Double the performance of the N5200 PRO?
If you thought Thecus' N5200 Pro NAS device, complete with its built-in processing power, was a fast performer, wait 'till you get a load of its successor, the i5500.
Thecus claims the i5500 will raise the bar and deliver "unprecedented iSCSI performance, uninterrupted data capacity expansion, and air-tight security in a cost effective package".
With its Intel Xscale IOP80331 CPU and 512MB of DDR memory, we're almost inclined to agree. Thecus even claim that the i5500 will provide "up to twice the performance of its predecessor the N5200 PRO" - that's quite the claim.
The i5500 provides five hot-swappable SATA drive bays and can accommodate up to a total of 5TBs of storage. As you'd expect from Thecus, it'll give you the choice of a wide selection of RAID modes including RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 3, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD as well as instant RAID volume availability, auto volume rebuilding, and support for up to 256 logical volumes.
Geared toward enterprise users, security is paramount and the i5500 includes Logical Unit Number (LUN) support, enabling administrators to specify read and write access to specific hosts accessing the unit through the iSCSI protocol. In addition, you'll get Local N-way mirroring, offline array roaming and smart faulty sector relocation.
General Manager at Thecus, Florence Shih, said:
"We created the i5500 with total performance and security in mind."
"Following in the footsteps of our acclaimed N5200 PRO, the i5500 represents a new industry benchmark for enterprise-level data storage devices, and is ideal for businesses looking for block level data transmission without the hassle and expense of fibre channel."
The i5500 will be compatible with all major operating systems, including Windows NT/XP/2003/Vista, OSX, OSX Server, XSERVE, and all Linux builds with SCSI support.
Thecus hasn't yet revealed a price or release date for the promising i5500, but as with the N3200M, expect more details at CeBIT next week.
Official press release: Introducing the Thecus i5500 iSCSI RAID Device
