Netgear Unveils Stora, an Easy-to-Use Home Media Server

As storage solutions become more affordable, the consumer market gets crowded with products that are aimed at home users looking for a way to store their most important digital files. On that note, NETGEAR has announced today the launch of its new Stora product, a network attached storage device that has been specifically designed to enable consumers to easily store their photos, music, movies and other digital files, which can also be shared online with friends and relatives through an intuitive graphical user interface.

“We strongly feel that Stora exemplifies the next-generation of consumer storage devices,” said Drew Meyer, director of marketing for NETGEAR's Network Storage Business Unit. “NETGEAR has already made its mark in the business and prosumer market with our ReadyNAS line, but Stora is most definitely a platform for everyone. Stora gives users the features they need today with a consumer-friendly user interface and price point, making their media available to them and their designated friends and families anytime, anywhere – even on mobile smartphones. It truly sets a new bar for the consumer network storage market.”

Designed as a home media server, the NETGEAR Stora has been featured with two SATA channels and a Gigabit Ethernet interface, while a USB 2.0 port allows for external storage solutions to be added for future expansion. The device also features 256MB of embedded flash memory for the OS and supports RAID 1 configurations, as well as Windows, Mac and Linux/UNIX clients.

The device measures 175.25 x 150 x 146 mm and weighs in at 1.36 kg, without the SATA hard drive. Providing users with a choice for storing, sharing and protecting their music, movies, photos and other data files, the new NETGEAR Stora looks to be a choice for those looking for a convenient storage product. In addition, the device also integrates with Facebook, iTunes, Flickr 2 and web-enabled phones, all within a product that has an MSRP of US$229.