Storage > SOHO SystemsEssentials

Maxtor's Central Axis (US$319.99) offers a new way to add a centralized, always-available terabyte of storage to your local network, whether you install it at home to share media files or set it up at work to share proposals among your colleagues. You can even stream your media to UPnP AV-compatible (Universal Plug and Play Audio/Visual) networked entertainment systems without using a computer. Best of all, by setting up an account with Seagate Global Access, you can store and retrieve files from the Central Axis device over the Internet.

Size doesn't matter, or so the old adage goes. Yet obviously it does matter -- or else we wouldn't have both towering desktop PCs and petite portable netbooks. But how about something like a network-attached storage (NAS) device, which is basically a box that sits on a shelf or a desk and never travels, never moves -- does size matter there?

Western Digital this week launched its first foray into the small-office network storage market with the ShareSpace drive bay system.

Toshiba has entered the portable storage market with the launch of an external hard drive range.

Western Digital (WD) released the second-generation My Book Studio Edition external storage system scaling it to a total capacity of two terabytes.

The scoop: HP MediaSmart Server, by HP, starts at US$600 (AU$687) (costs vary depending on storage capacity chosen).

Iomega has announced the availability of its new REV 120GB backup drive, the third generation of its REV technology.