EZ-DOCK MB981U3S-1S review - posted by tweaktown.com

ICYDOCK EZ-Dock MB981U3S Storage Docking Station Review

For those of you that have stacks of hard drive laying in archive, the single greatest invention to come in the last ten years is the docking station. There is also no shortage of these solutions, as each manufacturer has put their own personal spin on it. The MB981U3S is the latest in ICYDOCK's EZ-DOCK line-up of, you guessed it: docking stations. The ICYDOCK MB981U3S is single bay docking station that offers dual connectivity through eSATA at 3Gbps and USB 3.0 at 5Gbps. With support for both 2.5" and 3.5" SSDs and HDDs, the EZ-Dock employs a unique two part dust cover to keep the internals clean. ICYDOCK warranties the EZ-Dock for a period of three years..........Read More EZConvert Pro MB981U3S-1S: http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=152

ICY News: Introducing SSD Endurance Test

"Despite the perks, SSDs have a dirty little secret. Their flash memory may be inherently robust, but it's also fundamentally weak. Writing data erodes the nano-scale structure of the individual memory cells, imposing a ceiling on drive life that can be measured in terabytes. SSDs are living on borrowed time. The question is: how much?"

To read this article from The Tech Report, click on:
Introducing the SSD Endurance Experiment

ICY News: Faster than Flash Memory Cells?

"The device is based on the principles of resistive memory, which can be used to create memory cells that are smaller, operate at a higher speed and offer more storage capacity than flash memory cells, the current industry standard. Terabytes, not gigabytes, will be the norm with resistive memory." 


Link to entire Article: Advancing Resistive Memory Faster & More Capacity Than flash Memory Cells

FatCage MB153SP-B video review - posted by CazuaLLUK

Published on Aug 19, 2013 Icy Dock MB153SP-B Hot-Swap 3.5" SATA HDD Backplane Module [Review] Youtub link: http://youtu.be/6NwxpDoYdCY

EZConvert Pro MB982IP-1S-1 review (Tested with Toshiba 12Gb/s SSD) - posted by tweaktown.com

Icy Dock MB982IP-1S-1 Review - Tested with Toshiba 12Gb/s SSD

Introduction The migration to smaller 2.5" HDD's and SSD's has created a need for quality converters for enterprise applications. In many cases, extensive existing infrastructure would require a large investment to replace, and that is not always an option. Utilizing SSDs in the server has become far more commonplace as complex caching and tiering systems are becoming more widespread. Placing SSDs on the other end of a networking connection in NAS and SAN environments is not always the best option. The key to getting the most performance out of flash solutions is to keep the SSD's as close to the processor as possible, maximizing performance, and keeping latency as low as possible. The same approach with more energy efficient 2.5" HDD's also necessitates the use of drive bay converters to continue the use of existing servers. In order to deliver a solution that allows the easy placement of the SSDs into the server requires a product that does not hamper the performance of the underlying storage. Many of the available drive-bay converters on the market can hamper the performance of the HDD or SSD, defeating the purpose of keeping the flash in the server in the first place. The Icy Dock MB982IP-1S-1 is designed to provide that easy conversion from a 2.5" to a 3.5" drive with absolutely no impact to the performance of the underlying storage solution..........Read More EZConvert Pro MB982IP-1S-1: http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=144

ICY News: Special Reports on Annual Flash Memory Summit

"The annual Flash Memory Summit convened at the Santa Clara Convention Center on August 13-15 in Santa Clara, CA. There were more exhibitors and attendees this year with the unofficial attendee count at around 5,000. All of the major players were present in one form or another, and took the opportunity to showcase their latest products and technology."

Samsung has introduced that their upcoming Samsung 3D NAND SSD which will provide "2x the density in the same lithography, 20% faster write speed, 40% improvement in power consumption, and 10x in endurance cycle". Samsung has not release any real performance data until the production in 2014.


Link to entire Article: Special Reports on Annual Flash Memory Summit

ICY News: New USB 3.1 & SATA 3.2 Specification Announced

Both USB and SATA have become the most common connectors on almost every computer. Finally both USB and SATA have stepped up to meet consumers' demand for faster transfer speed. Ever since 2008, the USB 3.0 was able to obtain up to 5Gb/s transfer rate, now USB has gladly announced the new USB 3.1 specification that is able to reach 10 Gb/s transfer rate. On the other hand, the SATA 3.2 introduces SATA Express, boosting the transferring speed for storage devices from 6Gb/s to a blazing speed 16Gb/s. The product release date has not been announced yet; however, based on their previous release dates, rumors have been spreading around that it will probably take around 2 years to make an appearance in the market.  Let us know what you think about the new USB 3.1 & SATA 3.2.

Link to USB 3.1 Announcement - USB 3.1 Press Announcement

Link to SATA 3.2 Announcement - SATA 3.2 Press Announcement

Introducing the ICY DOCK FatCage MB155SP-B 5 x 3.5” HDD in 3 x 5.25” Bay Hot Swap SATA 6Gbps HDD Rack/ Cage/ Module

Introducing the FatCage MB155SP-B, a 5-in-3 SATA 6Gbps hot swappable internal RAID backplane cage. This is the lite version of the MB45X series by removing the monitoring features, increasing the cooling performance, and reducing the overall cost, while keeping the same 3 year warranty and the core tray system for hot swapping and maintenance are kept for the best reliability in the market. Maximum Space Saving & Reliable Build The MB155SP-B built to be a lighter module, while more importantly maintaining the same level of quality, build, and service you’d expect from an Icy Dock product. While the design has gone through some changes, the space saving design is still established. The backplane module allows up to a massive 5 x 3.5” SATA III hard drives, while only consuming three 5.25” bays. The FatCage has also been redesigned for the type of power connector accepted. 15 pin SATA power is used to provide better accessibility for most modern host systems. They are also compatible with cables with metal latches to improve security when installed into a system. High-Octane Airflow Along with being a lighter package, the cooling has been redesigned to provide the utmost airflow to your hard drives. The FatCage uses a full metal body that allows for the effective heat dissipation possible in various types of applications. Meanwhile, our enhanced direct air flow design allows the included a large 92mm cooling fan to raise its efficiency to cool down your hard drives, by closing and rerouting most vents to route incoming air directly to the cooling fan. There are dual exhaust vents on the top and bottom to additionally help keep drives temperatures while improve airflow. In addition, the backplane logic PCB has larger cut outs in key locations to allow more air to flow into and exit the MB155SP-B, making it an ideal system to store and cool your hard drives. Modularized Cooling System The included 92mm cooling fan is fully modularized for the most hassle free experience of replacing and maintaining and is compatible with most aftermarket cooling fans of the same size. To expand the range of compatible fans, both 2 and 3 pin fan power ports are available and are conveniently located for great accessibility. This provides the user the most flexible options available and freedom desired. The FatCage MB155SP-B features a 3 mode fan speed jumper which can be changed at will to control the fan speed easily. The 3 modes include: High, Low and Off with respective speeds of 100%, 60% and 0% relative to maximum output. The settings can be simply changed by removing the jumper and relocating into the desired setting. Reliable Hot Swap System The MB155SP-B has kept the same interchangeable EZ-Tray used in MB45X, MB876, MB559, and MB561 series. This allows you to continue to use the same trays from these series, or our compatible external 3.5” models without any issues regarding switching to new designs. The EZ-Tray accepts most 3.5” SATA hard drives and is very easy to install / remove to the device in two steps – press the release button and pull / push the lever. The built in rail system acts as the mechanism to ensure a fully secured connection every time. This allows for easy replacement in case of RAID failure or transporting of data. Interchangeable hard drive tray with: Key Features * 5 in 3 RAID backplane module. * Fits five 3.5” SATA I / II / III (SATA 6Gbps) hard drives in three 5.25” device bay & fully supports SATA Hot-Swap function. * Large 92mm cooling fan with full metal body for excellent heat dissipation for the most intense applications. * Compact and space saving to fit multiple drives. * Interchangeable EZ-Tray tray design for internal drive security, exchangeability, expandability and maintenance capabilities. Compatible with DataCage Classic MB45X, ICYBento MB559 & ICYCube MB561 series. * Enhanced Direct Air Flow Design – Shuts off most vents while adding larger ventilation slots on the backplane PCB. * Uses SATA 15 power ports for best compatibility with the newest power supplies. * Individual LED hard drive power & activity status notification. * Active Power Technology (APT) - individual led & cooling fan only powers up if there is a drive installed in the bay. * 3 Mode Fan Speed Jumper of high / low / off (100%, 60%, 0%). * Fully Modularized rear outtake cooling fan for easy maintenance or aftermarket replacement with 2 and 3 pin power ports available. * ICY DOCK 3 year warranty equivalent to hard drive manufacturer warranty to ensure maximum reliability and long life. Quick links: MB155SP-B Product Page MB155SP-B Product images MB155SP-B Datasheet ICY DOCK Tel: 626.956.8800 Fax: 626.956.8811 11740 Clark St. Arcadia, California 91006 Sales e-mail: sales01@cremax.com Support e-mail: tech@icydock.com

ICY TIP: Build a DIY FreeNAS, unRAID and WHS NAS Media Center with ICY DOCK Hard Drive Cage Module

Build a DIY FreeNAS, unRAID and WHS NAS Media Center with ICY DOCK Hard Drive Cage Module

The performance of networking and hard drive technology has come to a point where the gap has closed in. You can see that 3.5” hard drives can perform to the point where it can match with the available bandwidth on a network. So, using a NAS device to share your entire digital collection on a single network with one device is becoming much more available as a solution for various applications. When you have a centralized media center where data can be shared, information can be accessed easily from multiple client computers. Instead of using a physical medium like with a CD, DVD, flash drives, etc, and essentially only one person having access at a time, you would use a LAN as the medium to transfer data from one location to another – for example, your master and living room computer could stream the same movie at the same time. This saves you a lot of time and basically is more cost effective than purchasing multiple hard drives for each client computer. If you need to install a piece of company software for a small business, setting up a NAS (Network Attached Storage) to contain that installation will allow all of the client computers to use it without going through each computer and installing the software on each system individually. If a NAS was not used, your unused space is left wasted, while with NAS other users can take advantage of the shared space. Also, most NAS devices have some sort of hard drive redundancy system so your drive data can have a layer of data protection. So the demand for this type of solution is very much needed whether in a home or business as it can greatly reduce cost and increase productivity.

Why Use a DIY NAS? You are interested in purchasing a NAS device, but are not sure if purchasing a prepackaged NAS solution is best for you or not. Typically, companies that provide all-in-one NAS solutions such as QNAP, Synology, etc, tend to cost more, are closed systems, and thus are not truly flexible in terms of using a solution that is exactly fitted to your needs whether it is related to performance, flexibility, or price. For example, you run out of space for your home NAS, so how would you expand? You could purchase larger capacity drives but if that is not an option, you would have to purchase an even larger NAS device altogether. So it isn’t very scalable solution unlike with a DIY NAS, where you can easily keep all of your components and simply add more drives since you get to choose the components beforehand. Even if you need to upgrade parts such as your computer chassis, it is much more cost effective than purchasing a completely new unit. Also unlike a closed NAS system, there is no migration of data required at all using a DIY NAS solution which is an opened NAS system. By using a DIY NAS solution, again, you get to select all of the parts for your NAS device, set your own price range, and cherry pick what type of software to use.

FreeNAS, unRAID, and WHS – What are the Differences? FreeNAS, unRAID, and Windows Home Server (WHS) are just some of the home server operating systems available that can be tailored into a NAS device with very flexible options. Each of the operating systems we just mentioned generally shares a few of the important functions of having a large NAS server. As far as the functions each must have is the ability to combine multiple drives into a single volume with very little work needed. This is very important because if you wanted to expand your drive capacity, normally, you would see multiple volumes under a regular Windows system. With either unRAID, FreeNAS, or WHS, you have the ability to link all of your drive data together and it will be seen as one single large volume. These operating systems usually rely on some sort of RAID storage system in order to provide better management and drive redundancy for all your files such as: movies, family photos, or recorded TV shows. Hence, these sorts of servers will be hard drive heavy since the main purpose is to use it for storing and sharing your data on a network. While we have said each choice is similar, the specific features that implement the same result are different. Features such as unRAID’s unique array technology to allow data not to be striped even though it has the abilities of a RAID 4 array, FreeNAS’s ZFS file system for local & remote data protection, backup and recovery of your NAS, or WHS with similar abilities to create a single storage volume and the ability to protect, backup and recover your connected PC’s with their easy to use streamlined design. From what you are probably able to tell, WHS is the easiest to work with as it has most of the features you will need for your NAS, but with unRAID or FreeNAS, there is more work needed to set up while makes up for it with many plug-ins and customization available to personally fit your needs. So, we would suggest reading the links below with some very helpful information. FreeNAS: http://www.freenas.org/about-freenas/features.html unRAID: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/FAQ#General_Questions_about_unRAID http://www.avforums.com/forums/networking-nas/1347547-smurfs-monster-40tb-unraid-nas-build.html WHS: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/products/windows-home-server#T1=protect http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/reviews/diy-windows-home-server-build-jukebox-mkii.html

Building Your FreeNAS, unRAID, or Windows Home Server NAS Device Generally, you would need to have some background about building (DIY) PC’s and how to work with them. But, we’ll talk about what you will need to build your system. The main components other than what is normally required (e.g. motherboard, CPU, RAM, etc) would be a RAID card and hot swappable hard drive storage enclosures. You may need 36TB or only 12TB of storage but either way, you would want to have a space saving and hot swappable cage that adds an extra 3.5” hard drive slot per two 5.25” slots. As you add to your collection, you may also need to expand your storage so using a 3.5” hot swap enclosure allows you to easily add new drives as needed. If your drive fails, you would want to have a way to easily swap drives as most RAID arrays from the mentioned operating systems cannot tolerate more than one drive that has failed. So, being able to replace your drive quickly is your best option to not lose all of your data. Now that we know this, we need to learn what variations of 3.5” hot swap cages are available. Many of the available cages do the essentials of storing your drives but may not have a good quality construction, design, cooling, and features specific for your NAS server such as drive monitoring or pluggable external options. It’s important to have these features as doing everything possible to prevent a hard drive failure is as important to plan in case one does happen. Fortunately, our, FatCage, FlexCage, and DataCage Classic series each posses a unique design for different situations to help you improve the reliability of your drives and tailored for specific uses.

FatCage Series This series is specifically tailored for the best cooling performance while provide simple yet reliable design. The chassis is specifically designed to provide highly optimized airflow with larger cut outs in key locations on the circuit board and uses the largest cooling fan of all three series of 92mm (for MB155SP-B). If your target is to build a efficient, economical, and cool NAS, the FatCage is your choice. Unique Features SATA 6Gbps compatible Fan speed control jumper (MB155SP-B only) Removable rear cooling fan with compatibility with other 80mm fans (92mm with the MB155SP-B) Enhanced direct air flow design – Shuts off most vents while adding larger ventilation slots on the backplane PCB. Space saving to fit multiple drives: 3 drives in 2 x 5.25” bays / 4 or 5 drives in 3 x 5.25” bays Lightweight aluminum body construction for durability and heat dissipation Unique EZ-Tray design for internal drive security, exchangeability, expandability and maintenance capabilities. Compatible with DataCage Classic, ICYBento & ICYCube serials ICY DOCK 3 year warranty equivalent to hard drive manufacturer warranty to ensure maximum reliability and long life Product Page Links FatCage MB153SP-B Product Page FatCage MB154SP-B Product Page FatCage MB155SP-B Product Page

FlexCage Series This series is specifically tailored for ultra fast tool-less hard drive installation, along with individual control & manage of each of your hard drives. Each slot includes power buttons to control power to your drive. Meanwhile, a fan control switch allows changes from automatic, high performance, or silent operation modes. Furthermore, FlexCage has front USB 3.0 hub that allows you easily connect additional external storage devices to your NAS via lightning USB 3.0 speed. If you are looking to build a JBOD type NAS, with ability to turn off any unused drives, or quick swap hard drives without tool. FlexCage is your best bet. Unique Features SATA 6Gbps compatible Fan control switch with High, Low, or Smart cooling settings Unique tray-less design for tool-less drive installation Multi-locking door latches to prevent accidental drive ejection Individual power buttons for each drive USB 3.0 hub for easy access for external devices Space saving to fit multiple drives: 3 drives in 2 x 5.25” bays / 4 or 5 drives in 3 x 5.25” bays Lightweight aluminum body construction for durability and heat dissipation Removable rear cooling fan and compatibility with other 80mm fansICY DOCK 3 year warranty equivalent to hard drive manufacturer warranty to ensure maximum reliability and long life Product Page Links FlexCage MB973SP-1B Product Page (Bare Server Version) FlexCage MB973SP-2B Product Page (USB 3.0 hub, Fan Control & Power Button) FlexCage MB974SP-2B Product Page (USB 3.0 hub, Fan Control & Power Button) FlexCage MB975SP-B Product Page (Fan Control & Power Button)

DataCage Classic Series The DateCage Classic is designed for advanced drive environment management. It is the only hard drive rack with such advanced monitoring system in the industry. The DataCage Classic allows you to monitor every possible status including: drive power, drive activity, drive overheat, drive failure and fan fail status. This proven classic features the core functionalities of an enterprise class hot swap hard drive rack with exclusive features for outstanding reliability. Unique Features SATA 6Gbps Compatible Standalone advanced environment monitoring system built internally w/ visual LED & audio indicators for power, access, hard drive & fan failure and selectable overheat alert 3 level temperature threshold settings of 45° C, 55° C, and 65° C Space saving to fit multiple drives: 3 drives in 2 x 5.25” bays / 4 or 5 drives in 3 x 5.25” bays Lightweight aluminum body construction for durability and heat dissipation Unique EZ-Tray design for internal drive security, exchangeability, expandability and maintenance capabilities. Compatible with DataCage Classic, ICYBento & ICYCube serials Detachable Rear 80mm cooling fan ICY DOCK 3 year warranty equivalent to hard drive manufacturer warranty to ensure maximum reliability and long life Product Page Links DataCage Classic MB453IPF-B (SAS/SATA) Product Page DataCage Classic MB453SPF-B (SATA) Product Page DataCage Classic MB454SPF-B (SATA) Product Page DataCage Classic MB455SPF-B (SATA) Product Page

Phone Support: 626.956.8800 Email Support: tech@icydock.com Live Chat Support – Click HERE

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MB882SP-1S-1B/ MB982IP-1S-1 EZConvert series review - posted by legitreviews.com

Icy Dock MB882SP and MB982IP Hard Drive Converter Reviews

Icy Dock 2.5-inch Hard Drive Converters The 3.5” hard drive has been in use for many years. It has been a standard size for desktops, network storage and enterprise use. In recent years, 2.5” hard drives have become popular due to increases in performance and storage capacity. Additionally, Solid State Drives are quickly becoming the standard. The problem is that in order to use one of the new 2.5” hard drives, you either have to modify your existing hardware, or buy new equipment. For some, this can be a very costly update. Icy Dock has a lower priced solution in the form of 2.5” to 3.5” hard drive converters. A 2.5” hard drive can be installed, making it the same size as a 3.5” hard drive with a standard SATA interface. These converters can be found starting at around $26.00 for the entry level converter and up to $34.99 for the enterprise class SAS compatible converter...........Read More EZConvert MB882SP-1S-1B Product Page: http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=80 EZConvert Pro MB982IP-1S-1 Product Page: http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=144