NetGear launches first six-bay desktop NAS

NetGear on Monday announced it is now shipping the industry's first six-bay desktop network-attached storage (NAS) devices, with its ReadyNAS Pro range, meant for use in small- and medium-sized businesses with up to 200 users. Available in 1.5TB, 3TB and 6TB capacities, the products allow users connected in local or wireless networks to store, back up and share data whether operating on Windows, Mac or Linux platforms.

The three new NAS devices support RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and NetGear's own auto-expandable X-RAID2 configuration that protects data against disk failure, and has system monitoring along with built-in backup capabilities. The NAS devices also sport dual Gigabit Ethernet ports for connecting to a backup server. The NAS will hold up to six SATA II drives in lockable and hot-swappable disk trays. The 1.5TB NAS includes three 500GB drives, the 3TB unit has three 1TB drives, and the 6TB version uses six 1TB drives. For connecting peripherals and external USB drives, there are three USB 2.0 ports.

A dual-core Intel processor allows each ReadyNAS Pro to read at over 108MBps and write at 102MBps, while 1GB of RAM standard on each can be expanded up to 4GB. An LCD display lets users quickly check the status of the NAS, while more comprehensive set-up can be performed via a web-based GUI and set-up wizard. An active monitoring function will e-mail network administrators when abnormal situations or part failures are detected.

All three NetGear ReadyNAS Pros are currently available for sale, with prices starting at $2,000.

Filed under: computers, upgrades/storage, networking
Other story tags: Linux, Netgear