Intel Targets SMB, Consumer Storage

SAN FRANCISCO — With all the hubbub over multi-core and the digital home
and chip architecture roadmaps at the Intel
Developer Forum
this week, an interesting storage announcement by
the chip giant was largely overlooked.

Targeting the growing storage needs of SMBs and consumers,
Intel unveiled the Entry Storage System SS4000-E, a small box system that
can fit on a bookshelf and is capable of storing up to two terabytes.

The SS4000-E storage system runs on Intel’s XScale 80219 processor and
connects through a Gigabit Ethernet network. It supports up to four Serial
Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disks. And a client backup and
recovery application is included for complete system backup.

The company said a Linux-based operating system included in the SS400-E enables
sharing of files between Windows, Linux and Macintosh users.

“Storage today is a $60 billion industry and we saw an unmet need in the
SMB and SOHO [Small Office/Home Office] market,” said Pat Gelsinger, senior
vice president of Intel’s digital enterprise group, in a speech at the Intel Developer Forum here this week. “This is enterprise-class storage for the
masses.”

Intel won’t be selling the system directly to
consumers, but rather to the computer reseller channel. The storage unit is
available now and priced from $700 to $2000 at retail depending on how much
storage is included by the dealer starting at 250 GB.

Designed to help centralize large or vital data files, the SS4000-E is
based on standard Network Attached Storage (NAS) technology with system backup, remote boot and system recovery, and
it can be accessed by multiple users simultaneously.

With the increasing use
of photo, video, music files and games, Intel is also touting the system for
sophisticated home users to augment their computer hard drives and keep
their files in a central location.

“This is a purposeful device to help businesses manage data,” John
Williams, product line manager for storage at Intel, told
internetnews.com. “And if a catastrophe strikes, there’s peace of mind
because you can retrieve the image and restore it to the PC or another
device.”

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