ioSafe releases larger data safes

The ioSafe 1513+ NAS can scale up to 90TB, has 4 LAN Ports with Link Aggregation and High Availability and solves a variety of business challenges for the enterprise, creative professionals and home users

Scalable NAS for growing demands

With its fire/water protection, superior performance, scalability, resilience, and comprehensive features, ioSafe® NAS 1513+ is the ideal storage solution for your growing business. The 1513+ can help to simplify disaster recovery, business continuity, data management, sharing storage for storage and backup - with minimal setup and the freedom to expand capacity at any time.

• Protects data from fire up to 1550°F, 30 minutes per ASTM E-119
• Protects data from floods up to 10 foot depth, 3 days, complete submersion
• 202.34 MB/sec Writing, 350.94MB/sec Reading
• Four LAN Ports with Link Aggregation Support
• Scale Up to 90TB with one or two ioSafe N513X Expansion Chassis
• Expandable RAM Module (Up to 4GB)
• CPU Passive Cooling Technology & System Fan Redundancy
• VMware®, Citrix®, Microsoft® Hyper-V® Ready
• High Availability and Automatic Failover between a pair of 1513+ systems
• Running Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM)

An Ideal Solution for:

• Medical Data Storage/HIPAA Compliance
• Collaborative File Sharing
• High Availability RTO/RPO
• SAN / Tier-2 Storage with low operating costs

How does it work?

The ioSafe 1513+ connects to your network, preferably at the main router or switch. A network drive (or "share") can be created that allows everyone on the local area network (LAN) with proper permissions to "see" the common drive and share the data. The data can also be made available to the wide area network (WAN - aka the Internet) by allow applications and data to be "forwarded" to the NAS at your router.

These are great products that we use for onsite backup solutions where there is too much data to effectively get it offsite. We typically use them with Veeam for our larger VMware installations.

Microsoft Surface Pro 3-Did MS finally get it right?

This may be the first Microsoft Surface that really caught my interest enough to think about buying one for myself. The screen is slightly larger which makes it nice for my old eyes, and is thinner and lighter than its predecessors. The kickstand has been improved to have multiple positions and the keyboard connection is a little better I feel by being on an angle. This tablet is now available in five models that take you from an i3 through i7 with various storage options. The systems are a little pricey but if you have the money they may be worth it.

Paul Thurrott wrote a guide on how to choose the right model for you needs and I have included it below:

Core i3 model. Panay says that the base Core i3-based Surface Pro 3 model ($799 plus Type Cover) "is one of the fastest Core i3 devices available," but is aimed at "customers who want the versatility of a Surface Pro 3 but who don't run the most demanding applications or workloads." He recommends this version to students (for note-taking and web-based research) and for "anyone [who] wants a very portable device to be productive on the go, run Office and other desktop applications, make Skype calls, watch video, and casual gaming."

Core i5 models. The mid-level Surface Pro 3 models ($999, $1299 plus Type Cover) should satisfy the needs of most users, providing "the power and efficiency to be productive across a huge range of activities ... This machine outperformed any laptop I've used, and it will be the machine of choice for a lot of our customers." I'm using the $1299 version (8 GB of RAM/256 GB SSD) and find the performance to be just fine, though as I've noted the fan does kick in if you really press the machine.

Core i7 models. Of most interest to power users and the well-heeled, the Core i7-based Surface Pro 3 models ($1549, $1949 plus Type Cover) is "the most powerful Surface [Microsoft] has ever released" and is "designed to provide the power that [its] most demanding customers need." Panay specifically says that these Surface Pro 3 models will be "brilliant" for photo, video, or music editing, and they are aimed at scenarios as diverse as "connected to multiple monitors and peripherals or travelling."

Microsoft releases Office for iPad version update 1.1

I am still waiting for Android to get this and I will probably be waiting for a very long time but iPad users received an update to the Office for iPad suite this week. You can get the update by visiting the Apple’s iTunes App Store. OneNote was also updated as well with a version 2.3 release.

Redmond Channel Partner reported:

The update is part of an effort to deliver continuous updates to Office for iPad, Microsoft said in a blog post on Thursday. The update includes three highly requested feature additions. The first is the ability to let users save files in the Adobe PDF format, even if they don't have Office 365 subscriptions. Another addition is the ability to edit photos in Word on the iPad. Though limited, the photo-editing feature enables cropping and resetting. The third key feature is support for third-party fonts.

In Excel, Microsoft has added a new sorting capability that lets users filter, extend, collapse, display details and refresh PivotTables in an Excel workbook, as well as change the way they're displayed. Another new feature called "flick gesture" aims to simplify the use of workbooks, including the selection of data fields with large ranges.

"Simply grab the selection handle, flick it in any direction and Excel will automatically select from where you started to the next blank cell," Microsoft said in the blog, adding that if "you're at the top of a column of data and want to select all the way to the bottom, just flick down and the column is selected automatically."

The new PowerPoint app supports the use of multimedia capabilities on the iPad, specifically audio and video embedded into slides. It also lets users insert videos and photos from their iPad camera rolls. When projecting a presentation from the iPad, users can now enable Presenter View to see their own notes on the device.

IoSafe - SynLocker Ransomware Alert

An alert has gone out from IoSafe warning against a possible situation that could harm your IoSafe installations. Check to see if you have a unit that might be affected. An upgrade to their DSM software. See information below:

We would like to inform you that a ransomware called "SynoLocker" is currently affecting some ioSafe/Synology NAS users. This ransomware locks down affected servers, encrypts users’ files, and demands a fee to regain access to the encrypted files.

We have confirmed that the ransomware only affects ioSafe/Synology NAS servers running older versions of DiskStation Manager by exploiting a security vulnerability that was fixed and patched in December, 2013.

Affected users may encounter the following symptoms:

• When attempting to log in to DSM, a screen appears informing users that data has been encrypted and a fee is required to unlock data.
• Abnormally high CPU usage or a running process called “synosync” (which can be checked at Main Menu > Resource Monitor).
• DSM 4.3-3810 or earlier; DSM 4.2-3236 or earlier; DSM 4.1-2851 or earlier; DSM 4.0-2257 or earlier is installed, but the system says no updates are available at Control Panel > DSM Update.

If you have encountered the above symptoms, please shutdown the system immediately and contact our technical support here: https://myds.synology.com/support/support_form.php

If you have not encountered the above symptoms, we strongly recommend downloading and installing DSM 5.0, or any version below:

• DSM 4.3-3827 or later
• DSM 4.2-3243 or later
• DSM 4.0-2259 or later
• DSM 3.x or earlier is not affected

You can manually download the latest version from our Download Center and install it at Control Panel > DSM Update > Manual DSM Update.

If you notice any strange behavior or suspect your ioSafe/Synology NAS server has been affected by the above issue, please contact us at security@synology.com. We sincerely apologize for any problems or inconvenience this issue has caused our users. We’ll keep you updated with the latest information as we continue to address this issue.

Should you worry about the report of 1.2billion passwords stolen by Russian Hackers?

Russian hackers have reportedly stolen 1.2 billion user names and passwords in a series of Internet heists affecting 420,000 websites.

Should you be worried? I think that you should quickly change your passwords for all of your important accounts, especially financial, as quickly as possible. You should be using strong passwords and if you can move to a two step authentication system. Make it a habit to periodically change your passwords and use different passwords for each of your sites. Be sure to monitor your transaction history for credit cards and bank accounts to be sure only authorized transactions have been made. If you do see a transaction that you are unsure of contact your financial service to stop the process or to research it. Don’t take chances.

Many of us here at PAconnect use LastPass to help keep track and create passwords for our accounts. This program can be used on your computer, phone or tablets to provide secure and easy to use password support. It is available for Windows, MAC, LINUX and most mobile devices. Supports Internet Explorer 8+, Firefox 2.0+, Chrome 18+, Safari 5+, Opera 11+. The Universal Windows installer installs browser extensions for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera. It also allows you to easily create a LastPass account and import your existing passwords. It's the best way to install LastPass on Windows. The 64 bit installer includes 32 bit IE installer.

DOWNLOAD

VERSION 3.1.40

Neat new throw back device…

Pilot Pen has introduced a new fountain pen design the is reasonably priced and pretty cool looking. The Pilot Varsity is an interesting throw back to an earlier time when writing was a skill set and frankly, a lost art. They are available an multiple colors to make any office products geek happy!

Amazon sells them in a 7-Pack in assorted color inks for $14.34.

You can also buy a box of black ink pens for just $23.95 and if you feel that you don’t need that many you can purchase a 3-pack for $8.45.

Is Radio Shack on its deathbed?

A mainstay in my early geek life, Radio Shack was always a constant source of electrical parts for many of my electronics experiments. Boing Boing’s  David Pescovitz posted that Radio Shack is on its deathbed: $62 million in cash left which apparently isn’t even enough to close the 1,100 stores it needs to shut down to stay on life support.

The problem is that Radio Shack stores have been out of date for modern times. Unless you need electronic parts, all the rest of the products that were inventories appeared to be out of date and just not “with it”.

It’s a pity to say goodbye to an old friend but the times are rolling on.

DriveSavers News

The use of systems that utilize both SSD and HDD technology together are growing in use. On the PC side, we have Smart Response Technology (SRT). When this type of technology fails, it is generally one or the other of the two incorporated drives that has failed, rather than both. Usually, it is the HDD. Perhaps for this reason we often receive just one of the drives from a Fusion or SRT rather than both the HDD and the SSD.

PC: Smart Response Technology (SRT)
In the case of an Intel SRT drive, the device can be configured with "Maximized" write-back or "Enhanced" "write-through" configurations. In the case of "Maximized" configuration, we need both the SSD and the HDD to perform the recovery. In the case of the "Enhanced" mode, we need only the HDD. This can be confusing to the end user as to how it was configured. That being said, to err on the side of caution, always send in both the HDD and the SDD components.