Distribute data and save energy with network drives

Hanover - Users of home networks may want to consider a networked hard drive to provide communal access to music, photos, videos and data. Also known as Network Attached Storage (NAS), these compact devices work quietly, are simple to set up, and use only 10 watts on average, reports the Hanover-based c't magazine.

By comparison, a PC left running around the clock uses at least 60 watts, even if only rarely used to call up data.

As NAS hard drives generally offer incredibly large amounts of storage space, they are well equipped to serve as a backup space for a PC or laptop's hard drive. Almost all operating systems can now handle daily backups of this type.

One frequent complaint about NAS hard drives is the data transfer speeds, the magazine says. Even if the hard drive possesses a gigabit Ethernetconnection, the built-in processors are often not powerful enough to achieve the maximum theoretical transfer rates. The devices frequently top out at 20 Megabytes per second (MByte/s), and in other cases even 10 MByte/s or less, the magazine scolds.

New chips from AMD: Triple core on the way

Munich - Chip maker AMD is preparing a new line of microprocessors that feature the introduction of triple-core chips. The five new processors, aimed at consumers, will be released as part of the Phenom line of microprocessors and will be dubbed Phenom II, says AMD.

In addition to three quad-core chips running at from 2.5 to 2.6 Gigahertz (GHz), AMD will release two processors with three cores. The Phenom II X3 710 runs at 2.6 GHz per core, while the Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition ups the speed to 2.8 GHz per core and is designed to allow users to 'overclock' the chips using AMD Overdrive, a software program. Overclocking refers to running the chips at speeds higher than those for which they were designed.

The new quad-core and triple-core chips will fit on existing AMD motherboards that have an AM2+ or AM3 socket. The processors will support today's DDR2 and DDR3 memory chips, which should help keep the cost down for system builders and allow users of current-generation computers to upgrade their systems with the new processors.