capacity

I'm no math genius, but I know when I'm being shorted.

For example, when I unwrapped my new iPad and checked the settings, it showed a total storage capacity of 28GB -- not the 32GB I paid for.

Indeed, it says 32GB right on the box. So what happened to that extra 4GB of space? Was my iPad defective? Was Apple trying to pull something?

It's not a defect or a scam. Instead, this storage shortfall is the result of a calculation oddity that dates back to the early days of hard drives.

In other words, it'… Read more

Clearwire is in talks with a number of carriers, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless, about eventually providing wireless capacity with its planned 4G LTE network.

"We're talking to everybody," Clearwire Chief Executive Eric Prusch said in an interview with CNET today.

Prusch didn't specifically name the two, but only said the company was talking to multiple companies when asked about AT&T and Verizon. The company's decision to move to LTE, a more widely accepted standard of 4G used by other U.S. carriers, has helped spur new discussions.

"The level … Read more

This week, KingMax announced a 64GB MicroSD card that puts the equivalent of two and a half Blu-ray discs in a container the size of a thumbnail.

The range of sizes and formats available in memory cards these days is mind-boggling, with jaw-dropping 128GB SDXC options slowly slipping into the mainstream.

Just trying to imagine what I would put on a 64GB (or higher) storage card to feel like I'm really taking advantage of it is difficult. Some easy candidates come to mind, such as RAW images and PSD files with dozens (or even hundreds) of layers, HD movies, entire discographies, and so on. But will the average person ever use all of the real estate in a high-capacity card? It's hard to say. Regardless, as manufacturers continue to inflate these cards, smaller capacities will become more inexpensive, which is great for the consumer.

If you were to buy a memory card today, what size would you choose and why? Sound off in our poll, and be sure to elaborate in the comments section on how size matters to you. Does more storage space just mean empty space to you? Or will you just get lazier about cleaning off old data? Is there even such a thing as large enough? … Read more

Energy analogies abound with respect to cloud computing and its effect on enterprise IT operations and economics. Nick Carr's seminal work, "The Big Switch," laid out the case for why computing will be subject to many of the same forces as the electricity market was in the early 20th century. While I've pointed out the analogy isn't perfect, I will say there are often interesting parallels that are worth exploring.

One example is the ongoing discussion about the effect of cheaper computing on the reduction (or lack thereof) of future IT expenditures. Simon Wardley, a … Read more

Machinery is expensive to purchase, operate, and maintain, so operators need to maximize their equipment's output as well as reduce its associated costs. FullFact's OEE Toolkit offers measurable improvements in productivity. It's based on Overall Equipment Effectiveness, an operating efficiency metric for machinery and similar processes that's common in lean manufacturing environments. OEE Toolkit collects a range of data and applies analyses that reveal hidden costs and capacity.

OEE Toolkit is an extensive software package that comes with considerable documentation, including PDF-based manuals, and links to online resources like the OEE Industry Standard site. Its database … Read more

The laptop hard drives are about to have a significant increase in capacities without compromising the performance.

Toshiba announced Wednesday two new 2.5-inch (laptop) hard drive families that feature the largest amount of storage in their classes. The first drive is the standard 9.5 millimeter-thick, two-platter hard drive model MK7559GSXP with the maximum capacity of 750GB. This is a standard SATA 2 hard drive that can fit in any laptop computer.

The second drive is a three-platter drive that comes in the new 12.5 millimeter thick platform called the MKxx59GSM series, which offers 750GB and 1TB of … Read more

I reviewed the DiskStation DS710+ recently, saying it was the first dual-bay NAS server to get scalable storage when coupled with an expansion unit. That unit is now available for around $500.

Synology announced Monday the Synology DX510, a five-bay expansion unit that can be used with either the DS710+ or the DS1010+ DiskStation NAS servers. According to Synology, the DX510 unit can increase the capacity of supported NAS servers up to an additional 10TB.

This means the RAID volume on the main DiskStation can be expanded directly without having to reformat the existing hard drives. If users choose to use the DX510 as a separate volume, the expansion unit will function as a backup destination.

The Synology DX510 is about 2.5 times the size of the DS710+ and connects to the Synology DiskStations via a custom-designed eSATA cable. Synology claims that this proprietary cable ensures a reliable connection and maximum throughput. The cap speeds between the NAS server and the expansion unit are that of the SATA 2 standard: 3Gbps. … Read more

Good old Wi-Fi could be the fix to an impending explosion of data on wireless networks.

Nearly three years after Apple introduced the game-changing iPhone, wireless operators around the globe are feeling the effects of the wireless data tsunami that is well under way. Even networks that don't support the iPhone are feeling the pinch as a generation of new wireless devices offering bandwidth-hungry Web applications are hitting networks.

The result, as many iPhone users in New York City and San Francisco will tell you, is a network that drops calls and offers wireless Net surfing at the speed of a turtle.… Read more

We gave an Editors' Choice award to the first round of Seagate's FreeAgent Go external hard drives, but as with all things related to storage (and storage only), bigger is better, so we're very anxious to get our hands on these new FreeAgents with up to 1TB of space.

Just announced Wednesday, the new line will look almost exactly the same as the original, but as expected, the 1TB version is a little chunkier than the rest. In addition to the original catalog, Seagate now offers 750GB ($200), 880GB ($210), and the 1TB ($250) version as well. Of … Read more