Summer's 5 Hottest Products For Custom System Builders

As the summer winds down, here's a look at some cool products you might want to check out. From digital photo displays that have moved off grandma's mantle and into the office, to chassis that are built with a nod to a cleaner environment, vendors are offering a plethora of products to satisfy most any VAR customer.

Screen Space: Final Frontier
ASUS UFOTO UF735

ASUS recently launched a 7-inch digital photo frame, the ASUS UFOTO UF735, that can double as a desktop mini-monitor to show information updates such as messenger windows, gadget information, picture viewer etc.

The UF735 has an exclusive sub-display function that allows use as a secondary display. Users can work without interruption on the main monitor, while receiving updates such as messenger windows, gadget information and picture viewing. The UFOTO UF735 also offers three modes of capturing screen information. For example, users can drag and drop forms from the main display of your PC or laptop to the UFOTO in an extended mode.

The screen comes with a rotatable stand for vertical, horizontal or wall-mount placement. In addition, the UF735's AI Light sensor intelligently adjusts the LCD backlight to achieve the best ambience brightness.

Data Protection For Tight Spaces
MegaRAID SAS 8704EM2

The MegaRAID SAS 8704EM2, a second-generation SAS/SATA RAID product from LSI, provides high-performance and cost-effective data protection for systems using SATA or SAS hard drives. Built with a x8 PCI Express host interface, 667-MHz DDRII memory, and the LSI SAS1078 ROC controller, the MegaRAID SAS 8704EM2 is a powerful RAID solution for traditional application servers employing four direct-connect drives or up to 32 drives using SAS expanders. With a true MD2 low-profile form factor, this adapter is ideal for today's data centers where space is at a premium.

The MegaRAID SAS 8704EM2 supports all key RAID levels including RAID 6 and 60 for increased fault tolerance. RAID 6 tolerates two simultaneous drive failures, and thus the ability to manage unrecoverable media errors during rebuilds, which is useful for those using many high-capacity SATA disk drives.

Big Power, Small Spaces
Liebert PSA and Liebert PSI-XR UPS

As small and medium businesses rely increasingly on IT systems to support business-critical applications and initiatives such as VoIP, reliable UPS performance is the key to increasing availability, reducing downtime risks, and enabling future growth. Emerson Network Power has introduced enhanced Liebert PSA and Liebert PSI-XR UPS units that are designed to provide reliable power protection for small data centers or IT rooms.

The Liebert PSI-XR is best suited for IT applications housed in network closets, IT rooms and small data centers. It provides more than five minutes of battery backup at full load with optional external battery cabinets that can extend that runtime to meet equipment needs. In addition, its remote communications and shutdown options provide remote monitoring and power management. The Liebert PSI-XR is available in rack-mounted or tower configurations and can be configured at 110, 120 or 127 VAC with wide VA range.

The Liebert PSA delivers power protection to small office computers and electronic equipment, providing up to five minutes of battery backup at full load, full sequenced battery testing, and advanced shutdown, surge protection and status monitoring. It is available in four sizes in both 120 VAC and 230 VAC models.

Efficient And Friendly To Environment
AIC's G-Series SAS/SATA Storage Server Chassis

Advanced Industrial Computer has released its new G-Series SAS/SATA storage server chassis product line. The environmentally friendly solution features a high-efficiency power supply, SPGC preplated steel with minimal paint and tool-less ball-bearing mounting rails for hassle-free installation and maintenance, providing users with a cost-effective solution.

The new G-Series SAS/SATA chassis offers a redundant power supply that reduces power consumption significantly. With reduction in power usage at 50 percent power load under 230V-input, systems use an average of 224W less power, with more than 84 percent efficiency. The G-Series is not only environmentally sound, but provides users cost savings of over $16.50 per month per system. The G-Series SAS/SATA chassis reduces environmental impact further with its use of SPGC pre-plated steel materials and minimal paint.

The SAS server chassis also offers improved system quality with its ball-bearing industrial mounting rails and tool-less design, which reduces both rack installation time and system maintenance costs. Overall time saving for users is measurable: 10 minutes per system vs. the standard 1 to 2 hours per installation.

Other G-Series features include: hot-swappable rear OS drive option for easy access and lockable drive carriers for data security and protection. Future enhancements for the G-Series will include a wide variety of configurations and storage capacities to suit the unique demands of a broad range of applications.

Raring To Go Green
Raritan's KIRA 100 chip

Raritan's KIRA 100 chip has a new role in the data center -- saving power. The chip adds intelligence to power strips so that realtime, detailed information on power drawn by each server plugged into the strip can be gathered. It also gathers temperature and other environmental information at the rack. Armed with this information, which can be viewed at the rack or from anywhere using a Web browser, companies can take a number of steps to reduce energy and support green computing -- including spotting inefficient or idle servers to decommission, improving cooling efficiency and identifying unused rack capacity. The KIRA100 is being used in Raritan's new Dominion PX PDUs.

The KIRA100 is the industry's first "system on a chip" solution that delivers remote server access and control based on KVM-over-IP technology and key industry manageability access methods. For end customers, the high-performance chip has helped minimize server downtime and increases IT productivity by enabling operating system installation, BIOS upgrade and power cycling on a server to be done remotely.

The KIRA100 brings to the motherboard the advanced remote server management capabilities found in today's digital KVM-over-IP switches, which offer secure remote access and control to IT equipment from anywhere in the world over standard IP networks. The chip also provides virtual media support. 'It supports the key access protocol methods in the marketplace, including IPMI, SSH, WS-Management and SMASH-CLP.