Is there no stopping the Eee steamroller? The latest addition to Asus’ Atom-powered family of devices is a simplified Linux-based home server.
Computex 2009 | The nimble Atom platform continues to punch above its weight and outside the ‘netbook’ class. Asus is the latest vendor to drop the low-power processor into a home server, which it has (of course!) dubbed the Eee NAS, intended to provide data storage and backup for homes and very small businesses.
Launched at this week’s Computex show in Taiwan, the Eee NAS pairs the Atom N270 processor with 2GB of RAM and a pair of 7200rpm 500GB SATA drives for a total of 1 terrabyte of storage.
The Eee NAS is yet another twist on Intel's netbook platform but adds some nice touches to the home NAS category
But unlike other NAS systems the Eee NAS fully embraces its netbook origins by building into the slim white chassis a slot-loading DVD-RW drive, 802.11n Wi-Fi (in addition to four Gigabit Ethernet ports) and even a three-cell battery to provide 15 minutes of emergency run time in the event of a brownout or short-lived blackout.
There's Wi-Fi inside and plenty of ports outside, including four – count 'em, four – Gigabit Ethernet jacks
The Eee NAS also sports a 3.5-inch touchscreen panel for easy configuration, admin and other tasks such as using the DVD drive to upload and copy data.
Asus didn’t detail which version of Linux the Eee NAS runs. The EeeNAS will launch in selected markets with a price tag under US$1,000, although there’s no word on if Australia will be included in the first wave.
Also on show was the Skype-friendly Eee Videophone, another not-in-Australia-yet product. This partners a 0.3 megapixel VGA webcam with a 7 inch 800 x 480 pixel screen with both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections.
David Flynn is attending Computex 2009 as a guest of Intel.
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