Alienware has just announced the Alienware High Definition Media Server, a 4TB of storage behemoth to be both a media file repository and a distribution point for all the multimedia content a user might have at home .

Alienware's Hangar 18 media server has been launched on the US market only for the moment and comes with four hot-swappable hard-disk drives that can be hot-swapped at run time without damaging the running multimedia files. The four disks are resting on their bays situated in front of the device.

The Alienware High Definition Media Server is available as we speak, but its pricing starts at about $5,000. Of course, higher configurations are always available, according to Patrick Cooper, director of product management for Alienware, a Dell high-end subsidiary. For some extra cash, the user can opt for say, solid-storage drives that will bring quite some extra speed, but since the largest SSD known to man is BitMICRO's 832GB SATA 2.5", you'd better stick to the conventional media. Unless you want to spend twice the server's price for a single SSD.

According to Cooper, the product is extremely sophisticated and needs professional experience for a painless and successful deployment. "The Hi-Def Media Server is really for the media junkie. It's a very sophisticated product and not one that most novice users would find simple to set up and get working with all the devices in the home," said Cooper.

The silver beast is more than 4 TB of data storage: it comes with Blu-ray read/write, 1080p output, CableCard support and Dolby Digital 7.1 sounds for a full multimedia experience. Needless to wonder why they did not implement a HD-DVD reader or, at least a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD combo optical unit.

The new server also provides remote access from any computer or handheld that is connected to the Internet. It can stream and share digital movies, music and photo files, while performing automated backups and multiple digital programs recording at the same time.

"People want to be able to keep all their data in one place and access it from any place in the home. [The media server] is built around having a device with sufficient storage to house all your music, movies, and be able to distribute that seamlessly and wirelessly throughout the home," he said.