Iomega is best known as a manufacturer of removable storage devices, like the Zip, Jaz and Click (now PocketZip) drives. The company is extending its reach into the lucrative enterprise-networking realm with its new DataSafe products. NAS servers have been developed to separate storage resources on a corporate network from application and network servers. They’re typically designed to be more or less plug-and-play, and offer remote administration capabilities. The DataSafe line joins a growing market of NAS products from other manufacturers.
Iomega Vice President Doug Collier said that his company is well-positioned to introduce the DataSafe line to the market.
“Economical and efficient NAS servers are a natural extension of Iomega’s product offering, and our brand strength and quality reputation in the storage sector will be invaluable in the growing NAS market,” said Collier.
The DataSafe servers also include multi-user licenses for Iomega’s QuickSync 3 backup software, which can be used to automate backups from specified folders on a local desktop machine’s hard drive to the DataSafe server itself. The 160GB DataSafe server includes a 20-user license, while the 320GB server includes a 50-seat license.
The DataSafe servers include software that enable them to be used as storage devices for Windows, Linux/UNIX, Mac OS and Netware clients, and the servers are designed to be remotely monitored through simple network management protocol (SNMP). The servers themselves are 1U high rack-mountable systems that can be configured in RAID 0, 1 and 5 configurations, as well. The DataSafe servers sport dual 10/100 Ethernet ports, Gigabit Ethernet featured on the 320GB model, multiple fans, a journaling file system and integrated UPS support.
Look for the DataSafe NAS servers to begin appearing in the second quarter of the year.