QNAP Offers World's Smallest NAS

QNAP's new SS-839 Pro Turbo is slated to be the world's smallest 8-bay.

QNAP Systems today is claiming to offer the "world's smallest 8-bay" with its new SS-839 Pro Turbo network-attached storage (NAS) server. The company backs its claim by providing support for eight 2.5-inch hard drives or solid state disks (SSD), and a storage capacity of up to 4 TB (or up to 500 GB per drive). To expand the NAS even more, QNAP also included two eSATA and five USB ports, allowing end-users to add extra external backup storage if needed. According to QNAP, the SS-839 Pro Turbo is targeted for business owners, consuming low power (34 W with all 8 bays installed) and remaining extremely quiet while providing high performance, stability, and scalability.

Under the hood, the SS-839 Pro features Intel's Atom N270 CPU running at 1.6 GHz, 2 GB DDR2 RAM, 128 MB Disk on Module (DOM) flash memory, and 2 gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet ports. The server also supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 5 + hot spare, single, and JBOD, Online RAID Capacity Expansion, and Online RAID Level Migration. On the security front, the server uses AES 256-bit volume-based encryption: end-users must provide the encryption password in order to access the drives.

Outside the hardware specifications, the SS-439 Pro Turbo can not only act as a network server, but also as an FTP sever and a web server using built-in applications such as phpMyAdmin, Joomla, MySQL/ SQLite, and an editable php.ini. As a printer server, the NAS supports up to three printers; performing as a Surveillance Station, the NAS can support up to four IP-based cameras. QNAP said that end-users could add additional software applications such as a mail server provided by XDove, a Wordpress system or other environments. Additional features include Wake on LAN, automatic policy-based IP blocking, network share status report, instant SMS and email alert, and more.

According to QNAP, the SS-839 Pro Turbo is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX operating systems. But is this really the "world's smallest 8-bay" NAS? Based on the specs, the overall size of the server is 6.97 (H) x 7.09 (W) x 9.25 (D) inches.

Currently, QNAP has not provided pricing and availability at this time.