SKUS That Can't Lose
Intel’s Ultrabook Brought To Life
ASUS Zenbook UX31E-DH72: $1,449
www.asus.com
Road warriors increasingly want to go in one of two directions: either they’re looking for a notebook equipped with fast enough hardware to stand in as a desktop replacement, or they want an incredibly thin and light system that’s just easy to tote around. Intel’s Ultrabook initiative strives to satisfy both desires, with a healthy dose of style in the process.
ASUS’ Zenbook is one of the first manifestations of Intel’s concept, and it captures the spirit of mobile computing beautifully. The UX31E-DH72 is the company’s most powerful model, equipped with an Intel Core i7-2677M processor, 4 GB of DDR3 memory, and a 256 GB SSD. The dual-core CPU runs at 1.8 GHz by default, but quickly ramps up as high as 2.9 GHz when the thermal headroom allows—amazing, considering its 17 W TDP.
An included 50 watt-hour battery gives the Zenbook somewhere around seven hours of run time, or up to 10 days of standby time, according to ASUS. And despite that generous power supply, the UX31E-DH72 only weighs 2.86 pounds. Armed with 802.11n wireless support, fourth-generation Bluetooth, USB 3.0, and a vibrant 13.3” screen, ASUS deftly packs the latest technologies into a strikingly svelte chassis.
Showing Off The Speed Of USB 3.0
Kingston HyperX MAX 3.0 SSD: $416
www.kingston.com
Second-gen USB is prolific, sure. But the interface is showing its age, liming the rate at which customers can move large file from their PCs to external storage. USB 3.0 takes the interface from 480 Mb/s up to 5 Gb/s, pushing transfers nearly to the speed of today’s fastest solid-state drives.
Kingston picked up on that complementary relationship and designed an external SSD able to capitalize on the advantages of USB 3.0. Its HyperX MAX 3.0 is available in 64, 128, and 256 GB capacities, each able to read sequential data as fast as 195 MB/s and write at 160 MB/s. Previously, those speeds would have only been possible with through eSATA—and even then, you would have needed a separate power cable. The HyperX MAX 3.0 gets all of the power it needs through the USB bus, simplifying installation and demonstrating the benefits of buying a motherboard with USB 3.0 support.
The Kingston drive doesn’t require its own driver, either. It’s backward-compatible with USB 2.0 ports, and its aluminum casing is simultaneously durable and light. Kingston says the drive uses an energy-efficient 4.5 W and guarantees the drive for three years.
Cloud Computing Done Compactly
SUPERMICRO 5037MC-H8TRF SuperServer: $4,300
www.supermicro.com
When it comes to data center environments, where cloud computing, Web hosting, and virtualization all live together under the same roof, the name of the game is maximizing power, performance, and cost. Don’t feel like you need to compromise in order to get there. Supermicro’s SuperServer 5037MC-H8TRF, which the company dubs its MicroCloud, is the answer, consisting of eight server nodes in a compact 3U chassis.
Surely such a configuration depends on the modest power use of embedded hardware to achieve its density, right? Not at all. Each of the eight nodes accommodates a Xeon E3-1200-series processor, up to 32 GB of DDR3 memory operating at up to 1,333 MT/s, an eight-lane, low-profile PCI Express add-in card, and a pair of 3.5” SATA 6Gb/s hard drives. That’s an incredible amount of firepower. To each of the servers, Supermicro adds a Matrox-based graphics controller, dual gigabit Ethernet ports, and support for IPMI management with KVM over LAN.
The entire configuration is driven by redundant 1,620 W power supplies blessed with 80 PLUS Platinum ratings, indicating at least 92% efficiency at 50% load. Supermicro also includes heatsinks, riser cards, and all necessary cabling.
A New Mainstream Flagship CPU
Intel Core i7-2700K: $332
www.intel.com
HIGH-END HARDWARE HAS a habit of getting the lion’s share of attention. Fast is sexy, after all. And Intel’s new Core i7-2700K builds on an already-successful infrastructure of platforms to give enthusiasts more performance than any other model in the company’s Sandy Bridge-based portfolio.
You’re probably already familiar with this chip’s underlying architecture, but it’s worth noting that the Core i7-2700K includes all of Sandy Bridge’s functionality; it isn’t trimmed back in any way. That means a full four cores of processing power, augmented by Intel’s Hyper-Threading technology. The design’s complete 8 MB shared L3 cache is intact, as is its HD Graphics 3000 engine.
Although most enthusiasts will probably complement this high-end Core i7 with discrete graphics, resellers can match the -2700K up to a Z68 Express-based motherboard and use Lucidlogix’s Virtu software to get native performance from an add-in GPU, along with virtualized Quick Sync accelerated transcoding support. The platform is also good for enabling twin x8 PCI Express slots for multi-card gaming. Don't forget Core i7-2700K's unlocked ratio multiplier for overclocking, either.
Performance-Oriented Network Storage
QNAP TS-EC1279U-RP NAS: $5,570
www.qnap.com
The need for data availability is universal, whether you’re working with large or small businesses. QNAP’s TS-EC1279U-RP easily addresses both segments. This 2U rack-mounted appliance features 12 3.5” hard drive bays, yielding a maximum capacity of 36 TB. All of the ports are equipped to support SATA 6 Gb/s. Attached drives can be configured in RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, or JBOD modes, and many of those settings also accommodate a hot-spare. It’s driven by a quad-core Xeon E3-1225 processor humming along at 3.1 GHz.
By default, QNAP installs 4 GB of ECC-capable DDR3 memory, though an 8 GB ceiling leaves room for more. A quartet of gigabit Ethernet controllers serves up tons of throughput. Moreover, a pair of expansion slots also opens the TS-EC1279U-RP up to 10 gigabit cards and additional storage connectivity. A couple of eSATA ports and USB 3.0 give you a cheaper, easier way to tack on more capacity, too.
Who needs such a heavy-duty piece of equipment? Obviously, anyone looking to centralize a lot of storage and share files in an office can put its spaciousness to use. Backup, disaster recovery, virtualization, video editing, and private cloud storage are all viable applications.
Maximizing Storage Server Density
Adaptec RAID 6805T: $550
www.adaptec.com
Not all storage environments are created equal. Though most have certain capacity and data security requirements, their performance, form factor, and scalability tend to vary quite a bit. That’s why it’s so refreshing to see a vendor addressing a specific application with a high-performance controller card. Adaptec’s RAID 6805T is a low-profile board with recessed top-mounted connectors that make fitment in a high-density server easier. The RAID 6805T makes no compromises in the process, either. It’s equipped with PMC-Sierra’s multi-core SRC 8x6D RoC, allowing it to deliver up to 2 GB/s of sustained data transfers over a second-gen PCI Express interface.
Eight ports of SAS 6 Gb/s connectivity can actually accommodate as many as 256 devices if you’re hooking up to expanders. And in addition to RAID 0, 1, 1E, 5, 5EE, 6, 10, 50, and 60, Adaptec’s card also supports the company’s unique Hybrid RAID 1 and 10 features, which mix solid-state and magnetic storage to maximize performance and reliability.
An optional Zero-Maintenance Cache Protection module is a great accessory. In the event of a power outage, information in the RAID 6805T’s cache is written over to flash memory.
Innovatively Employing Solid-State Tech
LSI MegaRAID SAS 9260CV-8i: $900
www.lsi.com
BATTERY backup is generally considered a necessary upsell with storage controllers. However, it can also be a serious pain point for resellers. Not only do lithium-ion batteries wear out over time, but in the event that they are called on to prevent data loss, you only get about three days to stage a recovery effort.
LSI’s new MegaRAID SAS 9260CV-8i employs CacheVault technology to circumvent the limitations of battery backup. In the event of a power loss, data cached in DRAM is moved over to nonvolatile NAND flash on the controller card, aided by an attached CacheVault Power Module. Information can live in that memory repository for up to three years. Once power is restored, the data is moved from the NAND back into the cache, where it’s then flushed to disk. From there, the Power Module is recharged within minutes.
The MegaRAID SAS 9260CV-8i’s other vital stats are ideal for SMB servers and workstations. Eight internal ports with support for SAS and SATA devices, an eight-lane PCI Express 2.0 interface, LSI’s own RoC controller supporting RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60, along with 512 MB of DDR2 cache round out this solid performer.
More Functionality Than Your Everyday NAS
QNAP TS-879 Pro: $2,199
www.qnap.com
Perhaps the biggest turn-off tied to
network storage is its performance. Compared to direct-attached technology, an appliance connected via gigabit Ethernet is going to be significantly slower. The answer is 10 gigabit Ethernet. QNAP’s TS-879 Pro is able to take a dual-port 10 gigabit expansion card upgrade (to complement its two embedded gigabit ports), and push more than 1 GB/s of throughput and in excess of 100,000 IOPS. That’s blazing speed, which is exactly what a business with multiple clients depending on the performance of a networked device needs.
Of course, the TS-879 Pro needs a robust platform in order to enable such impressive figures. And QNAP gets that from an Intel Core i3 processor with 2 GB of DDR3 memory, SATA 6 Gb/s support, and USB 3.0 (for external connectivity). Mixing up hard drives in RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 (and specifying hot spares) makes it particularly easy to utilize the TS-879 Pro’s eight hot-swappable hard drive bays.
Given credentials like that, this device is well-qualified for backup, disaster recovery, server virtualization, and even video editing. A host of management tools facilitate remote service and maintenance, too.
The Notebook For Serious Gamers
ROG G74SX-A1 Gaming Notebook: $1,799
www.asus.com
Mobile platforms are often derided for coming up short in comparison to desktop systems. But while they’re constrained by power and thermal ceilings, the very best notebooks demonstrate great performance, even away from an outlet. ASUS’ Republic of Gamers-branded G74 incorporates some of the most in-demand hardware currently available.
The system starts with an Intel Core i7-2630QM processor, which features four cores and Hyper-Threading technology to address eight threads concurrently. A base clock rate of 2 GHz accelerates as high as 2.9 GHz thanks to Turbo Boost technology. And a 6 MB last-level cache makes this feel a lot like a desktop-class CPU. This particular model also features 12 GB of DDR3-1333 memory, expandable up to 16 GB.
Rather than exploiting the integrated HD Graphics 3000 engine, ASUS adds an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M with 3 GB of GDDR5 memory. That potent graphics processor drives a 17.3” 1920x1080 high-definition LED display.
Two 750 GB hard drives provide plenty of storage space for games, while a Blu-ray combo drive facilitates media playback and high-capacity backup. ASUS also adds gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless networking, and an eight-cell battery.
A Fully Modular PSU For Enthusiasts
ZX Series 1000 W Power Supply: $220
www.ocztechnology.com
It's difficult to differentiate in the power supply world. PSUs are intended to serve a single purpose: provide clean, stable power to the components attached to them. And when they’re doing their job, you don’t even know they’re there. So how on earth does a reseller add value to his systems through premium power supplies? OCZ’s ZX Series 1000 W model makes the upsell easy.
The PSU starts with an 80 PLUS Gold rating, certifying 90% efficiency at 50% load and 87% efficiency at 20 and 100% loads. By turning more AC power from the wall into usable DC power, OCZ’s unit helps trim energy bills.
From there, it leverages a single +12 V rail to reliably drive the highest-end enthusiast configurations with flagship CPUs and multi-card graphics arrays. A load-controlled 140 mm fan is able to keep the ZX Series unit running cool without generating distracting noise. Power delivery isn’t a problem for this 1,000 W product.
Neither is cleanliness. OCZ designed its ZX Series PSUs to be completely modular. Every connection can be detached, so only the cables your customer absolutely needs are used. The result is a very tidy install.
