VIA Technologies, a worldwide leading developer of power efficient x86 processor platforms, has announced today the release of its VIA ARTiGO A2000 barebone storage mini-server. The new ARTiGO A2000 offers a perfect balance between size and space, as it includes terabytes of storage capacity inside a stylish, compact, low power and low noise system.

 

Gigabytes and even terabytes of locally stored media are, today, more than often packed inside users' PCs – with home DVD projects and high definition video downloads that include large file sizes being added to them. The new VIA ARTiGO A2000 offers a much lower power consumption than a common desktop, while also delivering a wide storage area, allowing users to keep large home media libraries of music, photos and HD video. The new mini-server can also be used as a headless Network Attached Storage box, or in home server applications as a media storage and streaming device.

 

The new VIA ARTiGO A2000 features the same height as a CD, and is just 26cm (10.2”) long. Even so, it can store up to 3TB of data, which would be translated in about 4,500 CDs. Inside, the mini-server packs hard drives available on the market today in an impressively small footprint. The ARTiGO A2000 is easy to assemble, its two drive bays offering a simple snap-in solution for full-sized desktop hard drives.

 

“The VIA ARTiGO A2000 proves that small can be not only beautiful, but also substantial when it comes to storage capacity,” said VIA Embedded Business Development Manager, Jerry Yuan. “Building on the success of the ARTiGO A1000 Pico-ITX builder kit, VIA has once again broken the mould for barebones, creating a device that embodies VIA’s reputation for innovation and creativity in small spaces.”

 

The mini-server measures just 13.5cm wide x 12cm high x 26cm (5.3”x4.7”x10.2”). It includes a 1.5GHz VIA C7-D processor, and supports up to 2GB of DDR2 SO-DIMM 667/533MHz memory. There are two Serial ATA bays with integrated power ports packed inside the case, as well as a type I Compact Flash socket that can be found beneath the motherboard. For more connectivity, it also sports a Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports in the back and one port at the front, as well as support for a wireless 802.11 b/g module.

 

The VIA ARTiGO A2000 also features the VIA VX800 system media processor for multimedia application support, including DirectX 9.0 3D graphics support provided by the VIA Chrome9 integrated graphics, to which VIA Vinyl HD audio is added. The new mini-server offers support for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, Ubuntu 8.04, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (Service Pack 2) and FreeBSD.