Posted 05/12/09 at 03:25:23 PM by Andy Salisbury

This week LaCie announced yet another addition to their line of network storage drives with the 2big Network and the 5big Network.

They both feature Gigabit Ethernet, seven RAID modes, as well as “improved performance, enhanced features, comprehensive backup support, and extreme capacity expansion.” The 2big will offer up to 4TB of storage, while the 5big can load up with up to 10TB of storage through five hot-swappable drives.

Both of these are available today, and will start at $319.99 (2big) and $799.99 (5big). However, if you want the whopping 10TB version of the 5big, it’ll run you $2099.99.

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Posted 04/08/09 at 05:34:09 PM by Andy Salisbury

Network storage is valuable in just so many ways, but having enough of it can prove to be a roadblock that some companies (or in rare cases, users) have to face. Thanks to the minds over at Data Robotics, they’ve made it possible to toss up to 16TB onto your network, thanks to the DroboPro.

The DroboPro, announced just yesterday, can pack up to eight 3.5-inch SATA drives inside it (for a maximum of 16TB of storage), and will connect to your network through Ethernet, Firewire 800 or USB 2. It is compatible with both Vista and OS X, so if you’ve got a network juggling different OS’es, you’re set.

It’ll all cost you $1300 for just the box, no storage included. But if you’ve got a heap of files to store, this certainly is an attractive solution.

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Posted 10/15/08 at 01:51:28 PM by Andy Salisbury

LaCie has always been good about their design, and that trend looks like it’s going to continue with designer Neil Poulton’s HAL 9000 inspired 5big Network Drive.

The 5big is aimed at small and medium sized workgroups with nerves of steel, and a need for a ton of storage. It will feature five hot-swappable Serial ATA drive bays that can hold up to 7.5 terabytes of storage total (more than HAL 9000 had, I bet). Should 7.5 terabytes not be enough, you can always add additional drives through the included USB ports.

The drives that you decide to put in the 5big can be put in several different raid arrays, including RAID 5, RAID 5+Spare, RAID 6, RAID 10 and RAID 0. And thanks to an included Gigabit Ethernet port, anyone connected to your local network can access it.

And don’t worry, should you decide to get a new network drive somewhere along the line you won’t be having the same issues that a certain Dave Bowman did.

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Posted 07/25/07 at 10:37:21 PM by By Mark Soper

With Gigabit Ethernet storage devices abounding, it's time to look for routers with faster ports.

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