Buffalo TeraStation 5200 NAS Debuts

Buffalo is somewhat periodic in its release of network-attached storage devices, just like it is in most other fields it dabbles in (drive enclosures, optical drives, SSDs, even wireless routers).

The product coming out this time is the TeraStation 5200 NAS, which has four drive bays and the Intel Atom D2550 dual-core CPU. Buffalo didn't exactly try to put all its NAS rivals to shame with this, unlike its recent achievement on the wireless router front. Although it did include a variety of features, it also kept in mind that small and medium businesses can't afford to pay a fortune for storage. As such, only two of the four HDD bays are pre-populated, for up to 6 TB (combined). RAID 0/1/JBOD modes are all supported.

iSCSI, replication and failover support, as well as SoleraTec Phoenix RSM ( a video surveillance asset management solution) are part of the spec sheet as well. That said, the aforementioned Atom CPU has a frequency of 1.86 GHz and is backed by 2 GB of DDR3 memory. This, Buffalo says, permits multiple services to be run at the same time. "By reducing the complexity and cost of traditional IP video surveillance storage and asset management, the TeraStation 5000 series eliminates many of the barriers businesses face when implementing and running IP-based surveillance," said Matt Dargis, senior director of sales at Buffalo Technology.

"This launch proves once again our dedication to delivering high performance solutions that serve the needs of our customers and our commitment to the SMB market." In addition to the things already mentioned, TeraStation 5200, like the others in the 5000 series, gets USB 3.0 support, Gigabit Ethernet (two ports) and, of course, hot-swap HDD support. Finally, a video surveillance asset management platform is included in the product, for high-quality video storage, access and playback.

TeraStation 5400 will replace the current TeraStation Pro Quad TS-QVL/R6, will have a base capacity of 4TB and should be available in June at an estimated street price of $879.99 / 705 Euro, or more, if higher capacities are selected.

Posted in: Hardware, Preview