Seagate has managed to squeeze a whopping 12TB of storage into a new 4-bay network attached storage unit (NAS) that's about the same size as the subwoofer on my surround sound system. The BlackArmor NAS 440 small business solution can support up to 50 workstations, offers data encryption, is both Windows and Mac compatible and sports a foursome of USB ports for extra connectivity.
As more and more businesses go digital, the need for storage space increases. For small concerns with less than 50 employees, Seagate has unveiled what it claims to be the industry's first 12TB, four-bay NAS. Initially, the BlackArmor NAS 440 network storage server will come shipped with four hot-swappable 3TB drives which can be RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 or JBOD configured and will be available exclusively from Seagate and selected retailers for a suggested retail price of US$1,899.99.
The BlackArmor NAS 440 server comes with support for Microsoft Active Directory that enables user and group population, hardware-based encryption, included online access and ftp functionality and is DNLA compliant. Full system backup and recovery is offered courtesy of SafetyDrill+ software and there's email event notification too. The status of the servers can also be viewed on the unit's onboard LCD screen. Other features include Access Control List support, multi-volume management capability and volume level encryption.
The 8.15 x 6.3 x 10.59-inch (207 x 160 x 269mm) NAS is said to offer easy configuration and setup, is both Windows and Mac compatible and sports four USB ports for extra connectivity, a 1.2GHz processor, 256MB of memory and two Ethernet ports for local network connection.
