There’s been a great deal of NAS-related news lately, including Thecus updating the software for its entire lineup, and QNAP updating its Turbo NAS line to support virtual machines. Today, Seagate chimes in with an announcement of brand-new NAS models designed for the small business: Seagate NAS, and Seagate NAS Pro.
After perusing the materials I was given for this launch, I can honestly say that neither the hardware nor the software that these NASes pack match the dullness level of the branding. In fact, I need to give Seagate big kudos right off the top for designing what I personally think is the best-looking NAS to ever be released. I say this as someone who loves clean, boxy designs (something that my PC’s Corsair Obsidian 800D chassis proves), though. Seagate might not be the first to design a NAS like this, but the overall aesthetics strike me as… well, striking.
Seagate’s 4-bay NAS
Before touching on the tech specs, it’s worth emphasizing the fact that Seagate is targeting its latest NASes at small business customers – namely, those without dedicated IT staff. That includes businesses with just one employee, because after all, business data is business data, which is to say it’s important data to keep safe. Run a company with 50 employees? Seagate’s latest NAS Pro is perfectly suited for you.
Seagate’s latest NASes feature the company’s brand-new NAS OS 4, and unfortunately, we were not provided any screenshots as of the time of publishing. It’s always pretty exciting when a brand-new NAS OS gets released, so we’ll definitely be investigating it on our own in the future (and I’ll update this post with a screenshot once one becomes available).
To best understand whether you’re better-suited for a NAS or NAS Pro, you’ll need to investigate the specifications of each – the overall featuresets are far too vast and vary too subtly to allow me to properly cover them in a simple news post.
For the smaller of the SMBs (<25 employees), the NAS series should suffice; it lacks a bit in performance compared to the Pro, but that might not matter if overall workloads are light. By contrast, NAS Pro offers a much faster processor (1.7GHz dual-core vs. a 1.2GHz dual-core), and 4x the memory (2GB vs. 512MB). It’s also the only option if you have top-tier storage needs – with the 6-bay model you can reach 30TB.
30TB… in a small box. I love technology.
Seagate’s 6-bay NAS Pro
Beyond the hardware, Seagate is promising the most intuitive software package ever with its NAS OS 4 – especially for SMB use where there’s no IT. Essentially, anyone in charge of the NAS should be able to get by pretty easily. Like most NAS suites, NAS OS 4 supports add-in apps, including those from third-parties. By default, Seagate provides apps for antivirus, surveillance, WordPress, cloud software, and BitTorrent Sync.
Seagate’s latest SMB-bound NASes are set to become available for retail purchase soon. Pricing on the 2-bay NAS begins at $299.99 for a 2TB model and scales up to $649.99 for 10TB; the 4-bay NAS begins at $599 for 4TB and scales up to $1,499 for 20TB; and the NAS Pro’s prices will range from $399.99 for a 2-bay 2TB model up to $2,499.99 for the 30TB 6-bay model.