Buffalo Technology debuts 24TB TeraStation NAS appliance for SMBs

Storage and networking firm Buffalo Technology has launched a series of NAS devices aimed at meeting the storage needs of small and medium sized firms.

The TeraStation Pro 8 Bay is the premier Buffalo NAS device, which is powered by Intel Atom dual-core 1.66GHz processors and offers 8TB, 16TB or 24TB of storage using eight hard drives.

Key features include automatic disk encryption, DLNA functionality, support for Network File System protocol and the ability to access data remotely using native Android and iOS applications.

The drives are hot-swappable and have built in RAID 6 capabilities, so the system will continue to operate even with two failed drives.

The 8 Bay is approximately the same size as a small desktop computer, with dimensions of 300x215x230mm and a weight of 12.5kg, so it can be kept on a desk.

Buffalo had previously provided a maximum of 8TB, but this had been extended to 24TB following customer demand, explained Paul Hudson, sales director for northern Europe at Buffalo.

"SMBs have been asking for larger storage options at a cost effective price, which is what we are aiming to provide," he told V3.co.uk.

"With the TeraStation Pro Family, businesses can keep large amounts of data where they can see it, and retain control over it instead of having to go out and rent space in a datacentre."

Despite having a RAID 6 rating, Hudson stated that it is imperative for businesses to back up data in case of a failure on the motherboard. This can be done by connecting a USB hard drive or by initiating a backup over the network using the NovaBackup Business Essentials software provided.

"Some firms buy the TeraStations in pairs to cater for backup and we are also looking at the possibility of offering cloud back up services in the future," he added.

The TeraStation Pro 8 Bay is available now. The 8TB version starts at £1,600, rising to £2,600 for the 16TB and £2,999 for the 24TB.

Buffalo will also launch a Windows Storage Server-compatible TeraStation WS-Q2.0TL that will accommodate up to 4TB of storage.

The smaller 8kg appliance integrates with Windows Storage Servers as it is built using the same code. The server features an Indexing Service to search documents by text or author name, for example.

The Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 also supports third-party applications and RAID levels 0, 1 and 5.

Buffalo is expected to start shipping the Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 at the end of the month, the 4TB appliance starting at £1,300.

The firm also offers a three-year warranty, and any faulty hard drives can be removed and sent for repair or replacement.