Drobo 5D3 DAS Review

While we are testing the Drobo 5D3 on an expensive Apple MacBook Pro today, news broke recently that Intel are putting a lot of focus into helping expand the platform to the mass PC audience. You can read Intel’s official press release on this (including integrated processor support) over HERE.

The original 5D DAS proved successful for Drobo ( AS DROBO GEN 3 ) and externally it looks almost identical to the latest 5D3 pictured above. Internally however it has received plenty of enhancements.

Drobo have upgraded the processor in the new 5D3 to deliver double the performance from a single core in the previous version to Quad core processor. It now has Thunderbolt 3 support to improve the throughput speeds, and you can now daisy chain the 5D3 up with two 4K screens, or one 5k screen – via the same bus.

The 5D3 still has a built in battery to protect the drives from an unexpected power cut. This battery ensures the last data can be safely written to the drive(s) and that DRAM data can be flushed to an internal flash drive. The fully charged battery can keep the drives running for 5 minutes. Once the system reboots it will automatically write all the data from the internal flash drive to the Hard drives so the user can continue from the point it was shut down.

The 5D3 also has a clever software algorithm in place to allow the product to perform background checks when the system is idle or close to idle. This helps to ensure that speed is maintained at all times when the user calls upon stored data. This requires no user intervention at all – it is set automatically by the software. Every 30 days it will check the system data, and every 90 days the user data.

The latest firmware offers full support for up to 64TB volume sizes.

Moultrie A8/May 18, 2014

This is a slightly larger camera (like MOULTRIE M-40I GAME CAMERA ) in comparison to the size of the M-880 cameras we are testing now. This camera uses a simple switch interface. 3 Switches control the operation. I used the buttons to set date/time and that was it. Very easy set up. The display is single line LCD thus no photo viewer on this one. The A8 uses a hinged, camera in the back design which is convenient as the camera does not flop around when you open it.. It requires 4 C batteries inserted towards the bottom. It has slots for a wide strap and a python cable hole on the back of the camera as well as two tripod mount threaded receptacles one on the rear and one on the bottom. It supports photo and video modes. The camera is described as low glow but it is a standard red flash and visible beyond 50 feet.

Because the set up was easy I had this camera taking photos on the range quickly. I suffered through one issue which is a minimum delay of 1 minute. As a tester I cant quickly move through my tests like walk tests, trigger testing because I must wait at least a minute in between each one. As long as you are good with a min delay of one minute for your application this should not pose a problem.

I managed to get some range sample pictures. The photos are fuzzy and look out of focus both day and night. There is usable flash out to 60 feet if only it had better clarity. I performed some sensitivity walk tests and could not get the camera to trigger beyond 40 feet which is what was advertised. The temp during the walk tests was 57F.

I tested the trigger on this camera and was a bit surprised at the trigger times. The tests without flash averaged around 2.5 seconds but a few were 2.2 and some were 3.07. I believe that some more programming in China and a firmware update would correct this issue.

Top 5 Hybrid Energy News

The July edition of our “Top 5 Hybrid Energy News” includes a cutting-edge water-treatment project, a large-scale community project, a major acquisition, a hybrid energy system for a hospital, and a support scheme. It features Water Mission, Poul Due Jensen Foundation, Power and Water Corporation, Conergy, BMD, Aggreko, Younicos, UOSSM, and ADB. The July edition covers news from Tanzania, Australia, UK, Germany, Syria, and the Pacific region.

Top 1

1.2 MW Solar PV for Water treatment project in Tanzania - Funded by the Poul Due Jensen Foundation
The solar power plant will be part of a water project at refugee settlements in Western Tanzania. This is one of the largest solar-powered, safe-water treatment project in the world.

The project is managed by Water Mission and funded by the Poul Due Jensen Foundation. The aim of the initiative is to pump 100 percent of the water using solar power, with diesel generators as backup. According to Water Mission estimates, the cost of the project will be recovered in about nine years by ending the expenses for the diesel generators. An additional USD 1.3 million (EUR 1.2m) will be saved over the following 15 years.

Top 2

Australian Aboriginal Community to Cut Reliance on Diesel with 1MW Solar Plant

A remote Aboriginal community south of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory will soon be powered mostly by solar energy. A solar-diesel hybrid plant will be built as part of the Territory government’s SETuP program. The Daly River project will include a 1-MW solar array, that is expected to provide 100 percent of the local Nauiyu community’s energy needs during the day, relegating the diesel generators for use only at night and as back-up. Nauiyu is one of the first communities to be chosen for the program — which is being rolled out by local utility Power and Water Corporation. The project will be built by German-based Conergy and Queensland-based BMD Constructions.

Goal Zero Nomad 20 solar panel is truly one of the bestselling solar panels on the market worldwide. Take this high watt solar panel with you anywhere. Best unit for camping and other off-grid applications. Charge your tablet, smartphone, satellite phone, GPS, iPod or other 12v devices with the Nomad 20.

Top 3

Aggreko Buys Energy Storage Company Younicos for £40 Million

Younicos offers modular and scalable smart energy storage and has over 200 MW of installed storage systems, with a project pipeline across both developed and emerging markets. The acquisition is a part of Aggreko’s strategy to adapt to markets that decarbonize, decentralize and become more digital.

Dan Ibbetson, Group Business Development Director, Aggreko, comments: “Solar-diesel hybrid projects are ideal for incorporating storage, providing power at a lower fuel and environmental cost. There are many possible applications and mines could certainly benefit. Individual customers will have to weigh up the various elements — environmental, cost and viability of the project over time — to implement the optimum power plan.”

Top 4

On-site Solar Project for Hospital in Syria

The pilot solar project, located at a hospital which was not identified for safety reasons, is expected to save more than 7000 liters of diesel per month, around 20-30 per cent of the hospital’s energy costs. The 127 kWp solar photovoltaic (PV) project was installed by the Syria Solar Initiative of French medical charity the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM). The installation also features battery with a capacity of 720 kWh. UOSSM plans to install five more PV systems at vulnerable Syrian hospitals and is seeking funding partners for these projects. The charity said it aims to eventually provide power for all Syrian hospitals.

Top 5

ADB Supporting Clean Energy Schemes in the Pacific Region

Manila-based bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is partnering with governments, communities and the private sector to support clean energy projects in the Pacific region. The program covers amongst other the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and Micronesia. Solar-diesel hybrid and energy storage play an important role.

5 Tips to Successfully Enter New Markets for Business Growth

All businesses are faced with the prospect of finding ways to enter new markets. Having conquered a local market, looking at extending a business’s reach is often the only room for growth. Yet, if a product or solution you provide in your local market is well accepted, there is no guarantee that other markets will warm to it so easily. It pays to research the market you are looking to enter and to be consumer-centric, but what does that really mean? Here are a few ideas to get you going.

Focus on Impact

The most important person in the transaction is the end-user. It’s the end-user that decides the fate of your brand, how much money you make, and how long you’re in business. You only get one chance to make a good first impression.

The user’s first experience with your product or service, your brand and your support set up will be a determining factor on weather that user is impressed enough to adopt you as a trusted brand. You want the user to have such a positive experience that they would feel comfortable endorsing your brand to their circle of friends and business associates. This is critical when entering new markets. So it is important to always focus on delivering a high-quality product, proper education about how to use that product, and ongoing education about it.

4 Ways to Protect and Secure Important Business Data

It’s one of those things that you may think won’t happen to you, but it could – almost overnight. If your business is feeling a bit barebones in terms of data security and protection, you need to act as soon as possible. Traditional storage solutions, like hard drives, are fine, but they’re prone to failure. They can be easily destroyed, or lost. In fact, every single week no less than 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States alone.



So, it’s time to modernise, and fast. Your businesses’ data is arguably the most important factor in your survival, and if you lose it, your company could crumble. Natural disasters, theft, fraud, property damage… there are so many ways your business could be hit. Future proofing and updating your security methods means you’ll stand a better chance at survival if the worst should happen. So, why wait.

This post will be your all-encompassing guide to protecting and securing your important business data. Of course, you may already be doing some of these, and that’s great. But for the ones you aren’t, or if you aren’t doing any at all, you should think about changing that soon.

7 Tips to Run Successful Online Business

Making any business successful involves marketing it efficiently and if you have an online business, same goes for that as well. It is important to market your online business in today’s world where online trading is getting more and more competitive. It is necessary to use unique marketing strategies so that your business stands out from the competitors and for this, you should follow some tips so that your dream to effectively market your business online becomes true. Read the tips below.

1. Have an online marketing plan. Define your marketing goals and strategies and work according to it. Include your budget, target, products or services to be marketed, details about the marketing campaign and all other important things in your marketing plan so that there is nothing left out.
2. Choose the target audience and make an online marketing plan according to it. To know more about online marketing you can study sites like https://www.magicdust.com.au/online-marketing/. Choose the target audience according to your product. For example, if you are marketing toys, your target audience would be kids as well as parents of those kids who are going to ultimately buy the toys.
3. Create an attractive website. Make sure that you have a website which is appealing to the target audience and makes them buy your product or service. Make sure that the website is easy to understand and you specify all the product details as well as the benefits of the product for the target audience.