StorageReview.com is an outstanding storage solutions review site staffed by a core group of industry experts. Billed as a “world-leading independent storage authority, providing in-depth news coverage, detailed reviews, SMB/SME consulting, and lab services on storage arrays, hard drives, SSDs, and the related hardware and software,“ the site focuses primarily on storage solutions for midmarket and enterprise organizations.
By that description, you would assume them to be a premier resource for all things storage… and you would be correct in that assumption. Each review is incredibly in-depth and complete with benchmarks, charts, and other detailed information designed to provide readers with all they need to make an informed decision regarding data storage solutions.
BOXX offers data storage though our partner company, PAC Storage, so we were initially surprised when we were contacted by StorageReview requesting to review (wait for it) BOXX Cloud, and more specifically, FLEXX the data center platform of high density workstation modules which power BOXX Cloud. The BOXX Cloud/FLEXX power combo offers a variety of configurations, purpose-built for architecture firms running Autodesk Revit, engineering firms running SOLIDWORKS, or media facilities using Adobe Creative Cloud.
Despite our initial surprise, we were thrilled to let StorageReview take BOXX Cloud/FLEXX for a test drive. For over a month, their team put the FLEXX evaluation unit through its paces, including a number of rigorous benchmarking tests. In fact, they tested it as they would a standard desk side workstation. The system we provided was configured with the following specs:
- CPU: 13th Gen Intel i9-13900K
- RAM: 64 GB DDR5-4800
- GPU: RTX A4000 16GB
- 1 TB NVMe (Local)
To make matters more interesting (and albeit a bit unorthodox) StorageReview compared our FLEXX system to a Dell Precision 5480 mobile workstation with similar specifications:
- CPU: Intel Core i9-13900H
- RAM: 64GB of DDR5 6000MHz
- GPU: NVIDIA Ada Lovelace RTX 3000 8GB GDDR6
- 1TB M.2 2280 Class 40
So what was the result? How did BOXX Cloud powered by FLEXX fair for Blender OpitiX, Luxmark, OctaneBench, the Blackmagic RAW speed test, 7-Zip compression, Geekbench 6, Cinebench R23 & r24, UL Procyn AI inference, and y-cruncher (I told you it was exhaustive)? You’ll have to read author Dylan Bryan’s full, in-depth review. While you’re at it, become a regular reader of StorageReview.com if you’re not already. It’s well worth your time.