thecus
Latest
Intel launches Atom CE5300-based storage platform with multiple streams, smart scaling
There's been more than a few Atom-based storage servers. Most of them either have to lean on the same Atom processors you'd usually get with nettops, though, which makes them less than ideal for media tasks than a chip dedicated to the job. Intel has just launched a new platform that might be a better fit for home network storage. New NAS arrays from Asustor, Synology, Thecus and others (none yet pictured here) all revolve around a dual-core Atom CE5300 system-on-chip that's better-optimized for media processing duties: it can stream video across the network to multiple devices at once, and can automatically downscale video to accommodate smaller screens. The small chip contributes to a relatively small price at the same time, with NAS boxes starting around $299. Not everyone can suddenly justify a dedicated media server in the home just because the CE5300 is an option, but those that do may at least get more for their money.
Thecus's N0204 miniNAS is world's smallest, apparently
We track a lot of things claiming to be the smallest or thinnest this-or-that, but, when it comes to network-attached storage, we can't say as we've been breaking out our rulers all that often. So, when Thecus says its N0204 miniNAS is the world's smallest, we'll take them for their word. Little bigger than an external 3.5-inch drive enclosure, the N0204 actually sports room for two 2.5-inch drives, serving them up concatenated or in RAID 0 or 1 configurations. Despite its size it still offers the same functionality of many of the bigger boys, including the ability to act as an iTunes or DLNA server, print server, and webcam host. It even allows hot-swapping. Apparently the only thing it can't do is tell you when it'll release or how much it'll cost when it does. For that we'll just have to wait and see.[Via Legit Reviews]
Thecus debuts N3200 Pro NAS: now with more AMD Geode CPU
Thecus Technology has retooled the N3200 and come up with the aptly named N3200 Pro -- a brand new NAS now featuring an AMD Geode CPU. The device boasts a veritable cornucopia of features, including three SATA drive bays for up to 3TB of storage, the option of RAID 5 striping, and an LCD display. Photo, iTunes and DLNA-compatible server options as well as browser-based management should assist users with the "digital lifestyle," while a feature called "Web Surveillance Server" allows you to take regularly scheduled photographs just by plugging in a USB webcam... which is interesting in a vaguely creepy way. No word on price or availability but the previous N3200 sells for $339.
Thecus unveils the massive N7700 eight-bay NAS
The last time we checked in with Thecus, they'd broken off a five-bay NAS called the N5200. Well, it appears the company upped the ante just a touch at this year's Computex with its new array -- an eight-bay monster known as the N7700. The massive storage appliance doesn't seem to deviate from the previous model much, utilizing a Celeron CPU to control the system, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, and a wide variety of RAID options (0, 1, 5, 6, 10 and JBOD). We don't have word on pricing or availability just yet, but hopefully the archiving of your of "films" and "music purchases" can wait.
Thecus N5200 five-drive NAS
If the TellyRAID we saw yesterday is the NAS for TV nuts, we'd have to say this N5200 NAS from Thecus is the NAS for people with actual secure storage needs (lame) -- or who are just plain nuts. First, the N5200 houses five hard drives, which by our count means you could get about 3.75TB worth of 750GB drives in this thing. For networking there are four Gigabit Ethernet ports, which should hopefully keep up with most small business networks. The box runs on a Celeron M CPU to manage all the crazy storage and bandwidth, and supports USB RAID if you'd like to get all redundant on your flash drives. Thecus has added AFP and NFS network support -- along with the usual suspects -- and are even throwing in an admin utility for Macs. Overall, the device is quite feature full, and its RAID6 and RAID10 support make it a haven of redundancy. No word yet on price or availability.
