Much has been written over the last few years regarding the influence of consumers on new technology, and how products designed for consumers can even end up being used in a corporate IT environment. A prime example is the PDA, but many firms will have discovered workers operating clandestine wireless access points in the office. In many cases, the consumer kit turns out to have many or all of the features of much more expensive enterprise-grade products.

In the same vein, I've just upgraded my home network with some extra storage in the shape of a LaCie Ethernet Disk mini. The device, which doubles as either a USB external hard disk or as network-attached storage (NAS), is designed for the home or small office, but is a low-cost and relatively simple way to add extra storage to any network.

The drive is quite compact, sitting neatly underneath the Linksys wireless router that forms the core of my home network. But despite its unobtrusive appearance, the Ethernet Disk mini is essentially a self-contained server running an embedded version of Linux and equipped with a web-based administration console.

LaCie provides a configuration tool that scans the network and reports the IP address the Ethernet Disk mini is using. Armed with this information, you can then point a web browser at the drive and configure its network name, create a shared volume, and specify users allowed access, among other things.

Although aimed at the home or small office, the Ethernet Disk mini could be used to provide shared storage for a small workgroup or branch office in any company, while the web-based admin console allows it to be remotely configured and managed.

The product is available in 250GB, 300GB and 500GB versions, priced from £129.

23 Aug 2006