Tranquil PC Limited

Sales Promo (May 2012) - in thanks for customer loyalty

John Cook — Sun, 06 May 2012 08:24:47 +0000

May 2012

A big thank you

Tranquil PC are now in our 10th year of design and manufacture of specialised IT and Media systems.

Thank you to all our customers, like Ollie, who have purchased from us, and continue to support us.

As a token of our appreciation of your support, we would like to give to you a coupon worth 10% of any order you place on line, during May 2012.

As a very special thank you, we'll double that offer to 20% for orders received before May 10th 2012. Just use the coupon codes at the bottom of this message.

Quick Links Tranquil Blog | OEM designs | Media Centres | Bespoke Media Systems

Some facts

Did you know that Tranquil design, manufacture and finish all of our Uni-body PCs in Manchester?
We're committed to bringing back manufacture to UK, and investing in UK employment and training.
Did you also know that Tranquil PC were the first innovators of 'green computing' back in 2004?
Since October 2011, we have already completed and shipped over 65 new unique OEM designed solutions!

Into our 10th year

Was it possible to design and manufacture a fan less, reliable, silent, and desirable PC?

That was the question 10 years ago. Since then Tranquil have shipped 10,000s of systems all over the world - for use in 100s of different applications.

We have always striven to deliver the best available products and our award gallery is testimony to that.

Reducing the cost of computing has also been important, and the low running costs and long term reliability of our systems has saved millions of pounds to our customers.

Providing an environmentally friendly product has also been at the heart of our designs, and over the years the carbon foot print of our products continues to reduce.

Our recent new range of Uni-body systems, cut from single billets of aluminium have been especially appreciated by the press, critics and our customers alike. These amazing machines are cut and finished in our Manchester factory - using locally sourced raw materials keeping that carbon cost to a minimum. They are then finished in our own anodising facility - normally in black, but sometimes other colours too!.

We've recently re-introduced our 'bespoke' Media Server packages. These unique systems are made to your specific requirements, and deliver the best in multi-media entertainment, especially HD and 3DHD video. For further information drop us a line, and we'll get in touch - or see the package systems here (they are included in our 20%
offers too)

SAVE 20% of ANY order placed online, before 10th May

use this COUPON CODE - 10THSPECIAL20

SAVE 10% of ANY order placed online, during May 2012

use this COUPON CODE - 10THSPECIAL10

Tranquil PC Ltd - United Kingdom This offer is only available on orders placed after 5th May 2012

Anodising @ Tranquil

John Cook — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:06:45 +0000

Since the end of December 2011, Tranquil have been developing and enhancing anodised finishing processes for its range of CNC cut PCs.

In April 2012 the main development phase was completed and the professional line was completed. The line is now capable of finishing high numbers of units, to very high standards.

The 19 stage line ensures that every unit receives the same treatment, with exact timing and temperature control. The final treatment ensures optimal cooling for the systems as well as a deep protective and decorative surface.

Anodising is by no mean a new industrial process, it’s been around since 1923, for protecting sea plane parts – then in 1927 the process of using sulphuric acid was patented. In simple terms the process causes or ‘grows’ aluminium oxide on the surface of the aluminium, this is done by passing very high currents at low voltages and carefully controlled temperatures between the aluminium part, and a (lead) cathode whilst being submersed in a suitable electrolyte (sulphuric acid).

This ‘growth’ is very porous initially, before it is sealed, and accepts coloured dyes. It not only provides a protective barrier to the aluminium, it also is extremely hard! It also greatly enhances the cooling effect of the aluminium surface. The ultimate cooling surface is known as a ‘black body’ a very matt black material that gives off (emits) the most heat per square meter of surface – careful and specialised anodising can actually improve the ‘black body’ effect still further! There is a huge amount of science behind black body cooling (ie Wien’s displacement law)

By very carefully controlling chemical balances, temperatures, process times and cleanliness it is possible to get very close to the perfect ‘black body’ and that combined with very high surface areas (typically over 300,000 sq mm on Tranquil systems) means systems operate without the need for force air cooling (fans) but do not heat up excessively – even when using powerful CPUs!

All units are normally satin black but a small number of ‘coloured’ pilot runs have been completed, with attractively finished machines in purples, and orange.

Tranquil’s controlled processes ensures that finishes are excellent and consistent – ie as seen on the front panel of a high end Audio system component…

Or here..

3rd Generation Intel Core Processors (1)

John Cook — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:40:38 +0000

Tranquil PC will soon be making available fan less systems built around the very latest 3rd Generation Core Processors (Ivy Bridge) from Intel

What’s all the fuss about? Let’s see what Intel are saying:

The only thing more amazing than Intel technology is what you’ll do with it.

It’s time to introduce you to the processor advance of the year – the new 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ processor family. The new Generation of mobile and desktop processors delivers speed and performance, improved responsiveness, amazing built-in visuals and brand new security, productivity and manageability tools for business.

The First Wave

Catch the first wave of 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ processors. Released this Spring is a new quad-core line-up including 3rd gen Intel® Core™ i5 and i7 SKUs as well as unlocked SKUs for enthusiasts. Watch out for the second wave of dual-core 3rd gen Intel® Core™ processors later in the year, including new 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i3 and i5 SKUs.

Why 22nm Makes a Difference

3rd generation Intel® Core™ processors use new Intel 3D tri-gate transistors and 22nm process technology to give your customers faster, smarter, more efficient computing with improved media performance.

Up to 12% faster for typical workload performance compared to 2nd gen Intel® Core™ processors

Up to 10% faster overall CPU and turbo improvement using the new 22nm architecture

Up to 50% better thermal performance compared to 2nd gen Intel® Core™ processors

The exciting feature for Tranquil products and our customers is the 50% better thermal performance, along with 10-12% faster operation – this means cooler systems (or the same thermal performance before, but with faster CPUs) and lower operating costs!

Watch this space for more information on the new CPUs, when Tranquil will be integrating them to our products, and how you can upgrade your existing Tranquil system to these new CPUs.

Mini Media Centre for mobile / marine application

John Cook — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:14:59 +0000

Tranquil PC April 2012

Case Study (IT-P2NO) – To design and deliver a miniature high performance media player.

The client requirement was to design a unit that could be stand alone, or be installed in a rack (2 units side by side). The device would be used to playback network hosted HD Video files via HDMI.

The unit had to be silent, and extremely rugged (as it would be deployed in mobile applications including marine)

The product was also to be one in a series of 3 appliances, and cosmetic detailing would flow across the 3 units, the frontal detail of the edge ‘bars’ would ensure compliance to the family of products.

Careful attention had to be applied to create such a small device, including a low cost solid state HDD (1.8” style), especially as the unit housed a powerful Intel i3 CPU.

The client required frontal USB and IR RX ports along with a ‘white halo’ power switch, all of which were included in the design

The concept develops..

So the chassis was completed, and was accepted by the client. It met performance, thermal, cost and MTBF targets. The chassis picture below is a perfect copy of the CADCAM designed model.

The units are finished in our own specialised anodising department to ensure the surfaces are not only excellent at transferring heat from the units, but also are very tough and will withstand years of use. The super matt black surfaces and heat fins are specially designed and finished to ensure 100% product effectiveness.

Our new ‘slip’ additive to the final process stage now creates a ‘silky smooth’ feel to the matt black elevations. It also reduces finger marking which can be troublesome on matt black surfaces.

The finished item (below) additionally sports a custom laser etched logo to the front.

Timescale from initial enquiry to delivery of the first sample was only 4 weeks.

If you are looking for a customised product for your organisation please contact us oem@tranquilpc.co.uk

UK High Street stores roll out Tranquil Digital Signage systems

John Cook — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:53:55 +0000

Tranquil PC March 2012

Case Study - To design and deliver a high performance Digital Signage solution for a national UK chain.

Our client required a thin, powerful, reliable and cost effective hardware solution to replace ageing PCs being used to deliver customer facing digital signage, as well as broadcast back office staff training etc. The current estate was failing, mainly due to dust and debris fouling the fan cooled PCs - replacing the failed units with the same technology (fanned units) was not deemed wise, and an alternative had to be investigated. Tranquil were contacted and invited to propose the alternative.

The estate of current installations numbers many thousands, and therefore the hardware had to be optimised for transport, ease of installation and robust operation.

Initially Tranquil offered a customised version of an Intel Atom CPU powered unit, but this proved not powerful enough for the multiple flash video decoding operations required. The second solution, based on an Intel i3 CPU proved exceptionally able, but the cost was considered too high, and the product was rejected. The third and final offer was based on the same customised chassis design of the i3 system, but was powered by a lower cost Intel G630T CPU, which proved more than powerful enough to handle the multiple video decoding requirements.

Not only did the custom design have to cool down the CPU and Intel Sandy Bridge chipset without fans, it also had to ensure the internal 2.5" spinning HDD remained cool and stable too. This proved to be a further challenge, as the chassis was used to sink heat from the hot CPU - the same chassis is used to cool the HDD. The answer was relatively simple, and after newly designed 3D CAD models were subjected to thermal flow simulations an 'air wall' was introduced, effectively separating the two halves of the chassis, with only the minimal amount of material between them. The resulting unit can safely cool down the Intel CPU even when running at high load levels for many hours at a time, whilst not affecting the stability of the HDD.

So the chassis was completed, and was accepted by the client. It met performance, thermal, cost and MTBF targets.

Then followed final customisations, including the fitting of simple LEDs to the front surface, along with model and serial number markings to the front too. As the unit is mounted behind a large screen, viewing the status LEDs and being able to see the serial number too, without removing the unit, or the screen was a real benefit. The rear plate/ chassis were also customised with 4 mount points, so that the systems could be installed to existing wall/ mount plates easily and safely.

Additionally each unit was electronically serial numbered (in BIOS) along with other customised BIOS features to ensure fast deployment by the field as well as reliable asset tracking and servicing.

Timescale from initial enquiry to delivery of the first shipment (100's) was 10 weeks.

After an initial order of a few hundred units, further orders have been received, confirming the success of the project.

If you are looking for a customised product for your organisation please contact us oem@tranquilpc.co.uk

Images

1. Initial Rendered (3D CAD)

2. Real unit - showing extensive CPU cooiling fins (approx 300,000 sq mm)

3. Rear of unit

Tranquil PC Email Server

John Cook — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:43:05 +0000

Hello,

It has recently been brought to our attention that we have had problems with email receipts and deliveries over the past week or so, many emails are still getting through but we have been made aware that not all have.

We have recently moved our mail server in house to improve reliability and security but are experience teething problems so we wish to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and assure you that we are not ignoring your mails and hope to resume normal services soon!

UPDATE : April 2nd - Normal Service has been resumed

Kind regards,

Tranquil PC

Monstor Windows Home Server 2011 Add-In Version 1.2.2.2 now available for download

Support Team — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:58:24 +0000

We have just released the latest version of Monstor.

The application can be downloaded from here.

http://www.ixlspc.com/files/MonStorWHSv1222.msi

Here is the list of bugfixes and updates that are included in this new version:

Release v1.2.2.2

- Bug fix: Some users are seeing higher than normal usage of the WmiPreSE.exe process.

- Bug fix: The transaction execution monitor was raising an error on any transaction exceeding 2 minutes, when it should only raise an error when it exceeds 36 hours.

- Update: Many improvements to file duplication, including a more verbose duplication feature.

- Bug fix: Under certain conditions a networked connection to a Monstor mounted drive can be dropped by Windows. This is the result of incorrect NTFS "File Id" handling.

- Update: Lazy duplication has been removed from the Monstor options.

- Update: Improved performance for file/folder enumeration across a pool.

- Update: Improved pool recovery process.

- Update: You are now able to change the volume label of a drive letter mounted point via Windows (i.e. F2 the drive in Windows explorer).

- Bug fix: A large number of files no longer cause an error when using the duplication feature.

- Bug fix: Many minor interface bugs have been fixed.

- Bug fix: During the duplication process (i.e. enabling duplication on a folder) could cause a file to have its read only flag removed.

- Bug fix: The file / duplication count for a pool can sometimes read zero.

- Update: Some performance improvements on file duplication.

- Update: Some performance improvements on file / folder renaming and deleting.

- Bug fix: The Monstor Manager does not display changes in mount points.

- Update: Implemented the "Pool setup wizard".

- Update: Fully integrated help system.

- Update: Documentation has been greatly improved.

- Bug fix: A number issues with add, merge and convert a drive have been fixed.

- Bug fix: Creating a folder now implements the requested attributes against the folder.

- Bug fix: The health monitor could take a very long time to perform a single pool scan.

- Update: The amount of I/O generated by the health monitor has been greatly reduced.

- Bug fix: A number of minor interface and server issues.

- Bug fix: Minor memory leak occurred when the WHS dashboard was open.

- Bug fix: The WHS addin could crash the dashboard if the local users is not the user that it was installed under.

- Bug fix: Under some specific circumstances, file renaming could fail or cause access denied errors.

- Bug fix: The Monstor Manager and WHS addin now update correctly if the state of a drive within the pool changes.

- Bug fix: The license messaging system now reports any licensing issue much better.

- Update: The add and remove mount points feature has been improved to provide better feedback.

- Bug fix: A number of minor interface and server issues.

- Update: Transaction are no longer persisted between restarts (this was causing a lot of ongoing issues, mostly with users migrating from older versions).

- Bug fix: The handling of remote Monstor servers is now working correctly for duplication, running task, notifications and logs.

- Bug fix: The duplication window now updates correctly after a change to the state of a folder.

- Bug fix: Merging and converting a drive now removes all existing Windows drive letter before the operation. This helps to ensure no files / folder get locked again if a reboot is required.

- Bug fix: Coping / moving a file to the pool could result in the destination files having it's attributes striped.

- Bug fix: The health monitor is less likely to be interrupted resulting in better file monitoring and file count statistics.

- Bug fix: The health monitor thread is now slower executing, resulting in even less (no) load on the server.

- Bug fix: A number of cosmetic issues were fixed.

- Bug fix: Installing on a x86 platform was throwing an error.

- Bug fix: Cleaning up orphaned Monstor temp files has been improved.

- Update: Manual included with installer.

- Update: New user interface for both the Windows and WHS clients.

- Bug fix: Balancing operations could create a locking issue if there was a file / folder rename or delete request.

- Update: All drives are now checked at start up and an alert is raised if there is one or more drives missing from the pool.

- Update: Drive letter management is now fully implemented (this automatically removes and adds drive letters to drives added and removed from the pool).

- Update: Improvements to adding, removing and merging of drives.

- Bug fix: Improved duplication when enabled on existing folder.

- Update: Orphaned Monstor temp files are now cleaned up.

- Bug fix: Logging no longer stops when there are a large number of entries.

- Bug fix: Installation of blank license key is no longer allowed.

- Known issue: The unmanaged pool mode is disabled. Because of the "feature freeze" for RC1, this is still incomplete.

- Known issue: The list view in the WHS addin is not grouping by default. To manually group this view, right-click the view and select "Group", then "Drive type".

- Bug fix: When during heavy enumeration a reference to a bad pointer could cause the service to crash.

- Bug fix: If there system has an expired license, there was no message to indicate that was the case.

- Bug fix: When using Smooth Stream a threading conflict could cause the service to crash.

- Bug fix: Setting attributes could sometimes return the wrong result when the file / folder did not exist.

- Bug fix: When adding, merging or removing a drive to / from the pool, the process could hang and not complete.

- Bug fix: When upgrading an XP x64 platform, the drivers may not get updated correctly.

- Bug fix: Repairing a pool's configuration was not working correctly and did not update the registry correctly.

- Update: File security performance has been improved through the use of caching.

- Bug fix: File / folder deleting, rename and modifying (i.e. attributes and security) has been improved.

- Bug fix: If a file is denied access (because of an access check), the service could crash under some conditions.

- Bug fix: A number of issues effecting performance and stability.

- Bug fix: Under certain circumstances a folder can be locked preventing it being renamed.

- Update: The implementation of file system security has been completed.

- Bug fix: The uninstaller was not removing the Monstor references in the DependOnService values.

- Bug fix: An issue with the "SetEndOfFile" API handling was causing the WHS backup service to crash.

- Bug fix: During file balancing, setting the files time stamp was throwing an error (cannot find the file specified). The resulted in the files time stamp to out by a number of milliseconds.

- Update: Much improved detection of invalid duplicated files.

- Bug fix: Heavy I/O (either internal or external) could lock folders prevent them from being renamed or deleted.

- Update: Task loading time has been dramatically improved.

- Bug fix: An issue with the transaction manager was causing the transaction engine to stop processing.

- Update: The number of validation tasks that can be queued at any one time has been dramatically reduced.

- Bug fix: File duplication was not always time stamping the duplicated file correctly.

- Bug fix: Files moved as part of a balancing operation could end up with slightly modified timestamps.

- Update: Folder attributes and security values and now monitored as part of the file system health check.

- Bug fix: The installer could throw an error during uninstall.

- Bug fix: Adding a drive on Windows XP failed with an error.

- Bug fix: Under certain conditions, drive balancing could disable itself.

- Bug fix: Minor Smooth Stream stability issue.

- Bug fix: When loading the Manager from the WHS addin, the dashboard could crash.

LEO HS4 / Riley Servers - Update Rollup 2 for Windows Home Server 2011 is available

John Cook — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 06:18:04 +0000

This article lists the issues that are fixed in Update Rollup 2 for Windows Home Server 2011. The update also includes a new feature and resolves some localization issues.

Important This update rollup contains server-side fixes. After you apply this update rollup, the client-side package is installed on all client computers automatically. For more information about the client-side package, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

2630445 The client-side package for Update Rollup 2 for Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, for Windows Home Server 2011, and for Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials is available

Feature that is included in this update

After you apply this update, the Media Streaming Metadata Synchronizer scheduled task is disabled. The Internet does not synchronize the album tags of the media files on the server share automatically. You can enable the scheduled task by using a new UI in Server Settings in the Dashboard.

Major issues that are resolved by this update

Issue 1

The network monitor service or the health service crashes occasionally. This issue causes the dashboard to also crash in the configuration router wizard. Additionally, an event that resembles the following is logged in the Application log:

Log Name: Application
Source: .NET Runtime
Date: datetime
Event ID: 1026
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: computer name
Description:
Application: SharedServiceHost.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.
Exception Info: System.InvalidOperationException
Stack:
at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.Deserialize(System.Xml.XmlReader, System.String, System.Xml.Serialization.XmlDeserializationEvents)
at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.TaskManagement.Data.EngineStateFile.Load(System.String)
at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.TaskManagement.TaskScheduler.ReadRestartState()
at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.TaskManagement.TaskScheduler.RunTasks(System.String, System.String)
at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.Networking.NetworkingMonitor.RepairRouter()
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.runTryCode(System.Object)
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers.ExecuteCodeWithGuaranteedCleanup(TryCode, CleanupCode, System.Object)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object, Boolean)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object)
at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

This issue occurs because the operating system uses the same state file for different task lists that are running in parallel.

Issue 2

Music file tags are overwritten in a default share (\\server\music) that has remote access enabled. Additionally, the album art file is replaced by using a low-resolution hidden system file.

Issue 3

When a web browser control add-in is installed, and you try to close the Dashboard, an empty confirmation dialog box appears. This issue occurs if Internet Explorer 9 is installed.

Issue 4

Remote access permission restrictions do not apply to the Media Library. For example, when you grant a new user account permission to access the Music folder only, the new user can access the Picture and Video folders in Media Library by using a remote desktop session.

Issue 5

The Remote Web Access website (RWA) does not work correctly when you log on from a tablet device. For example, you cannot download files from the RWA website to a Google Android-based device, and you cannot upload files from an Apple IOS-based device to the RWA website.

Issue 6

The software name of the embedded Launchpad is the same for Mac Lion as it is for Windows. Therefore, the operating system assumes that the embedded Launchpad for Mac Lion is already installed. Because of this issue, you cannot install the connector on a Mac Lion-based client computer.

Issue 7

When you install a third-party application that uses the same altitude value as the Backupreader.sys, and then you try to restore the client backup, the restore process fails.

Issue 8

Assume that you try to perform a client backup. In this situation, the backup operation fails. Additionally, you receive the following error message:

Insufficient storage available for backup

This issue occurs because a hidden "Drivers for Full System Restore" folder is created on all the volumes that are included in the backup. If the client computer is running Windows 7, there is a hidden System Reserved partition that is only 100 megabytes (MB). However, the "Drivers for Full System Restore" folder is larger than 100 MB. Therefore, this issue occurs. After you apply this update, the "Drivers for Full System Restore" folder is not created on volumes that are smaller than one gigabyte (GB) or on volumes that do not have a driver letter.

Issue 9

The default input language for the Spanish version of Windows Home Server 2011 is English. After you install this update, an alert is displayed that states that the default input language is changed to either English or Traditional Spanish.

Issue 10

If a certificate that has a blank common name (CN) is created in certain situations, the identity management service cannot be run.

Issue 11

When Update Rollup 1 for Windows Home Server 2011 is installed on the server that is running a localized version of Windows Home Server 2011, two sets of shortcuts for Launchpad and Dashboard are created. In this situation, the names of the shortcuts are displayed in English in one of the sets and in the local language in the other set.

Issue 12

This update fixes and updates links to documents that provide guidance for discovering and deploying add-ins and additional applications.

Issue 13

Sharedservicehost.exe throws exception errors when the health monitoring service and the client backup service are running. This issue occurs when Launchpad or Dashboard is disconnected from the Internet. This behavior causes some services, such as the health monitoring service, the backup service, or the identity management service, to crash.

Issue 14

The UI of the client connector is incompatible with the new version of Windows client.

Issue 15

Client computers disappear from the Dashboard if request IDs for certificates are not returned in a numeric sequence. This issue may also cause the server to disappear from the Dashboard.

Known issues

Issue 1

Assume that you install the Launchpad on a client computer before this update is applied on the server. In this situation, the connector on the client computer updates automatically. This behavior causes the notification tray to crash on some localized versions of Windows Home Server 2011, such as the Italian and Portuguese Brazilian versions. This issue occurs only after this update is applied.

Issue 2

You do not receive an alert that states that automatic software updates for Mac Lion are disabled.

Issue 3

You do not receive an alert that states that software updates for Mac Lion are available.

Issue 4

There are no time-outs when you try to update the health status after the network connection is disconnected in Mac Lion.

Update information

How to obtain this update

To download this update, visit the following Microsoft website:

Windows Update

Prerequisites

To install this update, you must be running Windows Home Server 2011.

Registry information

To use the update in this package, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

Restart requirement

You may have to restart the computer after you apply this update.

Update replacement information

This update does not replace a previously released update.

Removal information

To remove this update, use the Add or Remove Programs item in Control Panel. Additionally, you must uninstall the client-side package (KB 2630445) from all client computers.

Riley review

John Cook — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:26:22 +0000

The new Riley Home Servers is reviewed on We Got Served.

Click here to read the review.

LIVE video stream

John Cook — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:16:31 +0000

Watch as bespoke chassis are cut on one of the CNC machines (this one is CNC_2)

Click Here to open video window (QuickTime must be installed on your browser)

Tranquil PC now CNC (video links)

John Cook — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:09:13 +0000

Tranquil PC, not only sell 'retail' IT appliances and PCs. Our business actually designs and manufactures these 'retail' systems.

Our actual customer base includes many large organisations and smaller ones too, for whom we design and manufacture bespoke devices. Most of these products are branded for the customer and do not carry the Tranquil PC brand.

In the following videos, we show how our team takes a requirement from a client and moves that requirement right through or factory to a finished item.

All processes, are carried out internally, ensuring effeciency and full control:

High level product design and concept
3D mechanical design
3D product rendering
CNC machine programming and manufacture
Chassis anodising and colouring
Product assembly
Product test, including mastering
Laser etching and customisation
Final QA, packing and despatch

The videos, tell the story (links below)

Short (10 minute) video - showing the process from beginning to end

Chapter 1 - CAD, the wonders of Computer Aided Design - in real time along side our customer.

Chapter 2 - Manufacturing, high precision, high speed, repeatable quality. guaranteed

Chapter 3 - Final product test, and conclusion - does the final product meet the customers requirements?

Contact our OEM team, if you have a specific requirement

MonStor - Merging existing HDD and Data to MonStor

Jack Riley — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:32:28 +0000

Merging existing HDD and Data to MonStor Pool on WHS2011 / WSS2008

To learn more - click here

MonStor - Installing in a Upgraded Server

Jack Riley — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:52:09 +0000

If you have a Tranquil Server that has multiple hard disks, with data in those folders (ie as Tranquil would have delivered to you, as part of our SQA>Leo HS4 upgrade service) - you will need to create a MonStor Pool and then move the DATA HDDs and the data folders into the MonStor pool.

Please standby as the process document is completed, to assist you in this process.

Installing and using MonStor for WHS2011 / WSS2008

Jack Riley — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:13:37 +0000

To learn more:

Monstor – supplied with all Leo HS4, Leo SS4, T2iWHS, SQA-5H and T7 2011 Servers

Monstor INSTALL – Installation details

Monstor SETUP – how to setup, and how to ensure that even after a total system failure, you can still recover your WHS2011 Server, and all of your data

MonStor with 3TB HDDs – supports 3TB HDDs

MonStor ORDER NOW – order just the Add In for your own home build WHS2011 for just £29.95

MonStor Add In for WHS2011 / WSS2008 released.

Jack Riley — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:01:48 +0000

After a short delay on the release of MonStor, Tranquil PC are really pleased to see the product is now available.

The Drive Extender (DE), part of the original Windows Home Server, was a huge step forward in the IT world. Being able to use mismatched HDDs in a ‘pool’ and then being able to protect (duplicate) data across multiple disks was simple brilliant. There were a few downsides, and the worst being the difficulties (trust) in getting data back in the event of system failure (files and folders on removed data HDDs could be ‘seen’ on other PCs – but often these files were ‘ghosts’ of the file – which could have been on another disk somewhere).

But Microsoft, in their wisdom (or not), decided to remove DE from WHS2011 and WSS2008R2 Essentials (a 25 user version of WHS2011). This was seen as a major problem, and many said the last nail in the coffin of Microsoft’s Home Server OS.

After reviewing the need / expectation requirements of our customers, Tranquil knew that any Home Server of the future would have to have an equally simple, effective, reliable and perhaps ‘better’ storage manager. After reviewing the options available decided to work closely with Division-M to deliver such a solution.

Since that decision Tranquil engineers have been working closely with Division-M to optimise the WHS2011 Add In, on the Leo HS4 and Leo SS4 Servers. There have been many ups as well as downs, as the software / service was put through it’s paces.

It had to be simple, effective, reliable, scalable and most importantly recoverable after a catastrophic system failure. During 1000’s of hours of testing, and 1000’s of TBs of data transfers any undesirable issues were discovered and fixed.

MonStor now is ready, with recognition to Division-M and Tranquil engineers – a very big thank you.

The very simple ability to create a storage pool, with mismatch capacity hard disks, including 3TB disks, is really amazing. The fast and effective way that MonStor balances the data across disks is equally impressive.