News

posted on 08 April 2008 04:42

Buffalo Technology has announced a 1TB network-attached storage (NAS) LinkStation that really does fit in a jacket pocket.

The LinkStation Mini has two 500GB, 2.5-inch drives spinning at 5,400rpm. It comes with a 10/100/1000Mbit/s auto-sensing Ethernet port, a USB port, RAID 0 and RAID 1, and Microsoft Active Directory support.

The product has web access included so that owners can access it remotely via a web browser. There is also Navigator software which can be used to power up the product remotely.

The product has a DLNA server enabling the LInkStation to stream media files to any DLNA-compatible media player. DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance, which is a collaborative group of consumer electronics, computer and mobile intelligent device manufacturers aiming to set up a wired and wireless network standard for interoperating intelligent devices in the home and on the road.

An extra external hard drive can be connected via the USB port to increase capacity. There is an integrated print server and a printer can be hooked up via the USB port.

The product's dimensions are 1.57 x 3.22 x 5.31 inches and it weighs 1.1lbs. A 500GB version will be coming later this year.

For comparison look at HP's MediaVault and Microsoft's Home Server.

The LinkStation Mini is too small in capacity to be used as a general static file storage device by business but as a mobile storage device it beats USB thumb drives in the capacity stakes, for the time being.

The Buffalo LinkStation Mini has a street price of $699. This contrasts with a 1TB StoreVault system from NetApp costing $3,000. A 500GB MediaVault home NAS from HP costs $299, making a terabyte version $600 or less.

How much is a terabyte of file storage, plus controller and software worth?

^{[Paul Roberts, news editor.]}