Adding to Buffalo's line of network storage devices is the TS-XEL/R5 family of four-bay NAS devices. The products will be marketed under the TeraStation brand and will add their storage capabilities to an already large family of high-performance NAS storage devices, among which are the TeraStation III products (TS-XL and TS-RX), TeraStation Duo (TS-WXL), TeraStation Pro II (TS-HTGL) and others.

The upcoming family of networking storage devices is already in its finishing stages. The actual denomination of the product family is the TeraStation TS-XEL/R5 and it is made up of three models that distinguish themselves from each other through their differing maximum storage capabilities. As such, the TS-XEL/R5 may come with a maximum storage capacity of 2TB, 4TB and even 6TB.

The stations will be able to manage up to four hard drives each. The actual storage units may be RAID 0.5, RAID 5 or even RAID 10 hard drives. In addition to the storage possibilities, the new TeraStation family also has a variety of special features, which provide data reliability and retention even in case of hard drive failure.

Through use of the Hot Swap functionality feature, the TeraStaion is able to instantly power down a drive in case of failure, allowing for its safe removal without endangering the other drives housed inside of it. The station also features Active Directory integration and two USB 2.0 ports, as well as dual Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.

The TS-XEL/R5 TeraStation family has, as a bonus, compatibility with Apple's Time Machine. This allows for increased backup functionality and assures the possibility for data retrieval in the unlikely cases when data does get lost or corrupted.

The TeraStation TS-XEL/R5 will begin shipping in Japan by the end of the month and will be priced at $946 for the 2TB model, $1,180 for the 4TB version, and $1,535 for the more highly capable 6TB station.