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Iomega Corp. has announced three storage solutions aimed at increasing the companys lead in the entry-level NAS arena by focusing on simplicity, low cost, automation and data protection.
A new SATA (Serial ATA) drive, an expanded network-attached storage server lineup and a new line of low-cost storage servers all serve to further the San Diego companys standing in the eyes of small and midsize businesses looking to adopt NAS technology.
The new SATA drive, part of Iomegas REV 35GB removable storage products, provides high-speed data transfers with random-access capability.
The result, said Wayne Arvidson, director of professional storage solutions, is a faster, easier and less expensive backup and file recovery system.
And since the REV drive allows organizations to expand storage capacity in 35GB increments, they also can be used as an alternative to external hard drives.
The REV SATA drive is bundled with Iomegas Automatic Backup Pro software for file-level backup and disaster recovery.
The software allows system administrators to perform live or scheduled system backups within Windows without shutting down or rebooting the system.
Iomega also has added four new models to its NAS 200d line of NAS servers—a 320GB drive, a 480GB drive, a 750GB drive and a 320GB drive with a built-in REV 35GB drive for high-performance backup and archiving.
All four models have a Microsoft Windows Print Server Support option for up to five network printers. Support for unlimited network printers is an optional upgrade.
Finally, Iomega announced the NAS 300r series with Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003.
Next Page: Three models geared toward SMBs.
Three models geared toward
SMBs”>
The series, designed as a hardened storage vault, comes in three models with capacities ranging from 320GB to 500GB. Because of their lower cost point—starting at $2,000—and easy installation due to a plug-and-play configuration, the storage servers are geared toward small and midsize businesses, Arvidson said.
The NAS 300r Series storage server ships with Iomegas Automatic Backup Pro software.
Each client PC on the network can choose continuous backup or scheduled backup to the 300r Series server, Arvidson said.
With continuous backup, every file the user creates or changes on the client PC is automatically copied to the server as a backup destination, he said.
Other features include hot-swappable drives to enable recovery from disk failure without downtime, Microsoft Exchange database support, point-in-time file recovery and the inclusion of Computer Associates eTrust Antivirus software.
With these announcements, Iomega is clearly positioning itself as the NAS vendor of choice for small and midsize companies, said Brad Nisbet, a program manager in the storage systems practice at IDC of Framingham, Mass.
“They have realized that for SMBs, its not only about sharing files, but about protecting data. Most small organizations dont back up at the PC client level, and thats a real gap for some organizations Iomega is trying to pursue,” he said.
Nisbet said Iomega is so successful with the SMB strategy it has employed over the past 18 to 24 months, in fact, that the company might be successful expanding into the consumer and home markets.
“If any company can position itself there, it could be Iomega,” he said. “Its focusing on a lot of the same key elements that are important in SMBs—simplicity, cost and data protection. Those are the three things that will drive consumer and digital home opportunities.”