In as much as NAS devices are handy when it comes to backing up data, streaming audio and video over a home network and many other things, one of the downsides is that the performance when it comes to actually putting the data on them isn't always there. Akitio has come up with a home storage solution that attempts to solve this issue by being a combination NAS/DAS with USB 3.0 connectivity.
We've already seen the new range of high-end NAS solutions from Thecus and the company is now being joined in this market space by Acer who has just announced a competing solution in the shape of its AC100 micro server. We have to say that Acer has come up with a better marketing name than Thecus, as calling this product segment for a NAS is really underselling your product.
Owners of the Seagate GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage device can now enjoy additional features including access to other Wi-Fi network while connected to the device, as well as improved battery life. Details inside.
We missed Thecus at CeBIT earlier this month, but we got a chance to catch up with the company at ISF and have a look at some of its new products. On display were the recently announced N2800 and N4800 Atom powered NAS boxes as well as the Core i3 powered N8850 which is part of a new series of tower NAS products from Thecus for more demanding users, as well as Thecus new tablet.
One issue in the past has been that NAS boxes powered by Intel's Atom processors have been way too expensive to hit consumer level price points and as such this market space has been pretty exclusive to RISC – generally ARM or MIPS – powered solutions. This appears to be changing, as at the Intel Storage Forums inXtron was showing off its Akitio MyCloud Pro which is targeted to retail at sub US$200 while sporting an Atom processor and a fair few other goodies.
Earlier today VR-Zone attended the Intel's Storage Forum 2012 in Taipei, Taiwan and although the company didn't reveal any big news at the event, one message was very clear this year and that is that Intel is investing heavily into storage solutions. At the event Intel talked about everything from entry level "Personal Cloud" devices, to SSD's, 10Gbps Ethernet all the way to Xeon powered solutions.
Routers may not be the most exciting piece of hardware around, but TP-Link has come up with some new designs that look a lot more attractive than its current range of products. Besides improved looks, the company has also added much improved performance to some of its upcoming models.
At CeBIT, Synology was demoing a pair of new NAS products, both being 4-bay units with a fairly similar external design, but the internal hardware is quite different between the two models. The company has not only revised the internals, but the two new models share the new re-designed enclosure as well which looks similar to the DS212 series, albeit larger due to the additional drive bays.
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Today, D-Link shared their Cloud initiative which incorporates innovative cloud functionality in their line of consumer networking products for enhanced secure data access, sharing and viewing.
Google is rumoured to be working on a cloud storage service that is believed to be nearing readiness for launch.
Buffalo has just announced its latest generation LinkTheater series LT-V200 which is basically a suped up multi-format capable media player for the lounge, featuring an internal SATA port to add in a HDD alongside the USB connectivity (in the form of a couple USB 2.0 ports; one on the front and one at the rear) that allows it to work as a DLNA-compliant NAS server.
If product design is more important to you than what you get for your money, then LaCie is most likely a familiar brand to you. However, the company does managed to come up with some quirky bits of hardware from time to time and its latest addition, the LaPlug is just one of those things that could be immensely useful, but somehow turns out to be fairly pointless at the same time.
Storage company QNAP Systems has enhanced its Business Series of Turbo NAS line with two new models for up to 24TB of storage capacity in a single unit. The more powerful TS-EC879U-RP is powered by a quad-core Intel Xeon Processor with 4GB DDR3 ECC RAM and 4x Gigabit LAN ports, while the TS-879U-RP has a dual-core Intel Core i3 processor with 2GB DDR3 RAM and 2x Gigabit LAN ports.
Over the years we've seen a lot of peculiar bits of hardware launch, but Samsung's new SE-208BW optical drive with Wi-Fi interface is among the strangest we've ever seen. Samsung calls it the Smart Media Hub rather than an optical drive, as beyond being able to connect to a PC over Wi-Fi, it also works with tablets and smartphones.
Apple's range of Time Capsule products might not be the most exciting products in its range, but for Apple users they're among the easiest ways to create a backup of important data. Apple has added additional storage space to its Time Capsule while the prices have remained the same, which sounds like a pretty decent deal to us.
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