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Ah, network attached storage; whether you’re building your own or buying premade, nothing beats a NAS box when it comes to storing and streaming media files across a network. For the most part, NAS boxes offer a stripped-down interface and very few bells and whistles, making them fairly energy-efficient compared to full-fledged PCs. Hey – aren’t netbooks low-powered too? Yep, and now that most everybody’s passing up netbooks in favor of tablets, a new report says that Intel may be planning to shift some focus for its low-powered Atom chips from netbooks to NAS boxes.
Anything you read in DigiTimes should be taken with a grain of salt – or seven – since the publication doesn’t exactly bat .1000 with its rumors, but this one actually makes some sense (and hey, NAS boxes should get more spotlight time, anyways). DigiTimes’ as-always-anonymous sources claim that we’ll start seeing new 32nm Atom CPUs for NAS boxes and entry-level servers as early as the second quarter of 2012. The publication even outs the chips’ alleged codename: Centerton.
While Atom chips don’t offer anywhere near the brawn of Sandy Bridge, they can certainly hold their own against the CPUs currently found in NAS boxes. But then again, most people don’t expect – or even want – too much out of their network storage. Does the thought of an Atom-powered NAS box intrigue you?
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praetor_alpha
December 26, 2011 at 4:34pm
This is news? Atoms have been in NAS boxes for some time already.
I expect 100+MB/s out of my NAS, which my existing server already does.
hmp_goose
December 26, 2011 at 1:10pm
Will these new Atoms beat the power draw of a Celeron G440? Do you need the multi-threaded horsepower of a G540?
