Help for the Visually Impaired

I have been doing some research for a dad who is quite elderly and has really low vision. He likes to use his mobile phone but these days isn't able to really use them the way he would like as he cant see very clearly.
This is something that is quite common to older folks who are diabetic and suddenly develop diabetic retinopathy, a situation where the low blood sugar results in damage to sensitive vessels which supply blood to the eyes. It results in damage to the retina caused by complications of diabetics, which can eventually lead to blindness. It is an ocular manifestation of systemic disease which affects up to 80% of all patients who have had diabetes for 10 years or more. Despite these intimidating statistics, research indicates that at least 90% of these new cases could be reduced if there was proper and vigilant treatment and monitoring of the eyes. The longer a person has diabetes, the higher his or her chances of developing diabetic retinopathy.

So I had to do some digging to get him an Android phone with an App that would make his life a whole lot easier, while I am yet to find one, below are a couple of really nice and relatively affordable ways to get the visually impaired to enjoy their mobile phones.

I am also still exploring the options of low vision aids but as this is a tech blog, I won't even go into those.

An aid for the visually impaired using Android and touch sensors.

R-MAP an application on Android for the Blind or Visually impaired

Introducing Mobile Accessibility

A Special Phone app: EYES-FREE Adaptive Keypad!! 

 

Google posted a video tour of one of its data centers today, highlighting some of the steps it takes to keep data secure and maintain reliability.

Google has been notoriously tight-lipped about its data centers, and doesn't even disclose exactly how many it operates.

So why the sudden openness? There are several likely reasons:

• Yesterday's Amazon Web Services outage is creating new questions about the viability of cloud computing -- including services like Google Apps

• Also yesterday, environmental activists Greenpeace released a scathing report on data center efficiency and use of dirty energy sources like coal (PDF here). The group admitted it didn't have all the information it needed to make the report perfectly accurate, but blamed data center operators for not sharing enough information. The group had some particularly harsh words for Google, giving it an F on transparency.

• Last week, Microsoft called into question whether Google Apps was secure enough for government use. Google's slow response made it look like it had something to hide.

• Earlier this month, Facebook made Google look silly by open-sourcing the details of its own highly efficient data center design. Facebook's move is also meant to undercut Google's big data center advantage by letting the rest of the industry work together to improve efficiency.

Google isn't exactly going the Facebook route, but today's video is a big step given how secretive the company has been so far.

Test Post

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Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from X

I am a very big fan of Androids. I have used at least 6 different android phones within the last 2 years.
Currently using the EVO 4G and the Google nexus one classic. Androids are great on phones and not so great on tablets that's why I choose to go with Apple's iPad when I was shopping for a tablet to fill that void that didn't really exist in the first place.

Apple's tablet is a great piece of hardware and I have to admit I love it, but just like every Apple device I know of, you tend to be fully boxed into the platform.

• need itunes to copy files
• no usb port
• no memory card reader
• no 1080p video
• no camera
• the list goes on and on.

Being a Google fan, the options were very limited with the Samsung galaxy tab not really offering me the experience I craved on a tablet medium.
Enter Google's Honeycomb and the new Motorola Xoom and I think the tides may have changed.
While I don't own one just yet, the reviews I have seen online say this is a pretty amazing alternative to the iPad and because I love the whole "free" concept of android this will probably be the gadget for me.

Below are a few videos I found via Youtube showing the Motorola Xoom

Just what is Apple up to again ?

Ok so here I am surfing the web like i do, checking a couple of websites just to keep updated and guess what I stumled upon ( all pun intended).

I came across the image above, apparently when you visist www.apple.com right now this is what you get.
It appears Steve and his boys at Apple still have something awesome planned for us this year. This year has been such a success for Apple as they have enjoyed amazing success in all their new releases this year.
What's surprising about this teaser though is that absolutely no one saw it coming, Apple remains the king at keeping it's releases top secret.

What do you thing Apple will be announcing this time around ?
A new Macbook lineup ?
A new Imac range?
 A new server range considering they just scrapped their Xserves?
Some sort of cloud service?
iPads with usb drives, full flash support, 1TB storage, native support for divx and mkv file formats, HD camera with dslr capabilities ?
We can't be seeing 10.7 so soon can we ?

Only time will tell, let's just wait and see

BEST VIDEO PLAYER FOR APPLE IPAD - VLC  vs BUZZ Player

One of the reasons, i didn't want to get an iPad was because of the limitation to be expected when playing videos. I wouldn't be able to play mkv, mov and divx format videos plus a lot of other video formats. Because of this i kept off the iPad.


So it was great news to me when VLC for iPad was announced, finally an app that would allow me play other video formats and if this iPad version was anything like its PC or Mac brother then it was sure to be an awesome app.
This single application influenced my decision to buy an iPad.

VLC is a free and open source multimedia player. It reads almost every video file, yet it's very powerful and simple to use.

VLC for ipad plays so many video formats that i was simply blown away but i was shocked when VLC for iPad choked on my mkv files. When ever i tried to play a mkv file i get an error telling me my iPad is probably to slow o play the file, when i tell it to play the file anyway, the audio plays flawlessly but you get no video.

This wasn't acceptable to me as i had grown the habit of converting most of my video files to mkv format to save space and retain quality so off i went in search of a better Video Player for my iPad and i boy did i find one.

At just $2, Buzz Player is in my opinion the best Video player available for the iPad. So far i am yet to come across a video file that it doesn't play.


BUZZ Player HD is a multimedia player supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats, and various streaming protocols.

☆ BUZZ Player can play almost anything, including:
+) Container formats: 3GP, AVI, ASF, FLV, MKV (Matroska), MOV (QuickTime), MP4, NUT, Ogg, OGM, RealMedia, Bink, WMV, XVID, DIVX.
+) Video formats: Cinepak, DV, H.263, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, HuffYUV, Indeo, MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2, RealVideo, Sorenson, Theora, WMV, Bink
+) Audio formats: AAC, AC3, ALAC, AMR, DTS, FLAC, Intel Music Coder, Monkey's Audio, MP3, Musepack, RealAudio, Shorten, Speex, Vorbis, WMA, Bink.

Supported video quality:
Up to full HD quality (1920 x 1080 pixels) for Quick Time media files (mp4, mov, m4v, mpv)
Up to DV quality (720 x 576 pixels) for other media files (flv, mkv, wmv, avi, asf, divx, xvid, dat, vob, mpg…)

☆ BUZZ Player support almost subtitle types including srt, a*s, ssa, msi, sub and embedded subtitle, it also can display almost languages such as Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, English, French, Italian, German, Thai, Vietnamese… BUZZ Player also allow user to change various settings of subtitle such as font color, font size, font type, position, timing offset.

☆ BUZZ Player supports various protocols: RTP, RTSP, HTTP, FTP, MMS, Netstream (mpst://), SMB, ffmpeg://, that allows user not only play media files from local but also play media files from remote servers and devices. User can use BUZZ Player to connect to their IP cameras and servers to play media from them.

☆ BUZZ Player also Built-in Network Browser allows user to play and copy files from Widows/Mac/Linux PC, remote FTP servers and Media Server (uPnP). (SMB & FTP & uPnP Support).

My ipad wouldn't be complete without BUZZ Player.

Top iPad deals from AMAZON

The World's Most Secure Data Center

The Swedish carrier Bahnhof offers its clientele bombproof bits.

If the whistleblower organization Wikileaks wanted to bolster its image as a league of invulnerable digital superheroes, it's found the right subterranean lair. Swedish broadband carrier Bahnhof confirms that some Wikileaks servers are now hosted in its Pionen data center, converted from an underground Cold War-era nuclear bunker in downtown Stockholm. The server farm, carved out of a 100-foot-tall granite hill, has a single entrance, protected by 20-inch-thick steel doors. Bahnhof Chairman Jon Karlung says the facility sends a message to clients: Your data are safe from all intrusions, physical or legal. "The resemblance to a James Bond setting is purely intentional."

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1. CONFERENCE ROOM A glass conference room is embedded in the cave's rock ceiling with eight 13-foot-long steel bolts.

2. NETWORK OPERATIONS CENTER The room now holding Bahnhof's NOC was built to command Stockholm's civil defense during a nuclear winter.

3. ENTRANCE The data center offers only one way in or out. A planned "Batcave"-like chute from the surface was nixed due to budget concerns.

4. GENERATORS The facility's two backup generators were originally designed for German submarines.

5. SERVER HALL Would Pionen's 8,000 servers survive a nuclear blast? "I'm not sure about the people, but the machines would survive," says Bahnhof Chairman Jon Karlung.

Lagos says yes to WIMAX

Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, is about to receive a boost in its Internet connectivity. According to goingwimax.com, Swift Networks has already begun testing a WIMAX network system in different parts of the city. The tests involve five hundred participants, who were chosen based on their Internet broadband requirements.

Chuma Okoye, COO of Swift Networks, said that the new network is aimed at addressing connectivity needs in terms of video, fax, phone service, and broadband. If successful, the service will see local businesses and banks strongly benefiting from the higher speed of the 4G WIMAX network.

Microsoft Rolls Up Cloud Services Into Office 365, Takes Aim At Google Apps

Today at an event in San Francisco, Microsoft’s Office division is unveiling a new product: a suite of the company’s productivity services called Office 365.

Before now, Microsoft’s business-facing cloud services have been broken up in a few places: SharePoint, Lync Online, Exchange, and Office web apps. Office 365 looks to unify these. Microsoft SVP Chris Capossela says “This is everything we know about productivity brought to the cloud”.

The messaging here seems to indicate that Microsoft is more directly targeting Google Apps, the suite of online products that have been increasingly encroaching on Microsoft’s enterprise market. In what may have been a jab at Google, Capossela says “We can differentiate from our competition, particularly those coming from the consumer space, by making sure our servers are far more reliable”. I’m sure Google would object to this, as it often beats its chest about the security of Google Apps.

Microsoft is going to target small businesses in a way it hasn’t previously: for a business with under 25 employees, Microsoft will charge $6 per user per month; for larger companies, plans start at $2 per user per month for email alone — prices scale up to $27 per user a month, which includes telephony features (voicemail in your inbox) and video/voice conferencing. There’s also a single sign-on to access all of these services. Before now, Microsoft sold its Business Productivity Online Suite for $120/user/year; In contrast, Google Apps runs $50 per user per year, so Microsoft’s new price points are more competitive.

Microsoft says that before now it could only traget around 15% of an enterprise’s budget, because it was only selling software. Now it’s also helping run their infrastructure, which expands the potential market.

Office 365 is going to launch to the public in a worldwide release next year. For now, Microsoft is kicking off Office 365 with a limited beta rollout.

You’ll be able to learn more at Office 365.com, which Microsoft isn’t throwing live for another three hours for reasons that I’m sure make sense to them.

Nikon D7000 sold at Best Buy a little early, gets unboxed immediately

Best Buy's been a naughty retailer again by letting some people purchase Nikon's D7000 a few days ahead of its proper retail launch. Of those lucky buyers, a couple inevitably chose to document the unboxing experience and consequently we now have two videos awaiting you after the break, detailing just how neatly that black and gold box is arranged. The actual contents will hardly surprise you -- a neck strap, LCD protector, all the usual cables, plus an 18-105mm kit lens with soft pouch and petal-shaped hood are all present and accounted for -- but the thrill is in seeing the D7000 itself emerging from its plastic wrappings. You may do so just past the break.

11.6-inch MacBook Air detailed

So, we've just been discussing the rumored, and long overdue, MacBook Air refresh with a trusted source. This person recently had a working model in their possession for a few minutes and managed to glean quite a bit of detail that would seemingly confirm Apple's plan to announce an 11-inch MacBook Air at the "Back to the Mac" event later today. Here's what we've been told to expect:

• Smaller 11.6-inch display.
• 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (with a 2.33GHz option possible).
• 2GB of memory in the base configuration.
• No optical drive, naturally.
• Mini DisplayPort, USB, and SD card reader along the left-hand side and USB and power on the right (that's 2x USB).
• The trackpad has been updated to match that of the new MacBook Pros.
• Although smaller due to the 11.6-inch display, it's still about the same thickness as the current MacBook Air.
• A black power key now sits immediately to the right of a smaller eject key on the MBA's keyboard -- the round aluminum power button is gone. A design decision that might support the MBA's rumored instant-on capabilities though our source didn't see this functionality exhibited (possibly because it was running OS X 10.6.4).

Unfortunately, our source couldn't identify the graphics or the storage related to the rumored "SSD Card." So where does that leave us? Well, it looks like a smaller (and presumably, cheaper) MacBook Airoriginally rumored by AppleInsider is in the bag for a Steve Jobs announcement later today as is arefresh to the 13.3-inch model we broke last week (pictured nekkid above). So check back in a few hours and watch the reveal live, won't you?

The first million dollar laptop

The first million dollar laptop

March UK-based bespoke luxury goods creator Luvaglio has created the first million dollar laptop. That’s what the first of their luxury laptops will sell for. Full details of the laptop have not been released at this point, but it is known that it incorporates a 17" widescreen LED lit screen with a specially designed anti-reflective glare coating for clear and brighter image, 128GB of Solid State Disk space and a slot loading Blue-Ray drive. There is an integrated screen cleaning device and a very rare coloured diamond piece of jewellery that doubles up as the power button when placed into the laptop and also acts as security identification. Images here, videohere.

Luvaglio CEO Rohan Sinclair Luvaglio told Gizmag earlier today: “Unlike many of the highly priced products being released, we took our time to develop something out of the ordinary with real attention to detail. “

“I didn't want us to simply re-house a laptop into a diamond studded casing, or diamond encrust the entire thing simply to make it expensive. We've put thought in from the keyboard down to the power charger. There is an integrated screen cleaning device and a very rare coloured diamond piece of jewellery that doubles up as the power button when placed into the laptop and also acts as security identification. We have used diamonds elsewhere but have given them purpose.”

According to Luvaglio, “the brand is committed to re-defining luxury in a few sectors, technology being one of them.

“Many claim to produce luxury goods but we believe that the true element of luxury is having something that says "YOU", that money can't buy.

“At present and from our previous luxury work, our initial clients will be chosen from this selection as we have already established trust.

“The range to be released shortly would allow the owner to become the creator and visit our showroom at two or three well known upmarket stores we are in discussion with, whereby our selection of materials, finishes and accessories will be available to view and a choice selected.

“The choice will be based on our selection but of course other colours and finishes can be done on request. We have access to diamonds that are simply rare and near impossible to get hold of, so are able to offer a very embodied choice.

“The presentation boxes are of course supplied and finished in the choice that is selected by the client. Exact figures I am unable to provide at present due to negotiations but will certainly be more obtainable then our master piece.”

The first such masterpiece will sell for more than US$1,000,000.

OFF Technologies High End multimedia device

This device reads all available audio and video file formats, combining the functionality of several traditional devices. It offers the user the possibility of browsing photos on the Internet, listening to radio broadcasts, playing CDs and DVDs.

The prototype was constructed manually by the best polish technicians and manufactures with a supervision of the designer himself – Mr Janusz Kaniewski. The device was introduced on the Audio Show 2009 in November, which took place in Hotel Sobieski, Warsaw, Poland. A huge interest was generated, as the device was considered quite innovative. The device was manufactured from copper, silver compounds, glass and pespex. The project aroused interest between computer scientists, investors and also modern design fans. Every device will be individually customized to the future owner’s requirements and it will cost about $2000.

Via Press Release

BlackBerry PlayBook 64GB variant confirmed, strapped to a 5,300mAh battery (video)
By Vlad Savov posted Oct 19th 2010 6:27AM

You already know most of the spec sheet delicacies that RIM has in store for its PlayBook, but here are a couple more details to complete the picture. The PlayBook will indeed match the iPad in having 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants available, and will also come equipped with a pretty huge 5,300mAh battery. That'd be a generously proportioned cell for a full-sized laptop, we imagine it'll turn the PlayBook into quite the endurance champ.

While it now looks like i will be getting an iPad i just found out my dream tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab costs €730 from Vodafone.de, €300 if bought with a two-year data plan

You can kind of tell we're growing ever closer to the Galaxy Tab's promised November 1 retail launch asprices for this slate just keep coming out of the woodwork, looking ever more solid with each passing day. Vodafone Germany is the latest to reveal the wallet damage Samsung's 7-inch Android tablet will demand, with a €730 ($1,017) levy for the 16GB version sans contract, or a €300 ($418) cost for those willing to commit to a two-year data plan at €35 a month. We'd advise against taking those direct currency conversions to heart, but the Tab's pricing here is €30 more than the 32GB iPad WiFi + 3G, making us scratch our heads as to how Samsung believes it'll manage to convince anyone to buy its smaller, less capacious alternative.

Came across the below article on one of my favorite websites, engadget.com and felt you would all like to read this.How much will a gold Vertu Constellation Quest set you back? About $27K, turns out

Feeling that Constellation Quest, but think it'd look a little better in brilliant yellow? Break open that piggy bank. Oh, and while you're at it, break open several dozen more piggy banks... and maybe even a real bank or two. We're hearing that the world's Vertu boutiques will be selling a yellow gold version of the Symbian-powered work of art for a cool €19,500 including VAT, which works out to about $27,000. Sure, that can buy a car -- but you already own the fleet of Bentleys and Bugattis, so let's be honest, another car would seem a bit excessive.

N7700+
Ultimate Network Attached Storage Looking to get one of this enterprise grade NAS solutions? send me an email  olumartins@gmail.com
		Feature
	Ready For the Future (10 GbE NIC Compatibility List) Future technologies are around the corner, and the N7700+ is ready. With its PCI-e slot, the N7700+ can accommodate a number of emerging technologies. Add a 10Gb Ethernet adaptor and experience the lightning-fast file transfers. With PCI-e expansion, the N7700+ is ready for whatever may come. Unique Dual DOM™ Design In business, having access to mission-critical data at all times is crucial. The N7700+ is equipped with a dual Disk On Module (DOM) design to ensure flawless operation and maximum uptime.  Stackable Storage and iSCSI ReadyThe N7700+ supports iSCSI initiators, which allows servers to access it as a direct-attached-storage device over LAN or Internet with excellent transfer speeds. With this capability, users can centrally manage and deploy storage for their entire network. In addition, the N7700+ is also stackable, enabling users to connect their unit with up to five additional N7700+s via a master system as a large data pool. With iSCSI and stackability, expanding the capacity of application servers is both quick and easy. Maximum Flexibility and ExpansionAside from being iSCSI ready, the N7700+ offers unmatched flexibility. Support for multiple file systems including Ext3, XFS and ZFS, as well as online RAID migration and expansion, means that the N7700+’s data protection and capacity are upgradable and can be integrated into virtually any company network with ease. Users can add larger hard disks to available slots and join an existing RAID volume. The N7700+ will automatically rebuild the RAID array and increase storage capacity. Handy Snapshot Feature for Version Control The N7700+ is capable version control via a snapshot function with the ZFS file system, allowing users to efficiently create and restore remote backups. For users, the result is total data security and peace of mind.
Looking to get one of this enterprise grade NAS solutions? send me an email  olumartins@gmail.com

The 7-bay NAS is shaping up to be the go-to desktop NAS device for users who require both massive storage and blazing performance. Today, Thecus® Technology is pleased to introduce the N7700+, a seven-bay storage server that retains all of the robust functionality of the N7700, but ups the ante with aPCIe x8 slot suitable for 10Gb Ethernet cards. Thecus® constantly engineers new ways to squeeze the maximum performance from existing technologies. The N7700+ one-ups its predecessor by including an internal PCIe x8 slot. Compared to the x1 slot found in the N7700, the N7700+’s PCIe slot offers up to eight times more bandwidth, which makes it perfect for 10Gb Ethernet cards. Outfitted with one of these cards, the N7700+ is fully compatible with the latest 10Gb networks, delivering unprecedented data transfer rates for the most demanding users. Of course, the N7700+ still includes the extensive feature set of the N7700. A wide selection of RAID modes including RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD are there, allowing system admins to choose the optimal level of data protection. The N7700+’s Dual DOM design gives added system reliability by reprogramming the primary DOM with a secondary DOM in case of a failure. System administrators don’t have to worry about the N7700+ not being compatible with their existing network as the N7700+ supports Ext3, XFS, and ZFS file systems, and is fully compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. Admins will also love the fact that the N7700+ comes with online RAID expansion and migration, making it easy to administer from anywhere on the network. The N7700+ is powered with an Intel® Celeron™ M CPU and 2GB compliment of high-speed DDR2 memory, enabling it to achieve data transfer speeds of up to 300MB/s by adding a PCI-e 10Gb Ethernet adapter. This power can easily manipulate the up to 14TB of storage space offered by the N7700+’s seven 3.5” hard disk bays. And if 14TB isn’t enough, the N7700+ is also stackable with up to five other N7700+es, and all of these can be accessed via the master system for ultimate convenience. The N7700+ is even compatible with iSCSI initiators and supports iSCSI thin provisioning for added performance and flexibility With the popularity of  VMware, virtualization technology is now widely used in the IT world. Thecus® is now the member of Technology Alliance Partner (TAP), and N7700+ is now officially VMware® Ready certified. “The N7700 offered unprecedented performance, and with the new N7700+, Thecus® has raised the bar yet again,” said Florence Shih, Thecus® Technology General Manager. “With the new PCIe x8 slot, N7700+ users will be able to connect the latest 10GbE NICs and enjoy next-generation transfer speeds in their corporate environment.” Looking to get one of this enterprise grade NAS solutions? send me an email  olumartins@gmail.com

More on QNAP NAS solution

QNAP continues to lead the industry with innovations in design and technology. Their products have gained worldwide recognition. For example, TS-809 PRO was awarded the "2009 Best in Class of Enterprise NAS" from BenchMark Reviews (US), "2009 Technology Award" from PC World (Hungary), and "2009 Excellence Award" from WhichNAS.com (US) etc. The NMP-1000 was honored with the "2009 Gold Award" from Hardware.info (Netherlands), "2009 Best Buy" - PC World (Poland), and "2009 Expert Choice" - IT Expert (Russia) etc.

QNAP has also made huge advances with their new and much improved AJAX Web Interface and MAC friendly design.

What Makes QNAP NAS Different?

The Most User-friendly User Interface Hot-Swappable Hard Disks & Automatic Data Rebuilding RAID Level Disk Configurations + Hot Spare Leading RAID technology - RAID Recovery LCD Display Hot-swappable & Redundant Power Protection Remote Data Management Data Backup & Remote Replication Embedded Linux

Cross-platform Support Built-in DNS & DDNS Support Web Page Management User Quota Journaling File System SNMP Management & E-mail Warning WINS Server Backup/Restore User's Setting System Upgrade

TS-859 Pro Turbo NAS in Nigeria

We have recently received shipment of a few units of TS-859 Pro Turbo NAS in Nigeria. The stock is limited and is guaranteed to run out very quickly.

You can also contact us to place orders for all QNAP range of products, all orders are backed up with full manufacturer’s warranty and support.

Please feel free to contact us to reserve one of the available units – qnap@24cube.co.uk

Modern business faces the challenge of dramatic growth of digital data, including documents, emails, applications, and so on. To deploy the IT environment with a reliable, affordable and expandable storage center to securely store, share, and back up the digital assets has become an important task for the server managers of the SMB and entry-level enterprise nowadays. The TS-859 Pro is the powerful 8-bay network attached storage (NAS) server, which is designed to provide an affordable and easy-to-management solution with iSCSI service for virtualized and clustered environment. The TS-859 Pro also offers versatile business applications to maximize the efficiency of the data center in the business environment. Incorporating the next-generation Intel® Atom™ Dual-Core processor and 1GB DDRII RAM, the Turbo NAS delivers exceptional performance and maintains high reliability for multiple concurrent applications and intensive data transfer with guaranteed low power consumption. Brand New Turbo NAS Series for Business The Most Affordable and Flexible Virtualization Solution The TS-859 Pro is certified as compatible with VMware® vSphere4 (ESX 4.0 and above) virtualization platform. The NAS can be utilized as the networked shared storage of VMware virtualization environments and Windows cluster servers. Comparing with traditional SAN (Storage Area Network), the Turbo NAS is a competitive alternative with much lower setup and maintenance costs in an IP SAN. The Feature-rich and Integrated Applications for Business The NAS supports file sharing across Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX platforms. Versatile business applications such as file server, FTP server, printer server, web server, and Windows AD support are provided. The dominant features, such as WebDAV, Share Folder Aggregation (also known as DFS), IPv6 and IPv4 dual-stack, Wake on LAN, schedule power on/ off, HDD S.M.A.R.T, comprehensive log systems, and policy-based unauthorized IP blocking are all included features of a QNAP NAS server. New iSCSI for Virtualization Deployments The Turbo NAS provides flexible and secure storage server deployment with the following enhanced iSCSI features: NAS + iSCSI storage solution The Turbo NAS can serve as a NAS for file sharing and iSCSI storage concurrently. Flexible multiple LUNs management The NAS supports multiple LUNs (Logical Unit Numbers) and iSCSI targets. The LUNs can be flexibly mapped to, unmapped from, and switched among different iSCSI targets. Secure IP SAN environment deployment Designed with CHAP authentication and LUN masking, the advanced ACL (Access Control List) offers you the capability to block unauthorized access from the initiators. Designed for virtualized and clustered environments Comparing with the high cost of Fibre Channel SAN, the Turbo NAS is an affordable system that can be deployed as a storage center for virtualized and clustered server environments, such as VMware and Microsoft Windows Failover Cluster. iSCSI feature QNAP NAS Other NAS VMware Ready® certified iSCSI array SPC-3 for clustered environment deployment MC/S for failover, load balancing and performance gain MPIO for failover and load balancing. LUN masking for advanced security LUN mapping for flexible management Thin Provisioning for efficient disk usage Virtual Disk Drive (VDD) adds flexibility to storage expansion along with ease of management The unique “Virtual Disk Drive” adds flexibility to expand the capacity of NAS. By using the built-in iSCSI initiator, the NAS can connect to other iSCSI targets on the network and turn them into virtual disks, which become multiple single volumes on the NAS. Up to 8 virtual disks can be stacked. The NAS serves as the storage stack chaining master. The user only needs to connect to this single entry (QNAP NAS) and is able to reach and use all the iSCSI LUN on the network. Superior Performance and Eco-friendly Design The NAS delivers superior performance and high reliability for critical business applications. It is optimized to achieve low noise and low power consumption for environment protection. NetBench Testing benchmark program: ZD NetBench version 7.0.3 Client PCs (20 Total): Intel Celeron 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB DDRII 667, Atheros AR8121 GbE Chip, Windows XP SP1 SAMBA/ FTP Access FTP/SAMBA Testing Environment: Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q8300 2.50GHz/ 4GB DDRII RAM, WD640AAKS 640GB, Windows 7 Enterprise 32 Bits,Intel PRO 1000 PT Dual Port Server Adapter 82571 FTP/SAMBA Testing Method: Connect the TS-859 Pro and PC to switch, upload/download 5GB File without Jumbo Frame, FTP Tool: File Zilla Power Consumption (with 8 hard drives installed) Abundant Business Features The Turbo NAS provides diversified server applications in the business environment. 1 FTP Server: You can establish your own FTP server by the Turbo NAS and share the files conveniently with your friends or customers. 2 Encrypted Remote Replication: The data on the Turbo NAS can be backed up to or from other Turbo NAS or Rsync servers over the network. 3 File Server: The Turbo NAS allows file sharing across Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX platforms. It also supports WebDAV for you to access the share folders via HTTP/HTTPS protocol remotely. 4 Printer Server: The Turbo NAS supports USB printer sharing over the network (max. 3 USB printers). 5 Backup Server: The Turbo NAS offers you the most complete backup solution with Apple Time Machine support, remote replication to an Rsync server, Windows client backup software NetBak Replicator, and third party backup software support, and so on. 6 Web Server: You can easily create a website to publish information over the Internet using the built-in web server by the Turbo NAS. 7 Surveillance Station: The Turbo NAS enables you to configure and connect multiple IP cameras simultaneously for remote monitoring, video recording and playback. IPv6: The Turbo NAS supports IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) which makes your NAS a dual-stack IP host running IPv4 and IPv6 at the same time. Advanced RAID Management with Hot-swap Design The NAS offers RAID 0, 1, 5, 5+spare, 6, 6+spare, single, and JBOD disk configurations. It also supports hot-swap design that a failed member drive of a RAID configuration (RAID 1 or above only) can be replaced by hot swapping without turning off the server. Online RAID Capacity Expansion The storage capacity of a RAID configuration can be expanded by replacing the larger hard drives. All the data will be kept and seamlessly moved to the newly installed hard drives without turning off the server. Online RAID Level Migration You can upgrade the disk configuration to higher RAID level with the data retained without turning off the server. The Most Complete Backup Solution The NAS offers complete backup solution for data protection, including cloud-based storage backup (Amazon S3),Apple Time Machine support, encrypted remote replication, third party software backup, one-touch-copy backup and QNAP exclusive Windows-based utility NetBak Replicator. The users can choose different backup modes for redundant data backup. Benefits of Dual LAN Deployment The Turbo NAS supports multiple bonding modes: Balance-rr (Round-Robin), Active Backup, Balance XOR, Broadcast, IEEE 802.3ad, Balance-tlb (Adaptive Transmit Load Balancing) and Balance-alb (Adaptive Load Balancing) Scenario Benefits to your company Failover Provides continuous services when one network port fails. Load Balancing Aggregates bandwidth to boost the file transfer speed. Data traffic is evenly distributed to balance network loading. Multi-IP Setting Allows sharing among different workgroups in two different subnets. Practical System and Authority Control Management Tools Instant SMS and Email Alert You can configure the SMTP server and SMSC server settings on the NAS in order to receive instant system warning or error messages by email and/or SMS. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) You can collect the information, warning or error of the NAS and send to maximum 3 SNMP servers for centralized management and real-time monitoring. Comprehensive Event Log System Detailed logs of file-level data access to the NAS via SAMBA, iSCSI, FTP, AFP, HTTP, HTTPS, Telnet, and SSH, and networking services accessed by online users are all recorded. Wake on LAN Enable this option to power on the Turbo NAS remotely by Wake on LAN. Wake on LAN helps you manage your NAS conveniently. S.M.A.R.T. & Advanced HDD Health Scanning (HHS) S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) helps you to monitor the HDD status. Moreover, the Turbo NAS is embedded with HHS (HDD Health Scan) which supports disk checking and bad blocks scanning. Windows Active Directory (AD) The Windows AD feature enables you to retrieve the user accounts from the Windows AD server to the NAS to reduce the time and effort for account setup. Users can use the same set of login name and password to access the NAS. Shared Folder Aggregation You can easily access the share folders of other servers on Microsoft Networking through the “portal folder” on the Turbo NAS. This saves your time and effort to login different servers one by one. AES 256-bit Volume-based Data Encryption The disk volume with AES 256-bit encryption can only be accessed by an authorized encryption password or key. This prevents the NAS data from unauthorized access and data breach even if the hard drives are stolen. *Data encryption functions may not available in accordance to the legislative restrictions of some countries. DOM Architecture and Fail-safe Dual OS Two operating systems are built on the DOM of the Turbo NAS for system booting alternatively upon every system startup. When one fails, the other one will be used to boot up the NAS, and the failed OS is recoverable from the other healthy OS. Touch-N-Go PC-less Installation You can use the handy front panel LCD display to complete the first time installation in a few simple steps. The Turbo NAS will automatically complete the hard disk formatting and RAID building. Software Expansion via QPKG The QPKG feature enables the users to maximize the usage of Turbo NAS by installing additional software packages developed by the users and community worldwide. Please feel free to contact us to reserve one of the available units – qnap@24cube.co.uk