Storage Effect

Content comes first, opening up new uses and usefulness

Seagate announced Maxtor CentralAxis today, a really cool New Thing in home storage.  Until now, external storage devices have mostly been storage add-ons for a PC.  Even the NAS devices out there have focused on providing a “PC drive for the home”.  It’s shareable storage, but shackled to the PC model.

CentralAxis puts the content first, rather than the PC.  That opens up uses that until now have been reserved for the techies among us:

• OS-independent content sharing. Content doesn’t have to decide to be Windows or Mac OS X, and can be used by either one.
• File sharing with DLNA-compliant devices like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems.  Easily watch videos and view photos on TV screens instead of a PC.
• Access content directly via the web. CentralAxis allows this with a simple username and password, without going through a PC or compromising a network firewall. 

CentralAxis does all the “home storage” basics as well: 1 TB capacity, centralized backups from PCs on the network, etc.  But it’s the new approach to content that makes it a game changer. 

Treat your customers’ data like money, or suffer the consequences

Digital content is the new currency.  Want proof?  Substitute ”a pile of cash” for ”data” in the following stories:

• Thieves targeted a security van yesterday and stole confidential data backup tapes.  A new market for Brinks trucks?
• iosafe disk drives keep data safe in a fire or flood. 

How good of a bank vault is your solution?

It’s a new way to think about what you do for your customers.  You are processing and storing your customer’s liquid assets.  Your solutions need to reflect that reality, or you may end up having to help them recover from a nasty surprise.

An alternative to “Old School” bank vaults and security guards for data is encryption.  Seagate’s Maxtor BlackArmor drives are better than a loaded gun in keep thieves out of your stuff.  Without the password, NO ONE can get to your data.  Period.

Who’s had data irretrievably lost or stolen?  How did you recover?

Maxtor Safety Drill automates the complex PC recovery process

No, I’m not going to get all technical. 

I don’t have to, because there’s now an out-of-the-box Bare Metal Restore solution for almost anyone.  Seagate’s Maxtor One Touch external drives have a feature called Safety Drill, a system-level recovery capability that does all the messy work for you. 

Why should you care?  You (or your customer) can now bring a crashed PC back to its original state (image) without getting dirty. 

• No manual rebuilding of files, directories, or software applications piece by piece. 
• No wondering if you remembered everything that was on your PC before it died. 

Reseller Advocate Magazine recently posted a video on how Safety Drill works.

This is a big step forward for backup - and recovery in particular.   Look even smarter with your customers (or family) without having to take another technical how-to class.

Storage performance specs are so last millenium  

Going by today’s headlines, storage vendors should add a new spec to their data sheets: hackability.

Case in point: yet another theft of reams of customer data, this time in the UK.  Tapes left in a car.

Wired Magazine’s Fetish spread features the Maxtor BlackArmor drive from Seagate.   This is a new kind of extreme storage device.  It’s virtually unhackackable, offering AES encryption encased within the hard drive itself.  So if it gets stolen or lost (does it matter which?), you can sleep secure in the fact that someone else may have your drive, but they don’t have your data.

It’s got a high “eye candy” factor, too - so you can be safe AND cool.

Update: CDW is taking orders for BlackArmor now.

SMB storage remains hot in uncertain times

Where to look when times are tough?  Two words: SMB storage.  Why? 

SMB tech spending remains strong. VARBusiness’ Robert C. DeMarzo quotes Goldman Sachs: “…SMB spending will not be impacted by economic slowing to the same degree as large corporations…”

Storage continues to expand in all segments driven by the digital explosion we’ve all seen.  I’ve posted on this many times because it just keeps coming up as a major, persistent trend.

Take advantage of hungry vendors 

So check in with your favorite SMB customers today and find a way to meet a few more!  Don’t think that the storage vendors won’t help you, either. For example, here’s a current offer in the States and Canada on Seagate external storage , one of the hottest and easiest sells for SOHO and small business storage. 

Help your customers get control while helping yourself!

As always, comments are welcome.  Do you see your SMB business remaining strong?  What’s driving external storage sales most - backup or application storage?

Easy add-on sell for secure data on the go

Seagate announced its new Maxtor BlackArmor secure portable drive today.  160GB, full AES encryption.  Everything stored on this puppy is automatically encrypted and virtually hack-proof. 

Seagate’s taken a leading position in truly secure storage devices.  This drive follows the already-released Momentus FDE secure notebook drive.

This is an easy add-on solution for desktop or notebook customers.  Worry-free mobile storage!  

Limited number of drives infected, free virus software available

As you may have heard, some of our Maxtor Personal Storage PS3200 drives were infected with a virus before they shipped. Here are some facts:

• A small number drives were infected (I don’t know the number) by a Chinese sub-contractor.
•  The Taiwan investigative bureau’s claim that the virus sent all user data to Chines authorities was false, and Seagate has asked them to correct that misinformation.
• All the drives still in the factory and inventory have been reworked and are free of the virus.
• We’re providing a free 60-day version of Kaspersky Lab 7.0 to those who bought a drive that may have been infected.
• The virus is the Virus.Win32.AutoRun.ah, a molar virus that searches for passwords to online games and gaming websites and sends them to a server located in China. It also deletes other molar viruses and can disable virus detection software.
• It affects the following games and gaming sites (all Chinese except World of Warcraft):

WSGame, 91.com, QQ, Woool, rxjh.17game.com, TianLongBaBu, AskTao, Perfect World (Wanmei Shijie), World of Warcraft

• The drives were infected accidentally; it was not malicious.
• The manufacturing process has been changed so that every drive is scanned for viruses before being shipped.
• Maxtor products are manufactured by Seagate, which bought Maxtor about a year and a half ago.

This was an unfortunate, accidental event.  I’m relieved at least that it was limited in scope, and that we at Seagate seem to be learning from it.