Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 10, 2010. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The “LaCie 5big Backup Server” supports 10 PCs and 25 Macintosh workstations and distributes the data using a D410, a 64-bit Atom processor from Intel. Its internal operating system is Windows Home Server, but Time Machine still works. The enclosure has room for five hard drives that can be replaced during operation, providing up to 10 terabytes at current hard-drive capacities, and there are also connections for eSATA and USB drives.
A backup solution also appears to be integrated, although we found no precise information about how it works. At a manufacturer’s price of 1,249 euros, the backup server can be yours from August 13.
If the small backup server is not enough, LaCie is also releasing a storage server that provides file sharing and SMB for branches. A dual-core 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor – the D510 – hums away inside. The operating system is Windows Storage Server 2008 Standard, which generally works without problems with Windows, Mac and Linux systems.
For file-sharing protocols, you can choose between SMB, NFS, AFP, iSCSI, HTTP and FTP, and even Windows Active Directory is possible. A RAID system (0, 1, 5, 5 + Spare) ensures data security and, according to the manufacturer, also supports remote replication. There are just as many hard-drive slots as in the smaller backup server, namely five, giving the LaCie 5big Storage Server a maximum storage capacity of 10 TB. LaCie’s recommended price is 1,999 euros.
