NETGEAR is the latest company to attack the consumer/home network attached storage market with Monday’s introduction of the new NETGEAR Stora. This cube-shaped device with two drive bays allows users to easily centralized all of their digital content without dealing with complicated setup routines or complex user interfaces.

In addition, Stora makes Internet-based file sharing super-easy by providing users and friends remote-access to the device via the website www.MyStora.com. Through MyStora, users will be able to stream music to any Internet-connected device, watch whole movies from the NAS, and of course, retrieve stored digital files.

Here are the features and specs to the NETGEAR Stora:

• Compatible with Mac, PC, and Linux systems
• Centralize digital media in one location
• Share and stream music to friends and family with specific user access controls
• Watch movies directly streamed from home to any Internet-connected device
• DLNA certified
• Windows Media 7 compliance
• Two standard drive bays (SATA)
• Users can add second drive on the fly without any tools
• Gigabit Ethernet support
• USB 2.0 port
• RAID 1 support
• Comes with automatic backup utilities for PCs and Macs
• Integrates with Facebook, iTunes, Flickr and web-enabled phones
• Measures 175.25 x 150 x 146 mm and weighs 1.36kg

The NETGEAR Stora comes with a single 1TB disk although you can add additional storage via the second drive bay.  Available now in North America, the NETGEAR Stora is priced at $229.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: NETGEAR Stora, NAS

Western Digital released an updated version of their My Book World Edition network storage drive designed to address the ever growing needs of today’s home networks. The new network-connected drive is available in either 1 or 2 terabyte configurations and will automatically (and continuously) back up all PCs and Macs connected on a home network. Any changes to files on the computers will also be automatically backed up to the drive.

The My Book World Edition also acts as a media server to any DLNA compatible media player device such as the Xbox 360, and Sony PlayStation 3.

Other features of the My Book World Edition include:

• Simple file recovery for lost or damaged files
• Works with both PCs and Macs
• DLNA 1.5 and UPnP certification
• iTunes  Music Server software
• USB 2.0 Utility Port allows users to connect a USB drive and turn it into an instant network drive or add additional capacity to the My Book
• Capacity gauge to see how much space is available on the drive
• Gigabit Ethernet

The 1 terabyte drive is available now with the 2 terabyte drive expected later this month. The 1TB drive retails for $229.99 while the upcoming 2TB drive will retail for $449.99.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Western Digital, My Book World Edition, NAS

The new Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive is Iomega’s attempt to deliver a cost effective network attached storage device for the home market. The drive connects to your home network and delivers a centralized storage location for all of your digital content across all of your networked devices.

Powering the drive is EMC’s LifeLife Home Software solution which is a custom Linux OS and application suite. After installing the software, users can access files and set permissions using a friendly user interface. Setting up the Home Media Network Hard Drive should be straight-forward and simple. Just plug the drive into the network, power up the drive, and then install the included software. Since the networked drive also acts as a UPnP media server, you can easily share content to DLNA certified networked media players such as the Xbox 360.

Key features of the Home Media Network Hard Drive include:

• Share files between Windows and Apple systems
• Gigabit Ethernet support
• UPnP AV Media Server – compatible with DLNA certified media players
• iTunes Server
• Supports CIFS/SMB, AFP, and HTTP 1.1
• Add additional capacity by connecting external USB hard drives
• Automatic network discovery by Apple Bonjour and Windows Rally devices
• Backup your data using EMC Retrospect HD backup software
• Oxford 810SE chipset with 370MHz CPU and 64MB RAM
• One 7200 RPM SATA HDD
• One USB port
• Built-in Print Server
• Measures 4.92 x 7.83 x 1.57 inches and weighs 2.45 lbs

The Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive will be available this month with the 500GB drive going for $159.99 and the 1TB drive going for $229.99.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Iomega, Home Media Network Hard Drive, NAS, CES 2009

Drobo’s looking to foster a rich developer platform as they’ve released a beta SDK to the Drobo Developer Community (DDC) allowing programmers the ability to create applications for both the Drobo Robot as well as the DroboShare device.

For the DroboShare, developers will be able to develop applications such as:

• UPnP/DLNA (available now!)
• iTunes Music Server
• Rsync
• FTP
• Web
• AFP
• Squeeze Center support
• Eye-Fi support

For the Drobo, some application examples include:

• A Linux version of Drobo Dashboard (available now!)
• A utility to modify the usage of LEDs on Drobo
• A utility that allows Windows to show Drobo as its actual size (available now!)

[Check it out via Crave]

Technorati Tags: Drobo, Drobo Developer Community, SDK

LaptopMag published a review of the 1 terabyte Time Capsule device here on their website. Those of you not familiar with Apple products, here’s the basic gist. Time Capsule, which looks like an Apple Airport Extreme device, is a combination wireless router and network attached backup device. The device works in conjunction with OS X Leopard’s Time Machine backup software application and from what I’ve seen and heard, it works quite well. Here’s the gist of the review from LaptopMag:

It’s so easy to use, that Mac users now have no excuse not to back up their content.

Read more of the review at LaptopMag’s website here.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Apple, Time Capsule, LaptopMag, Review

Some not-so-great news for Windows Home Server fans. It appears that Home Server is still suffering from the same data corruption bug that appeared several months ago. Originally, the problem appeared to be fairly small in nature but as the weeks and months have come and gone, it clearly was much larger than expected. If you look at the Microsoft support page for this bug, the list of applications affected by this problem has been growing larger and larger. At least Microsoft appears to know what  the cause is as the page states:

“This issue may occur because of a recently discovered problem with Windows Home Server shared folders and with certain programs.”

Another interesting piece of information – this problem apparently only affects Windows Home Server systems that have more than one hard disk drive added to the server storage. Ahh.. certainly sounds like a problem with the way files are mirrored across multiple drives (assuming one has set up Home Server to replicate content that way). Then again, the problem could also arise from just having multiple drives be “seen” as a single volume. What do I know?

One thing is for sure.. if Microsoft intends on making Home Server an integral part of a digital living room, they need to isolate and fix this problem right away. I love what the company has to say about this bug:

“Before you store files on a system that is running Windows Home Server, make sure that you have a backup copy of any important program files.”

If I remember correctly, Home Server is how we’re supposed to back up our content and data no? haha ok.. to their credit, Microsoft is referring to the Windows Home Server backup process but I still found the comment humorous.

[Check it out via Daily Tech]

Technorati Tags: Windows Home Server, Data Corruption bug, Microsoft

HP has launched two new Media Vault systems at CES 2008 – the mv2100 Series and the SMB-MV5100 series. Major features of the new Media Vault series include the following:

• Expandable network storage based on Linux platform
• Continuous backup and a central location for storage and sharing of digital media and files on a network
• Incorporates remote access, Photo Webshare, and iTunes server

Features and specs for the HP Media Vault mv2100 series include:

• Stream photos, music, and videos to your entertainment center or other computers on your network
• Expansion bay lets you add more storage as needed
• Quiet and cool operation
• Set up groups for sharing different photo albums and video clips via HP Photo Websharing
• Ability to backup specific folders to an external USB drive for an extra copy of important files
• DLNA compatible UPnP media streaming capability for streaming digital media files
• Marvell SOC processor
• 512MB RAM
• Gigabit Ethernet support
• 2 USB 2.0 ports
• 500GB SATA 7200 HDD with 1 expansion bay
• Measures 9.6 x 5.4 x 5.3 inches and weighs 7.12 lbs
• File backup supports Windows XP, Vista
• File sharing supports Windows XP, Vista, Mac OS X, and Linux

Features and specs for the HP Media Vault Pro mv5100 Series include:

• Automatic offsite backup with Spare Backup including 2GB free trial
• Secure remote access to files
• Base capacities of 1 and 1.5 TB. Add additional capacity via USB ports
• Directly connect to LAN at Gigabit Ethernet speeds
• RAID 1 mirroring support
• iTunes server support
• File backup software for continuous or scheduled backups of PCs
• DLNA compatible UPnP media streaming
• Marvell SOC processor
• 512MB RAM
• 2 USB 2.0 ports
• Two 500GB or two 750GB internal SATAII 3.5 inch 7200 RPM HDD

Technorati Tags: HP, Media Vault, mv2100, SMB-mv5100, CES 2008

Now here’s something interesting for you storage folks out there. Intel has decided to enter the home/small office NAS market by announcing the new Intel Entry Storage System (or model SS4200-EHW). According to Intel, the Entry Storage System targets small businesses, SOHO folks, and the digital home and will come with EMC backup software installed. Not surprisingly, you’ll find a slew of Intel components inside the box including:

• Intel Celeron 420 series processor running at 1.6GHz
• Intel 945GZ/ICH7-R chipset
• 512MB DDR2 memory
• Four USB ports
• Four tool-less drive retention bays
• Three year warranty
• One Intel Gigabit LAN port
• 250 watt PSU

The box is capable of supporting up to four 3.5 inch SATA hard drives ranging from 80GB to 1TB in size and comes with an eSATA connection too. Curiously, the Intel Entry Storage System doesn’t support hot-swappable drives.

Features of the box include:

• Data file sharing among Microsoft Windows, Linux OS, and Apple Mac systems with user name, password protection, and management access in local workgroups
• Support for RAID levels 5, 10, and 1
• Easy to use setup wizard
• Backup and recovery application provides system backup, remote boot, and recovery for Windows clients
• Capable of being a DHCP server
• Can act as a DHCP client
• User-friendly web interface for setting up users and access rights
• Built-in FTP server
• Web-based management
• Can be used as linear storage or as RAID 0 setup

Price point for this box? $500 dollars – which puts it squarely against devices like the new HP MediaSmart Server which is due out later this month. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone takes this box and installs Windows Home Server instead on it. One nice thing about this Intel box – out of the box support for Linux and Apple systems.

[Check it out via ExtremeTech]

Technorati Tags: Intel, Intel Entry Storage System, SS4200-EHW, NAS

Newer Technology, Inc announced the miniStack NAS, an Ethernet and USB 2.0 external hard drive enclosure, that borrows both design and name from the Mac mini. Powered by Ximeta’s NDAS 2011 chipset, the miniStack NAS provides a stylish and inexpensive network attached storage solution.

For a pre-configured model with an included hard drive, prices start at $120 for 80GB up to $330 for 750GB. For one without a hard drive, expect to pay only $80. Seems like a good deal to me.

More at NewerTech (press release).

Technorati Tags: NewerTech miniStack NAS