Network Storage Gets Faster, More Flexible

For the acronym-impaired (and I know I can't be the only one), the existence of competing network storage technologies called NAS and SAN seems like a cruel joke. The temptation is to throw up your hands, declare them both fancy hard drives and move on to trying to figure what the hell HSDPA stands for.

But the folks at Zetera make a compelling argument for giving this alphabetic confusion a little more thought. Zetera makes the technology that goes into SAN (Storage Area Network) devices for both businesses and consumers from manufacturers like Bell Microproducts and Netgear. These enclosures accomodate two to four hard drives and can be plugged directly into an ethernet port on your network. In that way, they're much like NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems.

Zetera's devices have some real advantages over NAS drives, though. They stream data around your network two to three times faster than the 20 mbps that NAS technology achieves, according to CEO Chuck Cortright. At their demo here in Las Vegas at CES 2007, that translated into streaming 5 or 6 video streams, including a high def stream, from one network hard drive.

SAN systems are also more flexible as your storage needs grow. A PC sees the SAN storage just as it would an internal hard drive, a drive D: or J: or Z:. Add another 250GB hard drive to the SAN system and your drive Z: can instantly grow by a quarter of a terabyte.

Traditionally, SAN has been so expensive and complicated that it's been confined to large enterprises. But Netgear's SC101 Storage Central, the first generation of Zetera-based gear, goes for less than $100 (without hard drives). Netgear today announced a new version, the SC101T Storage Central Turbo, which swaps the original's 10/100 ethernet for gigabit ethernet capability. It also accomodates SATA drives instead of the slower IDE drives that are in the original product. Cortright said he expected the SC101T to be available for about $200.

Zetera will also announce tomorrow that their systems will now work with Macintosh computers.

For all the advantages of these systems, though, I think huge demand for them may be hindered by a couple factors.

One, if your home network is Wi-Fi, streaming 5 or 6 video signals will likely make your high-def picture look like an old-fashioned flip book. Two, until copy controls are loosened up for digital copies of DVDs and streaming of recorded television, I wonder how many homes will have a terabyte of content they need to store.

Eventually, though, I wouldn't be surprised if these systems become an integral part of a serious home network/home theater.

For more up-to-the-minute blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation's largest consumer electronics show, visit PC World's CES 2007 Live Coverage Infocenter.

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