Buffalo Squeezes Palm-Sized Terabyte Network-Attached Storage

In a world where Network-Attached Storage devices easily fill up the space under your desktop, Buffalo's new offering seems too good to be true. The company has just unveiled a palm-sized network-attached storage drive that can easily fit into the palm of your hand.

Called the LinkStation Mini, the device packs an impressive amount of 1 TB of storage capacity in a miniature form factor, ready to be grabbed and stuffed into a large pocket or a regular notebook bag. The device only weighs 400 grams and comes in a compressed form factor (1.57 x 3.22 x 5.31 inches), to allow full portability. Buffalo achieved 1 terabyte of storage space using two 500 GB, 2.5-inch drives spinning at 5,400 RPM.

The unit supports RAID 1 and RAID 0 hard-disk drive modes, but the former technology will dramatically reduce the effective storage capacity to only half a terabyte.

The miniature network-attached storage unit, however, comes with basic connectivity options only, as the miniature rear panel could not carry more. The device comes with a Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 connector and an USB port that allows users to daisy-chain other external hard-disk drives for increased storage capabilities.

More than that, the LinkStation Mini comes with built-in print server functionality, that allows it to share an USB printer over the entire local network.

"Businesses and consumers alike are seeking space saving solutions with the same level of performance and features as standard-sized NAS devices," Buffalo Technology's CEO, Takayuki Nishioka claimed.

The miniature network-attached storage device is also compatible with Buffalo's Web Access service, that gives users full control to their saved data from a remote location, using a web-based interface. The unit supports the SMB and FTP protocols to control the users' permissions over the stored files, as well as HTTP and HTTPS for the web-oriented operation mode.

The LinkStation Mini portable NAS is expected to hit the United States market later in May at an estimative retail price of $699. The device will also be available on the UK and Europe markets, but the company did not unveil its exact date of arrival.

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