Not Just Another Big Network Drive: Maxtor Prepares to Put 1TB of Media-Savvy Storage on Your Home Network

Entering a Crowded Marketplace...

SlashGear reports that Seagate has announced a new 1TB network attached drive, the Maxtor Central Axis network drive. Network attached drives aren't exactly new, of course.

Maxtor and Seagate already offer a number of network drives with similar capacities. Other vendors offering 1TB-class network storage include:

• Western Digital (read our review of the My Book World Edition II dual-drive edition here)
• Iomega
• Buffalo Technology
• Netgear
• LaCie

The market is crowded, all right. So, what makes Maxtor's new network box so special? 

...With More-than-PC Features

So, what makes this new product special? Features that recognize that today's home networks are not just a collection of PCs running Windows, but also include console games, media devices, and systems running MacOS. Central Axis is designed to meet the following needs:

• Backup; includes automatic backup software for both Windows and MacOS clients
• Remote access; supports secure remote access via web browser
• Streaming media support; enables game consoles that support the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) standard, such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, to display videos, pictures, and play music stored on the Central Axis; requires a UPnP AV 1.0 certified Digital Media Adapter for streaming media
• Includes UPnP (universal Plug and Play) for easy configuration
• Two additional USB ports (support print server and additional storage)
• Password protected storage 

Specifications

Hard disk

• 1TB, 7200RPM, 32MB cache

Network Connectivity

• Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)

Supports Web Interface for management

• Firefox 2.x or later; IE 6.x or later

Operating systems

• Windows XP, Vista - MacOS 10.4.11 or later

Warranty

• 5 years

The Target Is...

The Central Axis has more than just other network drives in its sights. With its support for automatic backup, it's a potential rival to Microsoft's Home Server, and with support for game consoles and MacOS as well as Windows clients, it's intending to sweep the 'best in show' for network drives.

Cha-ching!

The Central Axis will have a retail price at July introduction of $329.95, which is more than many of its competitors.

Read More About It

For full information, see the Maxtor Solutions website. The press release is available here.

(Drive photo courtesy of Slashgear.com)