will have to sell just over 16 million copies. Activision and Bungie have entered into a 10-year publishing deal which will help Activision get a return on this investment in the long run, but will it come fast enough to make up for dwindling Call of Duty revenue? If Destiny is anywhere close to the popularity Call of Duty and Halo saw over the past decade, then it could keep both companies around for the next decade or two.

Rovio has just launched its own take on the FlappyBird-style game
There is no denying that Angry Birds was one of the most popular mobile gaming franchises in history, but I might dare say that FlappyBird may have been just as popular as any of the Angry Bird titles. Because of this genera's popularity Rovio has figured out a way to capitalize on it in a new and fresh way. Today Rovio soft launched a new game called Retry that is very FlappyBird-esque.

The games description reads: "From the guys sitting in the room next to the guys who made Angry Birds, comes Retry - a game so hard, so addictive, so old school that you'll think you've stepped into an 8-bit time machine and gone back to 1986. Totally rad!" Instead of a bird, gamers control an airplane that fly's in loops rather than straight lines. Unfortunately as of this morning the game is only available for download in Finland, Poland, and Canada, but it should make its way to the US and other regions soon.

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Apple is working on a fix for iOS 7 email issue
Apple is currently working on a fix for a recently discovered flaw in iOS email. The flaw causes attachments sent via email to be sent unencrypted. Reports indicate that this issue isn't as bad as it sounds at first glance.

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To take advantage of the flaw, a hacker would need your device and to bypass the pass code. iPhone 4S and later devices that are on iOS 7.1 aren't vulnerable to the issue. An Apple spokesperson has said that the company is aware of the issue and is working on a fix.
The fix will be offered via a future software update. No matter what device you are using if it is vulnerable, the hacker would need direct access to your device to exploit the flaw. Just be sure you have a pass code set.

NASA is looking for a new way to kill bacteria
NASA takes a lot of time to kill bacteria and other contaminants on spacecraft that it sends into space. It's particularly important to kill off any bacteria that might be on a spacecraft that will land on the surface of another planet to prevent contamination. The problem NASA is having is that some of the bacteria on spacecraft are nearly impossible to kill.

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In fact, some have proven so resilient that NASA is looking for new ways to kill bacteria on future spacecraft. Some of those bacterial spores can survive space and NASA fears that it might be sending life out into space away from Earth. This poses problems for future missions that may send probes to other world's.
One specific bacterium called Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 has a high resistance to the techniques used to clean spacecraft such as peroxide treatment and UV radiation. Those spores can also survive in the vacuum of space. NASA placed these spores outside the ISS and they survived for 18 months. One of the big challenges for NASA is to develop methods of killing bacteria on smaller spacecraft that can't survive the heat of NASAs currently approved dry heat microbial reduction. Some believe that in the near term this is a moot point because bacterial exchange between mars and Earth has been going on for millennia.

Qualcomm Toq smartwatch gets Toq Talk feature
Qualcomm has added a new feature to its Toq smartwatch that users of the device might find interesting. The new feature is called Toq Talk and it is powered by Nuance voice to text technology. Toq Talk lets users of the smartwatch respond to text messaged using their voice.

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Nuance voice recognition text is featured in a number of products. It's rather well known for not begin all that accurate at times. Siri on iOS devices is powered by Nuance and its voice recognition engine is also used in voice systems inside some cars.
On the Toq, voice input is limited to only nine seconds at a time. That should be plenty of time to compose a message. Whether messages made with your voice are accurate remains to be seen. Toq isn't available as a normal retail product, it's more like a reference platform.

Google Play Music All-Access streaming hits Canada
Our friends in the Great White North have a new feature from Google Play Music that they can now enjoy. Google has rolled out its Play Music All-Access streaming service in Canada this week. The launch of the All-Access service was timed to coincide with the Canadian Music Week summit and conference that focuses on the state of the music industry in Canada.

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Google had previously launched the streaming service in the US, Europe, and Mexico, but left Canadians in the cold. The introductory price of the All-Access streaming service in Canada is $7.99 per month for all you can listen to music. The service will cost $9.99 a month after the introductory period.
Google has 25 million songs in its database. Canadians can also purchase music and store their collection in a cloud locker that can hold up to 20,000 songs. Music in the Google catalog is sorted into genre with playlists curated by experts.

Google Now Card helps you find things you search for in local stores
If you are a heavy online shopper, you probably search for a lot of things via Google. Since Google knows, what you are searching for it is taking that information and making it easier to find stuff you are interested in at local stores. A new feature has been added that will tell you when those items you searched for online are available in a store you are passing.

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The feature would be triggered if you are out and a store you are near has the exact item that you had used Google to search for. The card for the feature could show multiple products if more than one item you have been looking at online is available at the location.
This is an interesting way for you to look for items, get all the details you need to make a buying decision, and then find the product locally. With Amazon and other retailers now charging sales tax, some of the benefits of ordering stuff online are disappearing and this app may help you find what you are looking for without paying shipping or waiting for the item to show up.

Chadder secure messaging app wants to keep your chats private
John McAfee is a name tied most closely in the tech world to the anti-virus software that bears the McAfee name. McAfee has rolled out a new messaging app called Chadder that is designed specifically to help users secure their chats.

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Chadder was created with cooperation from McAfee Future Tense Private Systems and a company called Etransfr. The app is currently available for Android and Windows Phone users and is focused on privacy and security. Data sent between users who are taking advantage of the app is sent in the form of an encrypted message.
Chadder uses server encryption that allows the app to see the encryption codes needed for a private message only when sent from one user to another. That means that only the person who the message is sent to can read it. Chadder is in beta right now and reportedly has a bug that keeps you from finding a user. A version of the app for iOS will land in the coming weeks.

Lenovo N20p Chromebook with folding screen aims at education market
Lenovo has unveiled a new Chromebook that has a cool trick that other devices on the market lack. That cool trick is a screen that can be folded into different positions. The machine is called the N20p and it is aimed at the education market where price is often the deciding factor when it comes to a purchase.

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Lenovo's N20p Chromebook will sell for $329, a cheaper standard Chromebook called the N20 lacking the folding screen is offered for $279. That N20p is more like the Yoga line of tablets with a screen supporting 10 points of touch and a hinge that allows the screen to be folded backwards up to 300 degrees.
With the screen folded, the notebook can be used in stand mode for watching videos. As the Chromebook name implies, the N20p runs the Chrome OS and the processor under the hood is an Intel Pentium. Power comes from an internal battery good for up to eight hours per charge. Internal storage is 16GB and both these Chromebooks have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The N20p will be available in August with its N20 brother landing in July.

UK retailer Tesco plans to roll out its own smartphone
Tesco is a retailer in the UK that is something like Walmart. Word has surfaced that the retailer is gearing up to launch its own branded smartphone. The new smartphone will reportedly run the Android operating system and aim at shoppers looking for a budget device. Tesco has already picked out a name for its coming smartphone. The device will be called the Hudl Phone.

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No exact launch date for the device is offered, but the launch window for the smartphone is by the end of the year. Odds are it will hit the market in time for the holiday shopping season. Pricing details weren't offered.
Tesco has already used the Hudl name on a product with a tablet that launched last year. That tablet sold for £119 and the phone is expected to fill a similar niche for smartphone shoppers. Tesco will include a T-button on the smartphone that links shoppers to its online products such as shopping, banking, and the Blinkbox music and movie service.

Analogue Nt, an original NES machine capable of 1080p gaming for $500
Until now, you've probably never heard of Analogue Interactive... well, the company has just unveiled its retro gaming machine, the Analogue Nt. Analogue Nt features the same hardware found inside of the NES console, but in a beautiful single block of "6061 aluminum".

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The Analogue Nt supports all of the original NES peripherals, including the Zapper light gun for some Duck Hunt shenanigans. All of the original NES cartridges are compatible, including the Japanese Famicon gear. The Analogue Nt features HDMI out for 1080p goodness, but keep in mind that those old games won't look that great blown up to 1920x1080.
How much will a trip down memory lane in a new shell cost you? $500. An HDMI adapter, something that doesn't come included in the package, will cost you $50. If you don't want the stock aluminum color, you can get a new shell for $50. For "new" NES controllers, you're looking at $50, and for refurbished models are priced at $30.

Professional StarCraft players duke it out in MMA with commentary
Jinro, a retired high-level Swedish StarCraft II professional, who fights in Mixed Martial Arts, has had another StarCraft professional commentate throughout the fight as if it were a real, professional StarCraft II match.

The match is above, which is actually a lot better than I thought it would be. StarCraft and MMA fans alike should really enjoy this one!

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GeForce GTX 880 engineering sample features 8GB of RAM
The last time we heard about the GeForce GTX 880, we heard it would have 4GB of RAM - well, how does 8GB of RAM sound on NVIDIA's next generation flagship GPU? Beautiful, just as I thought.

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Well, an engineering sample (ES) card has been intercepted on its way from NVIDIA's development center in India, on its way to China. The shipping manifest was found by Chinese press, with "GM204" and "8 GB GDDR5" plastered all over it. We know that GM204 is the successor to the GK104, which should pack 3200 CUDA cores, a 256-bit memory bus and a massive 8GB of RAM.
If NVIDIA is about to launch the GTX 880 with 8GB of RAM over a 256-bit bus, it must be using some very high density memory chips. Better yet, the price should be under $800. I would've liked to have seen a 512-bit bus with 8GB of RAM, but I would just be greedy there, wouldn't I?

Zalman Z3 Plus White Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

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While Zalman is a company that is much better known for their CPU coolers than anything else, they have been adding cases to their lineup for quite some time now. From what we saw at CES on our last trip, they were full of ideas and designs that were all aggressive in their aesthetics, and it was easy to see Zalman was watching the market and offering things inside of the chassis designs that should help them keep up with today's needs in cases. While it has been a long time since we have last seen a chassis from Zalman, this is exactly why we have you here now.
The latest chassis we are looking at is one of a group of cases. There is a vanilla version as well as a Plus addition to the same essential design. Also with the Plus chassis, there is the option for a black or a white version to choose from, of which we received the latter. The reality of the differences is pretty simple, though. The vanilla offers everything the Plus has minus two things. One of which is a VGA support bracket, and the second feature is that the Plus version also offers a window in the side panel. Outside of those two things, this one review will pretty much cover all three versions of this chassis.
Today, Zalman has us looking at the Z3 Plus White, the latest offering in their mid-tower cases. As you will soon see, while very light and aesthetically appealing, they also offer things like wire management, room for longer expansion cards, bays for both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives, and an opening in the motherboard tray for access. The Z3 Plus does bring a lot to the table. What we are here to distinguish is if this chassis is worth the time and effort to consider it for your next chassis. By the time we are done, you will have the full picture, and all of your questions will be answered.
The chart offered from Zalman offers a comparison chart between the Z3 Plus, the Z3 Plus White, and the Z3 to the right, but we snipped out the Z3 as the only difference is the two features we described above. Just under the names, we find they are all mid-tower designs in a chassis that weighs just thirteen pounds empty. These are made of steel and ABS plastic, and while the Z3 Plus is all black, the Z3 Plus White is all white but has black steel mesh used down the front bezel. Also, all three of them can house Micro-ATX and ATX motherboards and allow for 360mm of video card length.

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Inside of the chassis, it offers two 5.25-inch bays with a single 3.5-inch bay under those, all of which are exposed through the bezel. At the bottom of the chassis, just behind a 120mm blue LED fan, there is a rack to house three 3.5-inch drives or a single 2.5-inch drive on the top of said rack. In the back of the chassis, along with the bottom mounted PSU and seven breakout expansion slot covers, there is another 120mm fan added for exhaust. As for the rest of the offerings, you can read about the front I/O offerings and the two-fan fan controller. There is more to this design, which will be seen soon enough as we make our way through the images. As it sits now, it seems the Z3 Plus cases have what everyone needs.
Looking around to see if Zalman has made this chassis widely available, we are finding it everywhere we look, and we have to assume they are doing the same in their other markets. This is also where we get into the pricing, and while a few places are offering free shipping with this chassis, its pricing is below that $100 magic line that we feel well equipped mid-towers should not cross unless it is something revolutionary or the material choice prohibits such a low cost. This is good for Zalman and this Z3 Plus White chassis. To be honest, we were expecting the price to be higher, as it seems many of the cases we just looked at this month we're asking a bit too much for what was offered. Zalman seems to have hit an acceptable price point for what we know of this design so far.
PRICING: You can find the Zalman Z3 Plus White for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The Zalman Z3 Plus White retails for $60.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The Zalman Z3 Plus White retails for CDN$87.51 at Amazon Canada.
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Intel Core i7 4790 (Haswell Refresh) CPU and Z97 Performance Preview

Introduction

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We haven't heard anything from Intel when it comes to the Haswell refresh that is due out during Computex, so we figured that if we are able to get our hands-on one of the processors, we'd find out just what kind of performance it offers. Of course, if we're not supposed to be publishing this, then I'm sure we're going to hear about it in the coming hours.
Since we haven't heard from Intel about the latest processors, we also don't have a whole lot of official information in regards to what's going on with it aside from the leaked images. Saying that, though, we've seen a ton of leaked images that give us a fair idea of just what we're going to be dealing with.
The Haswell refresh will bring with it a large amount of CPUs for both desktop and mobile platforms, but isn't really much more than a speed bump to the current crop of CPUs. Sitting at the top of the new line up is the i7 4790 which we're looking at today.
This isn't a K series processor which means that when it comes to overclocking, you're quite limited with BCLK overclocking being the only option. This means that the overclock amount will often be only 3 - 5% due to more often than not a 103 - 105 BCLK being achieved. We'll cover the overclocking side of things, though, on the next page.
There's not a whole lot more we'll be telling you today as we move forward. We won't' be offering any pictures of the motherboard or the CPU we're using today due to markings on them from the companies that provided the samples. We will take a look at the CPU-Z screenshot on the next page, though. On the next page, we will also talk a bit about the processors before we move into the performance side of things.
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Serial Cables SA-ENC12G-01A 12Gb/s SAS3 JBOD External Storage Review

Introduction

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The Serial Cables SA-ENC12G-01A JBOD is designed for 2.5-inch HDD/SSD testing environments. The JBOD allows DAS use of 12Gb/s SAS and SATA devices, and it also provides backwards compatibility with the previous 6 Gb/s and 3 Gb/s generations. A major issue encountered by many manufacturers is signal integrity and 10b errors when testing 12Gb/s storage devices. This is usually from too much loss between the host and the end device, and Serial Cables designed their JBOD to address this problem by providing the purest connection possible. The JBOD doesn't feature an expander chip or other components that affect latency.
Serial Cables focuses on providing testing equipment for design and validation engineering groups, along with a wide variety of cables and specialty items. Serial Cables provides a wide range of fibre channel cables and SFPs, and cabling for HD SAS/SATA, SCSI, PCIe, Infiniband cable, and numerous adapters and accessories. Serialcables.com also provides pictures and wiring diagrams of all cables they supply.
The wait for 12Gb/s SAS infrastructure was a bit frustrating. We actually had 12Gb/s SSDs in the lab long before there were HBAs or RAID controllers available for testing. Once the required components began trickling in, we ran into problems finding dual-port SAS cabling and connection converters. Serial Cables led the way, and they often have cabling options and specialty items not carried by other vendors. Serial Cables is a certified LSI Channel Alliance Partner and SandForce Trusted Partner, and they provide the cabling supplied with LSI RAID controllers and HBAs.
Creating a refined solution for design and engineering groups, along with normal hardware users, requires attention to detail and a resilient design. 12Gb/s devices require higher quality PCB assemblies that have lower loss. The 12Gb/s SAS specification calls for enhanced transmit and receive equalization. This is accomplished with the 12Gb/s compliant Quarch backplane that provides connection for eight 2.5-inch drives with SFF8680/SFF8643 connections. The SA-ENC12G-01A JBOD also supports dual-port connections to test all SAS features.
The JBOD provides a copious amount of airflow with a rating of 3.5 meters per minute. Typically, anything above two meters per minute is sufficient. The design of the JBOD includes slotted air intakes through the handles to optimize airflow. During our testing, all SSDs and HDDs remained well below the expected temperature range.
The SA-ENC12G-01A has an integrated 150W power supply to power the drives. We tested power consumption during our use of the JBOD. With the high-powered HGST SSD800MH SSDs, it peaked at 111 watts.
Serial Cables also provides a 19-inch rack mount for the JBOD, allowing the placement of two JBODs side-by-side in a rack. The slim design only requires 2U of space, and when stood vertically, the enclosure occupies very little space. The design is efficient and provides an excellent amount of storage density. The fans on the SA-ENC12G-01A are not quiet, but they also don't match the noise of most 1U and 2U server racks. In lab and development environments, noise is not a large concern. The current design doesn't allow fan adjustment, but for office environments, it would be nice to have the ability to dial down the fans.
Serial Cables has enjoyed significant success with this inaugural JBOD design, and they are now shipping the SA-ENC12G-018 tool-less 8-bay JBOD and the larger 24-bay SAS/SATA test box. The 24-bay design also has enhanced features, such as power measurement and individual on/off control, that can be programmed through USB, Telnet, and Ethernet.
We have actually been using the SA-ENC12G-01A for several months with a wide range of storage devices. The design and build quality are top-notch, and the JBOD is warrantied for one year. Let's take a closer look at the device and see how it fares in our testing.
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