Errant Recommendations and Reviews – February 3, 2023

Today’s errant recommendation and review comes from Cliff Joseph over at Macworld. The update to their Best NAS for Mac 2023 list includes cost-effective gems from Western Digital and Buffalo, a mid-tier, two-bay NAS from Synology, and a dash of incorrect information pertaining to the Drobo 5N2. If you were not aware, StorCentric (parent company of Drobo) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. The 5N2 product has not received any firmware updates since April 9, 2020. Inventory of new Drobo products does not exist. Buying a used unit is a gamble at this point as repairs and technical support have gone by the wayside. Instead of deleting the Drobo recommendation and adding a sufficient comment alongside the addition of the Synology DS723, the 5N2 remains on the list.

The second error involves some misinformation in the review of the AsRock DeskMeet B660 over at Anandtech. Having taken delivery of one of these units for evaluation, it’s certainly possible to install two 2.5″ drives with a dual-slot GPU installed in the sole expansion slot. Assembly of the system did require some Jenga-style planning to make everything fit and ensure that power cables remain out of the way. The included SATA cables with the DeskMeet B660 come with one right-angle connector and one straight connector per cable. Only the lengths differ to accommodate the distance from the onboard SATA ports to the designated mount points on the side of the chassis. What started as an exercise in determining the feasibility of a low-cost rig led to a system that was good enough to satisfy from the productivity and gaming experience while drastically reducing power consumption.

Multiple outlets have reported on Puget System’s identification of a firmware issue related to Samsung’s 980 Pro NVMe SSDs. The follow-up blog post has effectively communicated the company’s decisions to change providers for 1TB and 2TB NVMe SSDs. As they have a sample size that is far greater than one, there is validity for their data and decision. If history teaches us anything, it’s that the current fix may not be the final fix. Back in 2015, Samsung required multiple passes to provide a permanent resolution for performance degradation issues with the 840 EVO SATA SSD line. While there’s little doubt related to Samsung honoring warranty claims for faulty units, this series of events is yet another reminder of how important it is to have a backup strategy for data that may possess immense personal value.