Netgear Announces Rack-Mount Storage Solution

Network solutions specialist Netgear has announced the ReadyNAS 2100, a rack-mounted 1U four-bay storage system that the company claims provides a compact, reliable solution to cost-conscious businesses of all sizes in 2TB and 4TB storage models.

The solution enables SMBs (small to medium-size businesses) to share, store and protect files across a LAN or WAN, guard against disk failures and grow capacity as needed. Compared with competitive 1U products, the shallow form factor enables a 100 percent increase in rack density through back-to-back mounting in a four-post data center rack, according to Netgear.

Mark Song, product line manager for Netgear's network storage business unit, said the company is dedicated to providing a complete range of solutions for the SMB. "We're extremely proud that our ReadyNAS unified architecture solves numerous data management problems with a single system, making capacity management, access, backup, restore and disaster recovery worries obsolete,” he said. "With ReadyNAS, SMB network managers can eliminate common data concerns and revolutionize their storage environment without needing to become an expert."

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Its modular design—what the company calls the "X-Change" rapid system board module—packages the system board, power supply and cooling fans into a compact module. The 12-inch depth allows for easier servicing and facilitates back-to-back physical arrangements.

Users of the ReadyNAS 2100 also benefit from energy efficiency; the device has an Intel advanced embedded processor as well as smart power management options, such as sequential drive spin-up and idle drive spin-down, which can reduce overall power consumption to less than 80 watts.

The 2100 provides SMBs with backup and recovery in mixed client environments, entry-level server and desktop virtualization, and cross-platform file sharing all on one storage platform, according to the company. Netgear is also targeting larger enterprise customers, claiming the 2100 can help them meet extreme affordability requirements for compliance or remote office concerns.

Matt Rogish, CTO at the J. Peterman Co., an apparel and home furnishings company, said the 2100 is just what his company needed. "It has the performance to support our virtual machine farm, and I especially like the affordability of the X-Change module,” he said. “It helps us stretch our budget by offloading from our more expensive equipment and freeing it up for other uses.”

The ReadyNAS 2100—with 2TB and 4TB of storage—will be available in early June from resellers at an estimated street price starting at $1,899. Netgear said a model with 8TB of storage will be available later in 2009. The 2100 offers support for file services (NAS) and application services (iSCSI) for Windows, Unix/Linux and Mac systems.