Taipei, Taiwan January 2009
QNAP Turbo NAS Supports XDove All-in-one Mail Server, POP3, SMTP & IMAP mail server with web-based administration.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced the availability of XDove an all-in-one feature rich mail server for its TS-109/ 209/ 409/ 509/ 639 Turbo NAS series, providing the business users the most competitive option for setting up their mail server on their Linux-embedded network attached storage. By the simple web-based QPKG software package expansion, the users can turn their Turbo NAS into a powerful mail server which provides SMTP, POP3 and IMAP services, multiple virtual domains and accounts, AJAX webmail with extended functionalities including personal folders, address book, calendar and real-time chat among users under the same mail server, schedule backup and restore mailboxes from multiple domains.

“We’re delighted to bring this exciting news to our users who want to customize their QNAP NAS as their own mail server at home or office. The XDove mail server named after the open source offering XMail and Dovecot enables them to quickly set up POP3 and IMAP mail server, create mail accounts after their own domain names, and maintain all-you-can-name mail server features over the Intranet and the Internet. The installation and administration are extremely easy that even novice users can manage according to the online documentation. Besides, the XDove also supports full mail box backup and restore that gives you extra protection on the top of your RAID data redundancy,” says Andy Chuo, Product Manager from QNAP. “The XDove mail server also supports webmail and instant messaging on the same interface. All you need is a web browser and the Internet access and you can talk on the web conveniently with other users anywhere,” commented AdNovea(R), one of the main developers of XDove mail server.

Further details are provded on their web site click here.

A firmware issue has been identified that affects a small number of Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 hard drive models which may result in data becoming inaccessible after a power-off/on operation. The affected products are Barracuda 7200.11, Barracuda ES.2 SATA, and DiamondMax 22.
Based on the low risk as determined by an analysis of actual field return data, Seagate believes that the affected drives can be used as is.
However, as part of our commitment to customer satisfaction, Seagate is offering a free firmware upgrade.

Please follow this link
(http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=207931)
to enter the Knowledge Base article(s) detailing the steps to update your drive.

In the unlikely event your drive is affected and you cannot access your data, the data still resides on the drive and there is no data loss associated with this issue. If your drive is no longer accessible, contact us directly for further assistance at http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/about/contact_us/.

NOTE: If you have contacted Seagate Support regarding a separate issue or about another product, please visit http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/about/contact_us/ to submit an email.
Thank you.

Seagate Support

So, it seems we may not all need to upgrade our drives unless we have an issue with our drives, this does seem more inline with would should have happened and what needs to happen when a situation of this nature occurs.

Seagate 1TB Barracuda drives are failing at an alarming rate, with users complaining of a plague of such failures spreading across the globe.

What exactly is the issue?
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 (ST31000340AS with firmware level SD15) drives made in Thailand are failing at boot time with a firmware error that is said to lock the drive up and render it inoperable.

Links to discussions:-
A comprehesive thread about this firmware failure problem is being debated on a Seagate forum. Frustrated users have complained that postings and threads have been removed by moderators.

The advice seems to be do not upgrade your drive unless it has failed, then comes the condradiction, how confusing is it to list the drive model and firmware revision that has been effected and these match your drives, what to do?.

In our workshop at our workplace we test drives and clearly have seen failures dating back to November 2008, but any faulty drives are rejected and replaced with new. In general we have customers whose drives have not failed although they fall into the category of required firmware upgrade issued by Seagate.
Rule of thumb?, do not fix it until it is broke!.

Seagate firmware details including upgrade can be found at:-
Firmware Update for ST3500320AS, ST3500620AS, ST3500820AS, ST3640330AS, ST3640530AS, ST3750330AS, ST3750630AS, ST31000340AS

Firmware Recommendations for Barracuda 7200.11, ES.2 SATA, and DiamondMax 22 Drives

Firmware Update for ST31500341AS, ST31000333AS, ST3640323AS, ST3640623AS, ST3320613AS, ST3320813AS, ST3160813AS
Firmware Update for ST3250310NS, ST3500320NS, ST3750330NS, ST31000340NS

Seagate issues a few cautionary notes:-
!!WARNING!!
If the firmware upgrade installation instructions are not followed properly the firmware upgrade could be data destructive and/or render your hard drive inoperable. As Seagate does not warrant the data on your drive, In addition to regular back-ups, if possible, your data should be backed up before upgrading the drive firmware. Additional information on backing-up the contents of your drive can be found at www.seagate.com. Though this firmware upgrade to your product is a change to the product the terms and conditions of your Seagate warranty for the product will remain effective to its normal expiration. For other warranties on your product please consult the warranty documentation provided by your supplier.

QNAP TS-509 Pro Turbo NAS is the new generation all-in-one NAS server for SMB and enterprises. It offers the most reliable and powerful storage solution. With superior performance, versatile server features, best-in-class RAID data protection, and rock-solid hot-swappable hard drive design, the TS-509 Pro brings business nowadays a truly new experience of instant data access and sharing, a protected mass storage, value-plus server features at the lowest maintenance cost.

ReadyNAS PRO Business Edition

Network Attached Storage (NAS) is dedicated hard disk-based storage technology designed to be connected directly to a computer network, providing centralized data access to multiple network clients.