CUPERTINO, Calif. – December 12, 2011 – Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) has been named one of the Best Companies to Partner With by CRN. The first annual “Best Companies to Partner With” list was unveiled at UBM Channel’s COMDEXvirtual event.
The GoFlex network storage drive works like an ordinary external hard drive, except rather than plugging it directly into your computer you plug it into your wireless router. The hard drive is then accessible to any device across your wireless network. This includes desktop computers (with a wireless adapter, or directly plugged into the router), laptop computers and even Smart TV’s. Seagate claim that the drive is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS and Android; and can stream to any DLNA-enabled device.
A colleague of mine used this quote in his keynote speech at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara last August. “If you want to be incrementally better: be competitive. If you want to be exponentially better: be cooperative.” Source unknown.
John Moon, Sr. Director of Emerging Systems Integration
Truth is there are a lot of SSD and “SSD-like Hybrid” options in the market today, from chipsets and drivers, to bundles SSD + HDD + board combos, and including Seagate’s Momentus XT the all-in-one solid state hybrid drive. But what frustrated my colleague as he spoke to a large group of industry enablers and eco-system companies, was that they were not all working together collaboratively for the good of the consumer. Critical system components and software would support one technology differently than the others, making it difficult for SSD, HDD, SSHD or other hybrids out there to deliver consistency.
If you want to hear more about John Moon’s challenge to drive higher performance and better durability in your systems, take a look at his very entertaining keynote speech. If you like the way John is pushing the industry to be cooperative then hit the “like” button for him.
We are all aware of how Steve Jobs (and his innovative Apple team) changed our computing lifestyles, but what we may not fully appreciate is how well Steve and Apple also challenged their eco-system of suppliers to innovate and design technology that reaches beyond the norm. One example of this is how the popularity of the iPod, iPhone, and now the iPad created this new “norm” for the response and reaction of computing devices – I’m referring to the instant response experience. This new experience is quickly becoming the new expectation from all devices including laptops and desktops and much of it can be attributed to Steve Jobs and Apple.
As suppliers we were really compelled to react to the forces shaping our customers’ experiences. Here at my company, we looked for years for ways to make storage devices that would meet Apple’s challenge for an easy-on experience. We ultimately designed a drive that combined the speed Solid State Memory and the capacity of a Hard Disk Drive into one device so not only do you get the instant response you expect now, but you get the space you need to consume music and movies and even create your own new content — which themselves are dominant requirements of computing thanks in large part to Steve’s inspiration.
So thank you Steve for inspiring us all on so many levels and BTW, I’ll keep your Top 10 Lessons posted on my wall.
Solid State storage was everywhere at the Flash Memory Event but just a handful of SSD vendors were talking about encryption in SSDs. Yes, it’s true everyone wants Solid State but is Solid State ready for everyone? If you need security where your data lives most of the time – on your storage device, then you might want to insist that your storage vendor integrates one of the most powerful data protection technologies out there today. Hardware based encryption or Self-encrypting Drives (SED). For hard drives this is a no brainer, SEDs are readily available but on the SSD side we’re still waiting for it. In fact, there is no safer way to wipe an SSD clean of all sensitive data then to cryptographically erase that baby – secure erase. This technology is a must for healthcare, financial, education, government, military and related supporting businesses that have a need to protect data.
Self-encrypting Drives can prevent data theft
To learn more about SEDs check out Seagate security pages and products. To hear more about SSD Secure Erase watch my interview with Monty Forehand, Director of Development Engineering for Self-Encrypting Storage at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara California. How much more would you pay for your laptop to have encryption designed in from the factory?
CUPERTINO, Calif. – July 18, 2011 – Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) today began distribution channel shipments of the Pulsar® XT.2 solid state drive (SSD) that combines outstanding and consistent performance with the data integrity and drive endurance needed for the most demanding enterprise environments, and is on track to commence channel shipments of the Pulsar.2™ SSD, the first Multi-Level Cell (MLC) Flash-enabled SSD from an enterprise hard drive maker, on July 29.
Arthur Cole spoke with Rich Vignes, enterprise senior product line manager for SSDs, Seagate. It is safe to say that Seagate has not been the most forceful voice in pushing SSD technology. But then again, its go-slow approach just may be more in tune with market realities than many would care to admit. Now that the company has come out with a pair of enterprise-class versions, The Pulsar.2 and Pulsar XT.2, it will be interesting to see if a product designed as a low-cost solution for highly targeted — some would say limited — application and data environments will produce enough revenue to justify development costs. Seagate is betting that it will, as Vignes explains.
This week Seagate is rolling out a free firmware upgrade for its BlackArmor® NAS line of products providing small businesses and prosumers around the world with additional functionality and flexibility to support their evolving digital needs.
What’s new in this firmware upgrade?
Who is eligible for this new firmware and how do I get a copy?
All current and future BlackArmor NAS product customers are eligible for this free firmware upgrade. There are three ways the new firmware is being distributed:
Added value for you and your business
BlackArmor® NAS users can start to benefit from the additional features in this new firmware today. Over the next several days, keep an eye out for additional blog posts on Storage Means Business to learn more about the benefits of this new firmware.
Is a BlackArmor NAS product right for you?
To learn more about how BlackArmor NAS products can benefit your small business or home office environment, click here. Be sure to view the brief video on ‘What a NAS can do for you’.
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. – October 5, 2010 – Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) today announced that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. federal agency focused on promoting product innovation by establishing standards for government and business, has certified Seagate’s family of enterprise-class Cheetah®, Constellation® and Savvio® drives with Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) technology for use within government systems. The Seagate drives were certified to the FIPS 140-2 standard after being validated by an independent lab accredited by NIST.
Award-winning BlackArmor® NAS 440 Now Shipping with Four, 3 Terabyte Hard Drives
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. – September 28, 2010 – Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) today introduced the industry’s highest-capacity, 4-bay and 2-bay, desktop network attached storage solutions to help data-intensive small business address evolving storage needs. The BlackArmor® NAS 440 network storage server and BlackArmor® NAS 220 network storage server, extend the capacity range of Seagate’s BlackArmor® family of storage solutions, enabling businesses to now scale from 1TB to 12TB to help keep pace with the growing stores of high-definition multi-media files and business critical data. Initially, both solutions will come pre-populated with 3TB drives in each bay¹ and will be offered exclusively for 30-days through Seagate.com and select online retailers. For the first 30 days, CDW will provide the 12TB BlackArmor NAS 440 for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $1,899.99, and NewEgg will sell the BlackArmor NAS 220 6TB for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $649.99.
