Procom Adds Low-End, High-Capacity NAS Filer

Procom Technology Inc. recently added to its line of Serial ATA-based filers for network-attached storage with its NetForce 900.

The new unit provides up to 4.8 terabytes of storage capacity in a 3U (5.25-inch) enclosure, and offers one of the lowest costs per gigabyte at $9,995, according to the vendor.

SATA-based NAS filers combine functionality and cost effectiveness, said Farid Neema, president and senior analyst of Peripheral Concepts Inc., in a statement. "The new NF 900 offers the full force of Procom's intellectual property assets and NAS know-how in a very affordable package. It sets a new level of value in networked storage."

Procom said the NF900 is intended for small and medium businesses, workgroups, and departments of large organizations that need large amounts of economical storage that are easy to deploy and manage. The vendor said the gear is especially well suited for the telecommunications industry applications because of its short, 21-inch depth and the 48-volt DC power supplies that are available. Both features allow for easy integration into telco environments, Procom claimed.

The NF900 uses Procom's the same operating system used in the vendor's high-end NAS filers. It also offers a journaling file system to ensure data integrity and checkpoints for rapid recovery of damaged or deleted files. Other functions include cross-platform heterogeneous file sharing, full SNMP monitoring, local SCSI backup options, and support for NDMP (v2 and v3).The NF900 is expected to become available sometime in January, Procom said.