CES 2017: 7 High-Performance Storage Solutions For Businesses

CES Gets Serious With Storage

While sexy gear like the latest smartphones, laptops, gaming PCs, and high-definition garnered almost all the attention at CES 2017, companies serious about the performance and capacity of the storage on which they run their businesses found CES a treasure trove of new solutions to consider.

Storage products ranging from super-high capacity USB flash drives to high-performance storage appliances sporting the latest PCIe, NVMe, and Thunderbolt interfaces were out in force at CES.

If you missed these new options, you are in luck. CRN has assembled information on several of the new solutions, some of which have yet to reach the market. For more information, turn the page and prepare to be amazed.

Fasetto Link Gets Samsung NVMe Storage

Fasetto, the Superior, Wis.-based provider of the Link LTE hotspot device for cloud storage, file sharing and messaging, used CES to introduce a new version of Link, featuring Samsung's NVMe PCIe SSD. The new device can provide quick storage and sharing of up to 2 TBs of data. The new Link also includes the Linux-driven Exynos 7 Octa 7420 processor, resulting in an LTE hotspot with the large storage of a NAS in a pocket-sized, weatherproof device.

With Link, user content is accessible from any device via Link's dedicated broadcast Wi-Fi, cellular, Bluetooth, and USB-C connections to provide a platform for peer-to-peer and cloud-based interactions. Data stored on Link is protected using custom-developed security software, user permissions, and multiple layers of hardware and software encryption. It is slated to be commercially available this Spring.

Kingston Digital's 2TB USB Flash Drive

Kingston Digital, the Fountain Valley, Calif.-based flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology, introduced its new DataTraveler Ultimate Generation Terabyte (GT), which it bills as the world’s highest capacity USB flash drive with up to 2 TBs of storage capacity and USB 3.0 performance.

The DataTraveler Ultimate GT is built into a zinc-alloy metal casing for shock resistance, and is expected to ship in February in 1 TB and 2 TB versions, the company said. It includes a five-year warranty.

Netgear ReadyNAS Business-Class Storage

Netgear, San Jose, Calif., used CES to expand its ReadyNAS business-class network-attached storage solutions with new models featuring increased performance and data security when compared to its previous generation.

New to the ReadyNAS line is the ReadyNAS 620 series featuring dual 10GbE connectivity for 4K video multi-streaming and real-time transcoding. The device contains, the Intel Xeon processor D-1521 and room for six or eight drives to support up to 120 users. The ReadyNAS 520 series features 10GbE connectivity and multiple 1K or single 4K streams for up to 80 users The smaller ReadyNAS 420 series supports up to 40 users with its Intel Atom Processor C3338 and comes in a two- or four bay-configuration.

All the new ReadyNAS appliances include file sharing, access to a secure private cloud and Netgear ReadyDR, which allows scheduled backups to a second device for data protection.

OWC DEC MacBook Pro Expansion

OWC used CES to introduce the OWC DEC, a new expansion solution specifically targeting the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro. The Woodstock, Ill.-based company's new OWC DEC, the latest in its long-running series of Apple Mac expansion solutions, attaches flush to the bottom of the 2016 MacBook Pro to provide up to 4 TBs of additional flash storage or SSD capacity. The device also includes Gigabit Ethernet, SD card and multi-media card slots, and USB 3 ports. Shipping is scheduled to start sometime this spring.

Promise Technology's Apollo Personal Cloud Appliance

CES saw Milpitas, Calif.-based Promise Technology introduce the newest version of its Apollo Cloud personal cloud storage appliance.

The Apollo Cloud offers a low-cost, simple way for users to safely store and share data from any device OS X or Windows PCs and iOS or Android devices. Up to 10 users can access the Apollo Cloud's capacity, with each user having full sharing and privacy control over their own digital files. Access to the data is protected with AES 256-bit encryption. Users can also comment on the content privately to other users of the appliance. Pricing for the Apollo Cloud appliance starts at $199 for 2 TBs of capacity.

Qnap Thunderbolt 3 NAS

Qnap, the Pomona, Calif.-based developer of NAS and network video recorder solutions, used CES 2017 to unveil its new Thunderbolt 3 NAS appliances which the company said are aimed at professional video users.

The latest Thunderbolt NAS support speeds of up to 40 Gbits-per-second, which the company said provides the power needed 4K or 3D workflows. A T2E Converter bridges Thunderbolt and Ethernet networks, making the Thunderbolt NAS a native Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter for wider application scenarios.

Synology FlashStation

CES saw Bellevue, Wash.-based Synology introduce its new FlashStation FS3017, a business-class, all-flash NAS solution targeting IO-intensive and latency sensitive application. Customers and partners can configure the FS3017 with up to 90 TBs of raw capacity using either high-performance SAS or mainstream SATA SSDs. A six-core Xeon processor and up to 512 GBs of DDR4 memory offer performance of up to 200,000 4-KB random write IOPS via the iSCSI interface.

The FS3017 comes with two 10GBase-T ports, and two PCIe slots allow the addition of higher-performance Ethernet ports, including ports for 40-Gbit Ethernet. Data is protected with built-in snapshot replication.