News & Reviews


Keep up to date with Origin Storage

Updates from RSS Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Origin Storage 16:03 on 08/03/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , Singuan Yeh, , Thecus XXX   

    Thecus will be at the Intel Storage Forum 2011 

    Taipei, Taiwan: without any doubts, Taiwan is a paradise for people interested in new technologies, and you can see more and more worldwide events being held on the island. The Intel Storage Forum is one of them, and it’s happening very soon: March 16th 2011 at the Taipei International Convention Center.

    Thecus showcase: Come have a look at our state-of-the-art NAS!
    All of our products are always the result of a long designing process and we’re very proud to introduce them. The Thecus XXX series is one of the biggest announcements in the NAS market for months: from 2 to 8 bays, these high-end NAS feature Intel Atom CPUs, high quality components, new firmware V5, and a lot of new functions. Xtreme Power, Xtreme Function, and Xtreme Value will all be on display for curious users to demo.

    Speaking of big things: our brand new 16 (!) bay NAS, the N16000, will also be there to show off its stuff. Harnessing 8GB of DDR3 RAM, an Intel Xeon CPU and a new 64-bit system, this NAS has to be seen!

    Feel free to stop by and say hi to Thecus staffs, we’ll be more than delighted to welcome you!

    Cloud computing: Seriously, what’s that?Everyone is talking about cloud computing. This is the new trend in modern computer architecture and it’s going to save you money, increase data security, and make employees more mobile than ever. To join this revolutionary movement, you need to know all about it if you want to enjoy all the features of those new technologies and avoid making bad decisions!

    That’s why Singuan Yeh, Thecus’s resident expert on cloud computing applications, will be speaking at the Intel Storage Forum on “Scale Out Storage for Cloud Computing”. This speech will sum up the ins and outs of cloud computing and what it means on a practical level to everyone from enterprise to end-users.

     

  • Origin Storage 12:00 on 23/02/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , ,   

    SSDs do not always scrub-delete files, claim researchers 

    Researchers at the University of California at San Diego’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering have discovered that solid state drives (SSDs) – aka flash drives – behave very differently than magnetic disk units when instructed to ‘scrub-delete’ a data file, a process known as sanitising.

    According to the researchers – Michael Wei, Laura M. Grupp, Frederick Spada and Steven Swanson – the way an SSD operates is different in almost every respect from a hard drive, so assuming that erasure techniques that work for hard drives will also work for SSDs is dangerous.

    The report notes that SSDs use flash memory to store data, and flash memory is divided into pages and blocks.

    Infosecurity notes that the problem stems from the fact that program operations apply to pages and can only change 1s to 0s. Erase operations, meanwhile, apply to blocks and set all the bits in a block to 1. As a result, says the paper, an in-place update is not possible.

    As the report notes: “a flash translation layer (FTL) manages the mapping between logical block addresses (LBAs) that are visible via the ATA or SCSI interface and physical pages of flash memory.”

    “Because of the mismatch in granularity between erase operations and program operations in flash, in-place update of the sector at an LBA is not possible”, says the report.

    “Instead, to modify a sector, the FTL will write the new contents for the sector to another location and update the map so that the new data appears at the target LBA. As a result, the old version of the data remains in digital form in the flash memory. We refer to these ‘left over’ data [part-files] as digital remnants”, the report adds.

    Since in-place updates are not possible in SSDs, the researchers argue that the overwrite-based erasure techniques that work well for hard drives may not work properly for SSDs.

    The report concludes that, in order to remedy the problem, the research team have described and evaluated three simple extensions to an existing FTL that make file sanitisation fast and effective.

    “Overall, we conclude that the increased complexity of SSDs relative to hard drives requires that SSDs provide verifiable sanitisation operations,” they say in their report.

    Commenting on the issues, Andy Cordial, managing director of storage systems specialist Origin Storage, said that many companies have made the understandable mistake of presuming that flash drives are a slot-in replacement for magnetic drives, when in fact nothing could be farther from the truth.

    “And as prices have fallen, a lot of firms have gone for SSDs to tap into the advantages of rapid boot times, especially for relatively smaller-capacity flash drives”, he said.

    The bottom line, says Cordial, is that ‘conventional’ data overwrite commands, which have worked well on magnetic drives since the earliest days of PCs in the 1980s, cannot be relied upon to function in the same manner with a flash drive.

    “As the university researchers found, the erase procedures provided by manufacturers should be verifiable as well, so that users could easily check post-sanitisation that their data had been removed”, he explained.

    “We could have told the researchers that. This is why we recommend SSDs for specific applications and magnetic drives for other uses. It’s also why, where high levels of security are required, we recommend magnetic drives with additional levels of security, such as PIN/password entry systems”, he said.

     

  • Origin Storage 10:02 on 21/02/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Andrew Cordial, , , ,   

    Data Encryption in a Mobile World 

    Encrypting mobile devices can be a minefield and with over a third of the worldwide workforce set to become mobile workers by 2013, it will continue to challenge IT departments.

    While compliance is seen as the top driver, the key areas where attention should be placed when it comes to encrypting data are all related to mobility. This is a fair indicator of how challenging the nature of the increasingly mobile workforce can be when it comes to complying with regulations.

    The top three ideal-world targets for encrypting everything are, in order:
    • Data stored on Notebooks used by mobile workers
    • Data stored on Smartphones and other portable/handheld devices
    • Data stored on Desktops/Notebooks used in home locations

    It’s no coincidence that all three are distributed/mobile working related.

    Moving towards a mobile environment
    The executive who found himself personally responsible for a data breach when his laptop was stolen from his house may have been taken by surprise, as there is a lingering mindset that security is a central infrastructure thing. As we know this is not the way IT works and the rules on data security are completely different when we move into a mobile environment. There are all sorts of employer/employee issues that arise in this situation, but supplying staff with a self-encrypting laptop drive can solve the problem.

    So just what should organisations examine when drawing up a shortlist of solutions? Below are five key factors to consider when valuating security solutions. Accreditation: FIPS, CESG and CAPS have a place, but should not be considered the be all and end all to product selection. While a useful tool in assessing the security of encryption products, it is not a guarantee that a product is secure, the onus is on the end user to understand what they’re using. What they do provide is a benchmark for comparing and contrasting products against another solution that meets these criteria, but without the certification, can still be included in the evaluation if you want to make sure you are looking at ALL the options. Cryptography: the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a symmetric-key encryption standard adopted by the US Government. The standard comprises three block ciphers, AES-128, AES-192 and AES-256. It will depend on the sensitivity of the data whether you need 256 or if 128 would be adequate.

    Data: The United Kingdom currently uses five levels of classification – from lowest to highest, they are: protect, restricted, confidential, secret and top secret. It stands to reason that it depends on the level of sensitivity that is being stored on the device that will determine what standards they would need to have or what kite marks are in place to ensure the level of protection. Device: Considering where sensitive data resides will help determine the type of product you need and the standard it should have. If you’re looking to protect mobile devices a central management policy would be advisable. Cost: A number of factors will influence just how much you spend on protecting the data. There is the argument that you can’t put a price on security but it has to make commercial sense. There’s no point having a top of the range encryption solution if the data its protecting is the lunch time sandwich order. By the same token a minimal encryption solution would not be deemed adequate by the Information Commissioner’s Office should the device contain personal health records transported by a GP. The solution should be appropriate for the data it is protecting.

    Enigma SED from Origin
    The Enigma SED (self-encrypted drive) from Origin Storage is the first solution to provide companies of all sizes with a quick and cost effective way to secure laptops using the highest levels of hardware AES 256-bit encryption. The kits, which were launched by Origin Storage at the Infosecurity Europe show earlier this year and start at just £228 for a 250GB version, include a USB/SATA data transfer cable and Acronis drive cloning software. But the real key to the Enigma kits is the Winmagic encryption/decryption software that works with the SATA drive at the BIOS interface level and allows the data to be written or read in encrypted format on-the-fly.

    Quick and simple solution
    “Rather than supply the bare drive, the Enigma SEDs (self-encrypting drives) Origin supplies comes with all the cables and software needed to allow laptop users to move their data from the old drive to a new one, and install it very quick and simple”, “We said at the time of the launch that we thought the kits were a unique solution in the industry and that continues to be the case. The kits are an ideal solution to the problem of unencrypted data on business laptops.” – Andrew Cordial.

     

  • Origin Storage 15:55 on 17/02/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , ,   

    Origin Storage’s 3rd Exhibition at Infosecurity 2011 

    Infosecurity Europe April 19-21, 2011
    Infosecurity Europe, where information security professionals address the challenges of today whilst preparing for those of tomorrow at the No 1 industry event in Europe.

    For those who are unaware, Origin Storage have been running strongly in the computer hardware industry and is one of Europe’s leading IT Storage manufactures. 2011 is set to be a big year for Origin Storage as it marks the 10th year of business and the Infosecurity Europe exhibition in Earls Court, London, is an ideal opportunity for introducing the latest range in Data Security products.

    With the pace of technological advancement and increasing penalties for data breachers, it is imperative for corporations and SME’s to incorporate and implement data security systems to prevent the loss and theft of sensitive data. Origin Storage have an impressive background in this field and provide solutions to enterprises of all sizes to protect their data in a cost-effective way, which will be presented at this event.

    Data Security
    At the exhibition, attendees will be able to see the latest encryption based products manufactured by Origin Storage. These include the World’s Most Secure Portable Hard Drive; Data Locker 3, and the highly secure Enigma SED designed for notebook laptops, amongst others. These products have been designed with innovative hardware and software to provide organisations with unparalleled security to prevent data breaches and protect data to the highest level.

    Origin Storage, Stand: F83

    To attend the event as a guest of Origin Storage, please click here

     

  • Origin Storage 10:31 on 17/02/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office Imposed Fine of £150,000 

    For unencrypted laptops theft containing personal information

    The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) served Ealing Council and Hounslow Council with monetary penalties for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act after the loss of two unencrypted laptops containing sensitive personal information.

    Ealing Council provides an out of hours service on behalf of both councils, which is operated by nine staff who work from home. The team receive contact from a variety of sources and rely on laptops to record information about individuals.

    Two laptops containing the details of around 1,700 individuals were stolen from an employee’s home. Almost 1,000 of the individuals were clients of Ealing Council and almost 700 were clients of Hounslow Council. Both laptops were password protected but unencrypted – despite this being in breach of both councils’ policies. There is no evidence to suggest that the data held on the computers has been accessed and no complaints from clients have been received by the data controllers to date but there was nevertheless a significant risk to the clients’ privacy.

    The ICO has served Ealing Council with a monetary penalty of £80,000, while ruling that £70,000 is appropriate for Hounslow Council. Ealing Council breached the Data Protection Act by issuing an unencrypted laptop to a member of staff in breach of its own policies. This method of working has been in place for several years and there were insufficient checks that relevant policies were being followed or understood by staff. Hounslow Council breached the Act by failing to have a written contract in place with Ealing Council. Hounslow also did not monitor Ealing Council’s procedures for operating the service securely.

    Deputy Commissioner, David Smith, said: “Of the four monetary penalties that we have served so far, three concern the loss of unencrypted laptops. Where personal information is involved, password protection for portable devices is simply not enough.

    “The penalty against Hounslow Council also makes clear that an organisation can’t simply hand over the handling of the personal information it is responsible for to somebody else unless they ensure that the information is properly protected.

    “Both councils have paid the price for lax data protection practices. I hope all organisations that handle personal information will make sure their houses are in order – otherwise they too may have to learn the hard way.”

    Following the incident, both councils contacted affected individuals. Both authorities have also put significantly improved policies in place for information security and have agreed to consider an audit by the ICO.

    Anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight principles of the Data Protection Act, which make sure that personal information is:
    • Fairly and lawfully processed
    • Processed for limited purposes
    • Adequate, relevant and not excessive
    • Accurate and up to date
    • Not kept for longer than is necessary
    • Processed in line with your rights
    • Secure
    • Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection

     

  • Origin Storage 10:41 on 16/02/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , IU4200XXX, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    The Thecus 1U4200XXX Rack Mount 

    The Thecus 1U4200XXX NAS deliver great flexibility and functionality for whatever your data needs may be and data protection to ensure that everything is always accessible and safe. Protect your data the way you want with RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, or JBOD. When any problems arise, hot swapping in a new disk or two will keep your data protected and readily available.

    The 1U4200XXX’s iSCSI stacking function makes it easy to add new NAS to your rack at any time. With stacking, up to 6 1U4200XXX NAS can be accessed through the same IP address for a whopping total capacity of 72TB! The 1U4200XXX also has the power to deal with this much storage space with its Intel Atom D525 processor and 1GB of DDR3 memory. This kind of power, size, and flexibility makes processor- and capacity-heavy tasks such as file sharing extremely easy to set up and run smoothly.

    The 1U4200XXX also sports Thecus’s state-of-the-art firmware version 5.0. The new firmware supports the advanced EXT4 Linux file system, which offers many improvements including increased speed, support for volumes up to 1 Exabyte (1 million Terabytes, a.k.a. virtually unlimited), and backward compatibility for a smooth transition from your old file system. The new firmware also has Thecus’s advanced new photo server, Piczza. Piczza lets you manage, organize, and share your photo libraries with an easy point-and-click interface. Uploading photo albums to social networks such as Facebook is done with a single click and privacy settings are just as simple to adjust. Data truly has a whole new set of tools.

     

  • Origin Storage 10:36 on 16/02/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    Thecus Releases the High-Performance N2200XXX Personal NAS 

    The new age of NAS requires serious products for serious needs. Time and again, Thecus has provided products that go a step beyond the needs of users, serious and casual, in terms of performance, functionality, and price. By first putting the Intel Atom D525 processor in our 4-bay N4200PRO and N4200Eco NAS, Thecus got a first hand look at what this processor is capable of. To give SMB and home power users what they need to get through massive quantities of data and large file transfers, they knew the Atom D525 in a 2-bay NAS was the perfect solution. To complement the D525, the N2200XXX was beefed up with top-of-the-line DDR3 RAM for an extra boost in speed across the board. This combination made transfers over 90 MB/s possible in the N4200PRO, and the N2200XXX runs even faster!

    The N2200XXX also features the latest Thecus-exclusive advances in functionality. Dual DOM protection provides a backup kernel to make sure that your system never crashes. Another fantastic function on the N2200XXX is the added connectivity of SD, SDHC, and MMC cards. Storing music, photos, and videos has never been simpler and faster with the built-in card reader.

    Protection and efficiency are also fortified to give you piece of mind and allow you to make the most of your storage space. AES 256 bit RAID volume encryption and USB key functionality give you the power to take your data security to the next level. iSCSI transfers and iSCSI thin provisioning give you the connectivity of the fastest protocol known to man and perfectly distributed disk space for multiple users. With thin provisioning, users’ allocated space contracts and expands automatically according their specific needs. These functions, among many others, put the Thecus N2200XXX ahead of the competition and make it the perfect choice for home users with a flare for power.

     

  • Origin Storage 10:31 on 16/02/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , N8200XXX, , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    The Powerful New N8200XXX Enterprise NAS 

    To run a business in the modern world, flexibility is essential. Because of this, the server is slowly giving way to the NAS, especially among small and medium businesses. The N8200XXX takes the flexibility and functionality that Thecus has become known for and takes it even further. SMB’s will love it not only for its massive 24TB of data capacity, but also for its features that can turn a business into a community.

    The N8200XXX becomes a place where everyone can share information and ideas. Today’s businesses are frequently working with large files in large groups, and this is the perfect way to get everyone on the same page. Posting large files on the public NAS is a great way to forgo the limitations of email and streamline cooperation. Internal news and product information can also be saved in a public location for everyone to access. The N8200XXX’s powerful Intel Atom D525 dual-core processor and DDR3 memory makes all of these processes run quickly and smoothly, even with heavy traffic.

    Restricted or private folders are also easy to organize with Thecus’s new UI. iSCSI thin provisioning gives users flexible folders that eliminate wasted space left by fixed private folders. User quotas provide a new way of giving users private space across multiple RAID partitions. These functions provide additional practical ways of sharing and dividing space that caters to your company’s specific needs.

    Functions that allow you to spend less time fussing with settings and more time focusing on what’s important are intrinsic to the N8200XXX, but some things in life just can’t be expressed in a PPT. The N8200XXX features Thecus’s new advanced Piczza photo server to share just those things. Company parties, client dinners, and conference photos can be posted for all to see, as well as photos of more personal events such as birthday parties, weddings, and newborn babies. Maintaining a bright and happy workplace is as important as anything for success, and the N8200XXX gives you the power to do just that.

     

  • Origin Storage 10:20 on 16/02/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    The Thecus N5200XXX Expands your Horizons 

    With the pace of technological improvement accelerating every day, it is essential for products to have staying power. Data capacity and storage needs are expanding quickly and your NAS needs to be able to adjust to your future. The N5200XXX is capable of storing up to 15TB of data, which gives you all the capacity you will need for many years to come. This NAS is perfect for small and medium businesses with increasing data storage needs, as well as private web experts running web services such as FTP sites, web sites, or sharing hubs.

    5 bays with 15TB of data capacity can supply businesses with serious data needs, but also provides flexibility for those with less extreme demands. With 5 bays available, it is easy to get started with 2 or 3 disks (that’s still 6 or 9TB’s of storage!) and add more disks as your needs increase. Libraries grow, files get larger, businesses develop; there are many reasons to allow yourself room to expand in the future. The extra bays can also house inactive spare disks that will automatically be activated as soon as they are needed. People from all walks of life are beginning to realize the value that NAS can give them and flexibility is extremely important.

    Having sufficient data capacity and expandability are extremely valuable, but it is equally important to have a NAS with speed that will pass the test of time. The N5200XXX runs the latest generation of Atom processors, the Intel Atom D525, and has a formidable 1GB of DDR3 memory. This makes it powerful enough to host hundreds of users, perform massive uploading and downloading operations with great speed, and run many functions simultaneously. The N5200XXX is a great solution for anyone in search of a long-term solution with expanding data needs.

     

  • Origin Storage 10:17 on 16/02/2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , N3200XXX, , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    The Thecus N3200XXX Power Home Media NAS 

    The 3-bay N3200XXX NAS is just the right size to store all your data: photos, music, and videos for example. Once safely stored, everything can be accessed not only from anywhere in the house, but anywhere in the world! From your NAS, you can play MP3’s in your bedroom (or in your hotel room in Rome), show photos on your digital picture frame in your den (or in your friend’s den in New York), or gather the family to watch HD movies on the TV in your living room (or on your laptop in the airport in Hong Kong). With the N3200XXX’s high speed Intel Atom processor, all of these great features can be accessed simultaneously by multiple people in multiple places. Accessing your data has never been simpler, and sharing photos with your friends and family has just taken a leap into the future with the brand new Thecus photo server, Piczza. With all of these amazing features and rock solid data protection, your multimedia and data will be available, shareable, and safe for a long time to come!

     

← Older posts

c
compose new post
j
next post/next comment
k
previous post/previous comment
r
reply
e
edit
o
show/hide comments
t
go to top
l
go to login
h
show/hide help
esc
cancel