Speed boost for external storage
Backup and NAS improved
By Chris Mellor | Techworld | Published: 16:13, 24 September 2007
Western Digital and Iomega have introduced better external storage products for small and medium enterprises.
The MyBook Office Edition from Western Digital has from 320GB to 1TB of storage in a paperback-book-sized desktop enclosure. It connects to a host server or PC by USB 2.0 and offers automatic and continuous backup. Working files can be set so that any change to them is backed up, thus providing continuous data protection.
With a Windows host the MioNet software provides remote access to the drive across a WAN or LAN for file sharing or transfer.
Each drive has a capacity gauge giving a visual indication of how much free space is available.
It helps with energy-efficiency goals as the drive is turned off when the computer is switched off. A safe shutdown feature delays shutdown until any waiting data has been written to the drive. The drive also goes into a stand-by mode after ten minutes of inactivity.
It is available now with pricing up to $379.99 (£190 at ordinary conversion rates).
Iomega has added two network-attached storage (NAS) products.
There is a 1TB Pro NAS 200r Server which comes with optional print server capabilities. If has 4 drives and comes as a rackmount enclosure support Microsoft file services: Encrypting File System, Volume Shadow Copy Services, and Active Directory Services.
The Pro NAS 150d Server is also a rackmounted product and offers up to 3TB of storage plus the Windows file services support.
Both the 200r and the 150d NAS devices are Windows-based and use a Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbit/s) port to connect to the network and come with four SATA-II drives that can be configured for RAID 0 (striping), RAID 1 (mirroring), or RAID 5 (striping plus parity) operation.
They also offer hot-swap drives and Retrospect backup software. The 200r additionally has CA eTrust Antivirus software and BrightStor ARCserve OEM edition with Disaster Recovery.
Both products support file access by Windows, Unix and Linux clients.
The 150d 3TB Server is shipping now for $1,699 (about £850 at ordinary conversion rates). The 200r 1TB Server will be available later this month for $1,899 (about £950). The NAS 200r 1TB Server with Print will also be available later this month for $2,499 (about £1,250).
