Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 24, 2010. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
LaCie today announced the next generation of network storage devices for small and medium-sized businesses: LaCie d2 Network 2 (one hard drive), LaCie 2big Network 2 (two hard drives) and LaCie 5big Network 2 (five hard drives).
With data access speeds of up to 70 MB/s, users of these central storage devices can instantly share files or create a backup from a PC or Mac on a network. These complete backup solutions are compatible with Time Machine and include Genie Backup Manager Pro (Windows) and Intego Backup Manager Pro (Mac). These applications can create encrypted, compressed backups, restore files and even perform disaster recovery.
These professional solutions offer extensive benefits for IT managers, such as an intuitive web-based administration tool organised through user-friendly widgets. This tool makes it easy to manage users, groups and disk-quota shares. User management is further simplified by the ability to join a Windows Active Directory, which automatically imports users and respects existing permissions. The administration tool can also be configured to send email notifications in the event of a temperature problem or when a disk quota is exceeded.
These flexible desktop solutions are suitable for small and medium-sized businesses and are ideal for numerous applications. They can be stacked to save space or installed in racks. For maximum flexibility, the LaCie d2 Network 2 and LaCie 2big Network 2 can be connected directly to a PC or Mac via USB. To ensure complete data access, they can be reached through remote access using automatic port forwarding and dynamic IP integration. The LaCie 2big Network 2 and LaCie 5big Network 2 offer hot-swappable hard drives and RAID 1 for data redundancy. The 5big Network 2 offers RAID 6 for greater performance and security.
“With unique performance, design and reliability, this next generation of desktop NAS devices achieves a new level of flexibility for small and medium-sized businesses,” said Edin del Mar, LaCie’s product manager for SOHO NAS products. “This new product line, distinguished by improved design and enhanced usability, demonstrates LaCie’s continuous commitment to combining form, function and versatility in its products.”
With robust aluminium housings, energy-saving mode, deep-sleep programming and RoHS compliance, this product line is environmentally friendly. Wake-on-LAN compatibility means that the product can be switched on from a computer without having to be nearby.
The LaCie 5big Network 2 offers additional features such as an extra LAN port, enabling load balancing or link aggregation for exceptional Ethernet performance. The product can also be configured as an iSCSI target client to make corporate IT environments more flexible. The LaCie 5big Network 2 also offers UPS support through USB host ports, ensuring an uninterrupted power supply at all times.
Availability and warranty
The LaCie d2 Network 2 (RRP from €167.23 plus VAT), 2big Network 2 (RRP from €293.28 plus VAT) and 5big Network 2 (RRP from €528.57 plus VAT) have a three-year warranty and are available now from the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Reseller+ and LaCie Storage Partners.
Further information can be found at http://www.lacie.de.