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ZDNet Author Biography: Robin Harris has been messing with computers for over 30 years and selling and marketing data storage for over 20 in companies large and small. He introduced a couple of multi-billion dollar storage products (DLT, the first Fibre Channel array) to market, as well as a many smaller ones. Earlier...; more about Robin Harris »

ZDNet Resources

A 4 SSD array: Apricorn pt 2: Itching for bragging rights with the gamers next door? Want to edit uncompressed HD video without breaking the bank? I turbocharge Apricorn's internal PCI-e array card with 4 Intel X25-M SSDs. Yup, its fast! by Robin Harris; Tags: Apricorn, PCI, Games, Corporate Communications, Financial Services, Storage, Hardware, Personal Technology, Marketing, Finance, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-11-05
Gallery: A visit to Microsoft's first store: The first Windows retail store is an impressive effort. Sure, they stole freely from Apple, but why not? Few civilians will notice or care about the similarities - unless the stores are in close proximity. by Robin Harris; Tags: Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Microsoft, Apple, store, retail, Robin Harris, news; Image galleries 2009-11-02
A visit to Microsoft's first store: Microsoft's new stores are an almost exact copy of Apple's. And they didn't do too badly. See for yourself. by Robin Harris; Tags: Microsoft Corp., Store, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-10-30
Long-term Mozy for Mac review: Mozy for Mac was the first low-cost online backup service for Macs. But after using it for over 2 years at my own expense I dumped it. Here's why. by Robin Harris; Tags: Apple Macintosh, Online Backup, Desktops, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-10-28
Mac ZFS is dead: RIP.: Apple made it official this week: the innovative ZFS file system for Mac OS X is dead. Who killed it? by Robin Harris; Tags: Apple Macintosh, Mac ZFS, Apple Mac OS X, Apple Mac OS, Desktops, Operating Systems, Software, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-10-25

Net neutrality: a faster Internet for all: Net neutrality means a faster network for everyone - despite what the telcos say. Net neutrality makes ISPs focus on us, their customers, instead of chiseling money from Google and Microsoft. And that's a good thing for all of us. by Robin Harris; Tags: Internet, Net Neutrality, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-10-22
DRAM errors in embedded systems: DRAM errors are just a problem for main memory: they also afflict embedded subsystems, like disk controllers, that use DRAM. Where are the problems and what can you do? by Robin Harris; Tags: DRAM, Embedded System, DRAM Error, Memory, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-10-20
Optical storage: RIP: TDK's 10 layer, 320 GB Blu-ray disk is a remarkable technical feat. Too bad it will never be a commercial success. Optical is a dead end - and soon it will just be dead. Here's why. by Robin Harris; Tags: Feat, Blu-ray, TDK, Storage, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-10-11
DRAM error rates: Nightmare on DIMM street: A two-and-a-half year study of DRAM on 10s of thousands Google servers found DIMM error rates are hundreds to thousands of times higher than thought -- a mean of 3,751 correctable errors per DIMM per year. This is the world's first large-scale study of RAM errors in...; Tags: DRAM, Error, DIMM, Hardware Failure, Memory, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-10-04
What does 6 Gbit SATA mean to you?: Seagate announced a new disk with a 6 Gbit/s SATA interface, a 64 MB cache and 2 TB of capacity. What do the faster interface and higher cache mean to you? by Robin Harris; Tags: Serial ATA, Storage, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-09-21
Terabit 3-D chips will keep the flash party rolling: Industry seers have been predicting the end of NAND flash's rapid price declines and density increases due to physical limits. But if you can't get smaller, get higher. Here's how Samsung plans to mass produce 1 Tbit chips in 2013. by Robin Harris; Tags: 3D, Chip, Semiconductors, Network Technology, Memory, Hardware, Networking, Components, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-09-16
4 reasons NOT to upgrade to Snow Leopard today: Upgrading to a new dot release of Mac OS X is almost a no-brainer. They typically offer better security, more stability and - maybe - new features. But Snow Leopard is a very different beast than Leopard. If you make money with your Mac, make haste slowly. by Robin Harris; Tags: Apple Macintosh, Apple Mac OS X, Apple Mac OS, Desktops, Operating Systems, Software, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-09-14
Will flash DIMMs replace disks or DRAM?: Flash-based DIMMs open another front in the flash war on older storage technologies - this time against DRAM. When they hit the market, will it be DRAM or disks that take the hit? by Robin Harris; Tags: DRAM, Disk, Memory, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-09-10
Build a RAID 6 array for $100/TB: Build your own cloud-style storage for $100/TB that makes Amazon's S3 look pricey. Perfect for ripping 10,000 DVDs to disk! by Robin Harris; Tags: S3 Inc., RAID, Storage, DVD, Consumer Electronics, Hardware, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-09-01
Snow Leopard fixes disk capacity bug: You bought a 1 TB disk, so why does the computer say the capacity is 932 GB? For a simple - and dumb - reason that Apple has now fixed in Mac OS 10.6. Can Microsoft be far behind? by Robin Harris; Tags: Disk, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-08-30
Apple kicks ZFS in the butt: Apple promised ZFS on Snow Leopard - and didn't deliver. A Mac's data integrity is now no better than Windows. And that's not good enough. by Robin Harris; Tags: Apple Inc., Microsoft Windows, Desktops, Operating Systems, Software, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-08-28
Apricorn's 4 TB hard card: PCI RAID array pt. 1: The folks over at Apricorn - a 26 year old company in SoCal - sent me their new PCIe Drive Array to review. A new video capture card requires higher bandwidth storage - over 100 MB/s sustained - so the timing was good. You may recall the...; Tags: Card, Bandwidth, Disk, Apricorn, Video, PCI Express, Video Capture Card, MB/sec, PeDA, WD, Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro Video Capture Card, RAID, Corporate Communications, Storage, PCI, Hardware, Marketing, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-08-27
Open source can save your life: Quick, if your life depended on it, which health care information system would you rather your hospital used: A proprietary system developed by software engineers based on marketing input, bug reports and customer requests? An open source system developed by thousands of health care practitioners including...; Tags: Hospital, Open Source, Health Care, VA, Healthcare, Vertical Industries, Benefits, Human Resources, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-08-23
Fed's RFIDiocy pwnd at DefCon: NSA spooks gather for a colleague's retirement party at a bar. What they don't know is that an RFID scanner is picking them out - and a wireless Bluetooth webcam is taking their picture. Could that really happen? It already did. The Feds...; Tags: Federal Reserve Board, RFID, Wireless And Mobility, Security, Biometrics, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-08-10
HD DVD returns and kicks Blu-ray to the gutter: Just when Blu-ray thought it had clear sailing, a tempest has risen in the East: China Blue Hi-definition Disk CBHD. Toshiba has licensed its HD DVD to them and it will be the unit world leader in HD optical technology in just 12 months. Why? The Times...; Tags: HD-DVD, Blu-ray, China Blue Hi-definition Disk, Government, Hd Dvd, DVD, Consumer Electronics, Vertical Industries, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2009-08-03