Small Net Builder

QNAP today introduced the newest member of its Pro Turbo NAS series.

SanDisk announced its Ultra Backup USB portable flash drives. The drives are designed to protect photo, music, video and other types of digital files with the touch of a button and no software installation. The drive protects backed-up files with password-protected access control and AES hardware-based encryption. The Ultra Backup ships in April in capacities of 8 GB - 64 GB with MSRPs between $39.99 and $199.99.

HP today introduced a recycling program that includes a way for consumers to receive cash for unwanted technology equipment. Through the HP Consumer Buyback and Planet Partners Recycling Program, consumers can receive cash back for their unwanted PCs, monitors, printers, digital cameras, PDAs (personal digital assistants) and smartphones of any brand. If there is no value, consumers can responsibly recycle their HP and Compaq-branded products for free. Go to www.hp.com/go/ConsumerBuyback (http://www.hp.com/go/ConsumerBuyback) for further details and to get a buyback quote.

D-Link's CES product rollout includes two draft 11n routers, two network surveillance video recorders, two IP cameras and a previously-announced MoCA coax-to-Ethernet adapter. However, firm pricing and availability were given for only three of the nine products announced, so please curb your enthusiasm right now!

Storage Appliance today announced a small device that turns any USB hard drive into a Clickfree automatic backup device. The Clickfree Transformer Cable connects between any Windows Vista, XP or 2000 computer and USB drive to convert it into a Clickfree backup drive that searches, organizes and backs up 400 different file types. The Cable Backup has an MSRP of $59.99 and is available now direct from the Storage Appliance website (http://buy.goclickfree.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CAB101-1003-100) and other retailers.

Synology today announced its Disk Station Manager 2.1 beta, which adds new mail server, IP camera support and other features. See the full release for details. (http://synology.com/enu/news/2009/01.05_firmware.php)

Wireless USB company Wisair today announced an adapter that wirelessly transfers PC content to TVs, monitors and projectors.

The LaCie 5big Network isn't the fastest five-bay RAID 5 / 6 / 10 NAS around. But it leads the pack in value.

The second revision of our NAS Test procedures includes file copy tests using Vista SP1.

This article describes our Router test procedures for both wired and wireless routers.

HP today announced an updated version of its Windows Home Server-based MediaSmart Server line designed for use with both Windows and Mac OS clients.

Vista SP1 includes a bag of tricks that can help a high-performance NAS bust the 100 MB/s mark.

Install Debian on your QNAP or other Marvell Orion based NAS and make it do what you want it to do.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance today announced that the IEEE P1901 Working Group approved proposals including key HomePlug technology as the baseline for an IEEE powerline communications standard last Thursday at the P1901 Working Group meeting in Kyoto, Japan.

Reader and SmallNetBuilder Forums participant jdabbs posts a monthly report of new FCC filings over in the Forums (http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/). Since new products are always of interest to SmallNetBuilder readers, we'll be republishing the reports here from now on, with comments and additions.

TRENDnet today announced a seven inch LCD network camera monitor / photo frame.

Entropic Communications and NETGEAR today announced what they say is the industry’s first home networking MoCA-certified, Ethernet-to-coax bridge kit.

The LaCie 5big Network is a 5-bay RAID 0/5/6/10 NAS that is simple in both form and function. Read the full review.

Updated 12/18/08 The LaCie 5big network has been added to the NAS Charts.

A recent New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/technology/companies/16dell.html?_r=1&ref=technology) portrayed Michael Dell as testy and defensive about his company's loss of market share to rival HP. “It’s O.K. if everyone doesn’t understand what we’re doing,” he was quoted as saying. Well, I may not be the smartest guy in the world. But if my recent experience with Dell is any indication, at least some of its troubles aren't hard to figure out.