It is nice to see Apple out in front with a technology like 802.11n, considering their reluctance to support Blu-Ray and USB 3.0. Although expensive, the AirPort Extreme and 2011 MacBook Pro and iMac sport top-of-the-line specs and high performance Wi-Fi. But the lack of 5 GHz support across the board means many users will stick to the crowded 2.4 GHz spectrum, limiting performance.
Apple
What Is Paired Storage?
Paired storage is a growing trend in the laptop computer market, with many high-end machines sporting both a SSD and hard disk drive. But it remains a game for the rich, adding many hundreds of dollars to the cost of a computer, and manually placing data is inefficient. It will be interesting to see if future operating systems bring better support for paired storage, and if it will reach into the server world.
How Does Dropbox Store Data?
Dropbox recently clarified (via their blog and privacy policy) that they “de-duplicate” user files. This has been known for quite a while, and is obvious to anyone who’s had a large file “upload” instantly. But how exactly does Dropbox store files? Are they really de-duplicated or just single-instanced? I set out to discover the answer.
Implications of the 2011 MacBook Air’s Unconventional SSD
As techies moan about the lack of upgrade options presented by a soldered in SSD, they miss the bigger industry picture. For too long, computers have been held back by traditional SCSI and ATA controllers. These are both a performance bottleneck and an impediment to innovation. A shift to an integrated PCI storage model makes much sense tactically and strategically for Apple, and I expect that these rumors are true. Furthermore, this move will put even more stress on Windows PC makers. Once again, Apple is outmaneuvering the competition.
Mac Users, Secure Your Stuff in Dropbox
Encryption is an important tool for individuals regardless of what they’re storing. Given the recent security failings of Dropbox, I highly recommend using methods like this to secure your important data before using the service!
