Fujitsu's Scaleo home server gets detailed

It's been quite a while since we saw the first less-than-stellar renders of Toshiba's Scaleo home server, but it looks like the device is now finally nearing an actual release, with just about all the details you could want now out in the open. As previously announced, the server will be available in two varieties, with the Scaleo Home Server 1500 boasting a single 500GB hard drive and room for three more, and the Scaleo 1900 boasting two 500GB hard drives and, apparently, room for three more drives as well (although, as Slash Gear points out, that may be a typo given that the two are the same size). Otherwise, you can expect a Celeron 4xx processor in each, along with 512MB of RAM, 256MB of flash memory, gigabit LAN, four USB ports, and two eSATA. There's still no official word as to when they'll be available over here, however, but they'll apparently hit the UK in the next two weeks, with the 1500 and 1900 demanding £399 and £469 (or $777 and $913), respectively.

[Via Slash Gear]

[telepheedian @ Feb 19th 2008 6:22PM]

Fujitsu or Toshiba?

Also, that looks a lot like a grown-up version of the Seagate on my desk.

[Flashpoint @ Feb 19th 2008 6:28PM]

1 Terrabyte sounds like it would be ALMOST enough to store my porn.

[Murdarer @ Feb 19th 2008 6:33PM]

Haven't gone high-def yet eh?

[Chris @ Feb 19th 2008 6:39PM]

In all honesty, I don't think I, or many others, would never need a home server. Especially for nearly 1k.

[Matt Bateman @ Feb 19th 2008 6:55PM]

The idea of a home server confuses me as well. How much data do people really have stored at home that a simple external hard-drive or a network attached storage device couldn't serve up?

And don't the very few who actually have a library of media (movies, tv, music) that is streamed throughout the house have a dedicated HTPC setup?

[ScOObyDoo @ Feb 19th 2008 7:03PM]

You'd be surprised how awesome a WHS actually is. The backup portion is great, everyone in the house has access to the shared folders, it can store your itunes library (and replicate your desktop iTunes), gives remote (secure) access to your files. With add-ons it is also a printer server and Tivo publishing server.

I was skeptical when I purchased mine, but it's been one of the best purchases I've made in ages.

[Razor1973 @ Feb 20th 2008 5:29PM]

ScOObyDoo, you can do all this with a network attached storage.

[jakem @ Feb 19th 2008 7:55PM]

@Matt My HTPC has 1Tb worth of drives in it and they're nearly full so it made sense for me to buy a WHS that I can just add drives to as my storage needs increase. Also, with umpteen gigabytes of photos, videos and MP3s it's nice to have a backup solution that I can just plug in and forget about.

Also, don't forget that WHS handles system backups as well making it a breeze to rebuild a PC if it crashes without having to reinstall all your apps and settings.

[Matthew @ Feb 19th 2008 8:16PM]

Chris:

Sure, you could have an external hard drive, if you don't mind hauling it around the house all the time. Otherwise, you have to load the same mp3s onto every computer you own. I'm going the home server route eventually, I just can't decide on something like this or shelling out for a Myth box that is also a home server.

[Joe @ Feb 19th 2008 8:32PM]

This is just a rebranded Intel Storage Server. Nothing special, really. I'd rather buy my own and put enterprise-class drives in it. When you can get good drives with support for 24/7 operation and nearly 3x the MTBF than desktop-class equivalents for about $10 more per drive, why settle for the cheapest-common-denominator that OEM's choose?

http://www.intel.com/design/servers/storage/ss4200-ehw/index.htm

BTW: Ever wonder why Western Digital actually makes "RAID Edition" drives? If you've ever tried their regular hard drives in RAID, then you know why (they have an extremely high failure rate).

[Courtney @ Feb 20th 2008 1:35AM]

One of my roommates ran a rack-mounted server he had got for cheap from work when they upgraded. I always found it really handy (it was at least as useful as our HTPC, if not more so). I haven't lived with that dude for a while, but I still make backups of some data to that server remotely.

Gotta love having friends who are even geekier than youself.

[John @ Feb 20th 2008 1:58AM]

Anyone think that it would be a lot smarter to just get a REAL, used server? It would be a lot more powerful and able to actually do some work too, not just store crap.

[dustin @ Feb 20th 2008 10:32AM]

"Real Servers" are meant to be in datacenters, where noise is not an issue. Have you ever heard one? They're really loud. For people that don't have a basement or separate room to put them in, a real server would be horrible. Not to mention that your power bill would skyrocket.

[dlehmer @ Feb 20th 2008 9:24AM]

Is this from Toshiba or Fujitsu? I'm a little confused. perhaps a typo?

[Pete Steege @ Feb 20th 2008 10:23AM]

Just last fall people at Microsoft were telling me that the storage sweet spot for Home Servers would be up to 2 250GB drives. Up to 2 TB makes much more sense to me!

Is even that enough room for a 3 year lifespan, given content growth rates and the move to High Def?

[Bill @ Feb 20th 2008 11:38AM]

That's where the four USB ports and two eSATA connections come in to play for further expansion.

[Dave Thomas @ Feb 20th 2008 2:15PM]

Regarding "(although, as Slash Gear points out, that may be a typo given that the two are the same size)"... one drive is 500, two drives (mirror) is 500...

make sense.

[Razor1973 @ Feb 20th 2008 5:32PM]

People, network attached storage. NSA. Apparently, some of you don't know what this is based on your comments (haul the external drive around the house, for example).

A lot of people are buying Windows Mobile phones now here in the U.S. These come with Exchange support, but the typical user does not have an Exchange server at home. That's where this WHS could come in handy if they don't feel like leaving their PC or laptop on and connected 24/7.

[Razor1973 @ Feb 20th 2008 5:33PM]

NAS

engadget really needs to get a comment booboo editing feature. :)