Dual-core, quad-core, or eight-core systems not enough for ya? How about a system with support for up to 80 cores? That’s exactly what you’ll get with the newly announced SGI Octane III – and NO, it’s not a massive rackmount system. SGI calls it a “personal supercomputer” thanks to its office-ready one by two foot form factor, whisper quiet operations, easy-to-use features, low maintenance requirements, and support for standard office power outlets.

The SGI Octane III supports up to 80 core and nearly 1 terabyte of memory. Some of the configurations include:

• Ten dual-socket, Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series-based nodes
• One dual-socket, Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series-based workstation with advanced NVIDIA graphics and/or GP-GPU card support
• Nineteen single-socket, Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor 3400 series-based nodes
• Nineteen single-socket, Dual-Core Intel® Atom™ processor-based nodes

Yeah.. that’s a lot of horse power..

From an operating system perspective, Octane III supports Microsoft HPC Server 2008, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS’s.

You’ll be able to check out the new Octane III at the upcoming Intel Developer Form (IDF) which will be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from Sept. 22 – 24th.

The Octane III is available now with Intel Xeon processor 5500 series or Intel Atom configurations. Base configuration price starts at $7995.

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Technorati Tags: SGI Octane III

Didn’t get a chance to post about this last week but Acer announced their entry into the Windows Home Server market with the introduction of the Aspire easyStore Home Server. What makes this home server box so interesting is the bang for the buck feature. For a mere $399.99, you get a system with 2GB of RAM, built-in 1TB of disk space, and more importantly, three available hard drive bays. This is by far a more interesting proposition for the consumer/home market than the recently introduced HP MediaSmart LX195.

The full specs for the Acer Aspire easyStore AH340-UA230N Home Server are as follows:

• Intel Atom Processor N230
• Windows Home Server OS
• 2GB RAM
• 1TB Hard Drive
• Three Empty Hot Swappable Hard Drive Bays
• Five USB 2.0 ports
• One eSATA port
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 200 Watt Power Supply

As with the aforementioned LX195, the easyStore Home Server has an Atom processor on the inside – something we think you’ll see more often in network attached servers and home server products down the road. The processor is just fast enough for file serving capabilities, is power-efficient, and, most importantly for consumers, is cheap.

You can pre-order the Acer Aspire easyStore AH340-UA230N Home Server at Amazon.com for $399.99.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Acer Aspire AH340-UA230N Home Server, Windows Home Server

Apple’s Xserve product lineup received a booster shot today with the announcement that Intel’s latest “Nehalem” Xeon processors would now be available in the sleek 1U servers. According to Apple, the latest servers can deliver up to 89 percent performance improvement per watt over previous generations of the Xserve.

The new Xserve systems include Intel Xeon processors clocked at speeds up to 2.93 GHz – each of which feature an integrated memory controller with three channels of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory. Other features include a 128GB SSD boot-drive option (for increased  power efficiency and faster access times), three 3.5 inch drive bays for up to 3TB of internal storage, two PCI Express 2.0 x 16 slots, and a 72 hour battery backup for “enhanced data protection.”

The standard configuration of the Xserve priced at $2,999 features:

• a single 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Xeon 5500 series processor with 8MB of fully shared L3 cache;
• 3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC RAM;
• a single 160GB 7200 rpm SATA Apple Drive Module;
• dual Gigabit Ethernet on-board;
• two PCI Express 2.0 x16 expansion slots;
• Bonjour®-enabled Lights-Out Management processor and Server Monitor Software;
• internal graphics with Mini DisplayPort output;
• two FireWire® 800 and three USB 2.0 ports; and
• an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard.

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Read this in Chinese Simplified and in French

Technorati Tags: Apple, Apple Xserve, Intel Nehalem Xeon

The new Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive is Iomega’s attempt to deliver a cost effective network attached storage device for the home market. The drive connects to your home network and delivers a centralized storage location for all of your digital content across all of your networked devices.

Powering the drive is EMC’s LifeLife Home Software solution which is a custom Linux OS and application suite. After installing the software, users can access files and set permissions using a friendly user interface. Setting up the Home Media Network Hard Drive should be straight-forward and simple. Just plug the drive into the network, power up the drive, and then install the included software. Since the networked drive also acts as a UPnP media server, you can easily share content to DLNA certified networked media players such as the Xbox 360.

Key features of the Home Media Network Hard Drive include:

• Share files between Windows and Apple systems
• Gigabit Ethernet support
• UPnP AV Media Server – compatible with DLNA certified media players
• iTunes Server
• Supports CIFS/SMB, AFP, and HTTP 1.1
• Add additional capacity by connecting external USB hard drives
• Automatic network discovery by Apple Bonjour and Windows Rally devices
• Backup your data using EMC Retrospect HD backup software
• Oxford 810SE chipset with 370MHz CPU and 64MB RAM
• One 7200 RPM SATA HDD
• One USB port
• Built-in Print Server
• Measures 4.92 x 7.83 x 1.57 inches and weighs 2.45 lbs

The Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive will be available this month with the 500GB drive going for $159.99 and the 1TB drive going for $229.99.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Iomega, Home Media Network Hard Drive, NAS, CES 2009

For ASUS, the Intel Atom processor has proven to be a versatile processor for a wide variety of devices. We’ve seen the company introduce netbook systems and all-in-one PC systems based on the Atom processor. Now the company is venturing into the network appliance/network attached storage market with the introduction of the D200. The system is basically designed to be a home server appliance – allowing you to store and serve up files as well as acting as a wireless router. The complete specs include:

• Intel Atom N270 processor
• 2GB of RAM
• 512MB of ROM,
• Total of 2 TB of disk space (spanning two disks) supporting RAID 0,1, JBOD
• Built-in 3.5 inch LCD touch screen
• 802.11m MIMO AP router
• Slot DVD-RW drive
• 6 channel HD audio
• WAN/LAN/Power Recovery/HDD status LED indicator lights
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 4 USB ports, 1 DVI port
• Measures 275 x 98 x 206mm
• Noise output of 28 dB courtesy of a smart fan

Expect the D200 to be available for around $600 dollars – though it’s not clear how much storage space you’ll get for that price.

Technorati Tags: ASUS, D200, NAS, CES 2009

Do you have a need for a high end digital media server with oodles of storage space and the ability to stream lots of content simultaneously? Then check out the newly announced CodexNovus DMS-6000 Digital Media Server. This rack-mount server is capable of storing 6TB of data and delivering up to eight simultaneous 1080p video streams, 12 standard definition video streams, 16 high definition audio streams, or 48 MP3 audio streams to a network of CodexNovus Client players and player/servers.

Main features of the CodexNovus DMS-6000 Digital Media Server include the following:

• Supports resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 and lossless 5.1 and 7.1 digial audio
• 6TB storage space
• Dual Gigabit ports
• Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, VC-1, MPEG-4 (FFMPEG, XVID, LIBAVC, DIVX)
• Audio: PCM, MP2, MP3, AC3, AAC, FLAC
• Video: MPG, AVI, TS, M2TS, EVO, VOB
• Audio: MP2, MP3, AC3, WAV, AAC
• Imagery: BMP, PNG, GIF, JPG

For more information, check out the website here.

Technorati Tags: CodexNovus DMS-6000 Digital Media Server

Why store music on a separate hard drive when you can leverage your existing Apple iPod on a network audio server? That’s the premise of the new Creston iServer device – this rack mount unit provides a permanent housing for an iPod and adds Ethernet connectivity which allows it to be integated into a Creston control system.

Simply pop an Apple iPod into the front docking bay and then control music playback through Creston touchpanel devices remotely around the house. Audio and video output from the iServer can be connected to a home theater system or to a multiroom distribution system and the iPod can be synced to a networked PC running iTunes without having to undock the iPod from the iServer.

Here’s a summary of features for the Creston iServer.

• “Made for iPod” network audio server
• Full 2-way touchpanel control of the iPod
• Sync to iTunes over Ethernet
• Buffered audio and video outputs
• Crestron Home CAT5 Balanced AV connectivity
• Plug-and-play integration with Adagio systems
• Single-space 19″ rack-mountable

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Creston iServer, Network Audio Server, Apple iPod

It looks like HP has begun rolling out the new add-ins to their EX470 Windows Home Server systems. My system just notified me about 25 minutes ago that two new add-ins were ready to be installed on my EX470:

Just in case you can’t see the image above, the two add-ins are as follows:

• PVConnect MediaServer for HP MediaSmart – easily share your media among all connected devices.
• McAfee Total Protection Service – automatically protect your home server from the latest virus and spyware threats

To install these add-ins, one has to go to the Add-ins section of the Windows Home Server Settings and then click on the “Available” tab. You’ll see the following:

Of the two add-ins, the McAfee add-in definitely appears to be the most valuable addition to HP EX470 Windows Home Server. There’s nothing like free anti-virus protection for the server if you ask me!

It’s not clear when HP will roll out Power Pack 1 for their MediaSmart servers but I think I’ll probably go ahead and download it directly from Microsoft.

Technorati Tags: HP, EX470 MediaSmart, Windows Home Server, Add-ins, Power Pack 1

Heads up Windows Home Server users out there – the Windows Home Server Team has announced that the anticipated Power Pack 1 update has finally been released to manufacturing (RTM). Power Pack 1 is now available via the Microsoft Download Center and will become available via Windows Update sometime in August.  OEM partners selling Windows Home Server systems will update their systems with Power Pack 1 over the coming weeks. HP EX470/475 owners can expect the update soon along with additional enhancements such as enhanced media streaming capabilities from PacketVideo, server-side anti-virus from McAfee, and compatibility with 64 bit home PCs.

General updates and features found in Power Pack 1 include support for PCs running Windows Vista 64 bit OS’s, backup of home server Shared Folders, remote access improvements, more efficient power consumption, and overall better performance. Yes, that infamous data corruption bug is also fixed.

Finally, Microsoft has also updated the Windows Home Server software development kit (SDK) for Power Pack 1.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Windows Home Server, Power Pack 1

For all you Windows Home Server folks out there – a couple of interesting tidbits. First off – know that  the Windows Home Server team is now running a public beta of Power Pack 1 for Windows Home Server. Folks trying out the public beta are from the original beta testers for Windows Home Server and yes the public beta does include the file corruption fix. No word on when exactly the public beta will be released into actual release code but I’m sure it’ll be relatively soon.

The second tidbit – if you’re an owner of an HP MediaSmart Server, then you’ll be interested to know that Microsoft and HP are planning to hold a series of webcasts (webinars) on how to do more with the HP MediaSmart Server. Topics will range from how to extend the Windows Home Server with Add-ins, to digital photography, and to mobile warriors. The first webinar will take place on June 25th and will feature special guest star Terry Walsh of “We Got Served!”. Check out http://www.windows.com/hpmediasmartwebinar for more information.

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