LenovoEMC Launches px4-400d Small Business NAS

LenovoEMC, formerly Iomega and a joint venture between Chinese PC maker Lenovo and enterprise storage giant EMC, today unveiled its latest network attached storage (NAS) device, the four-bay desktop px4-400d and a 1U rackmount alternative, the px4-400r. According to Jay Krone, managing director for LenovoEMC, the products let small businesses fetch and store files across a network at speeds that can more than keep up with business demands.

Referencing the px4-400d, Krone told Small Business Computing that customers can expect “up to 25 percent higher performance out of this guy from the previous one.” That boost is provided, in part, by dual-core Intel “Milstead” Atom processor that operates at 2.13 Ghz and 2 GB of DDR3 memory.

On the storage front, the potent processing combo comes with server-class 7200 RPM, 6 GB SATA II drives. Shrouded in a compact, business-black enclosure, the px4-400d sports an LCD status display.

NAS Storage to Protect Small Business Data

While the px4-400d supports varied workloads, small businesses looking for a sturdy foundation for their data protection strategies need look no further, asserts Krone. “This box can be the center of a complete backup solution,” he said. The px4-400d ships with Acronis ATI Lite backup software, which provides data protection for an entire small business network, and cloud connectors that enable backups to Amazon S3, EMC Avamar and LenovoEMC Personal Cloud.

LenovoEMC continues to court the video surveillance market with new enhancements that make it easier to view and manage footage. The px4-400d contains an HDMI video port, allowing buyers to plug a monitor directly into the device to view video surveillance streams (via Mindtree VMS software) and providing a PC-less setup.

In the event that four drive bays aren’t enough, the px4-400d supports external eSATA hard drives. Other expansion options include four USB 2.0 ports and one USB 3.0 connector.

The company upgraded the underlying storage operating system, called LifeLine, to version 4.1.

Multiple Platform Support and Malware Protection

Now sporting a Domain Mode and new Active Directory enhancements, the software provides support for Windows, Mac and Linux clients. Windows environments are covered with support for Windows Active Directory High Availability (ADHA), Hybrid Authentication and Hyper-V Live Migration. Certifications include Windows Server 2008 R2 and Server 2012 R2, VMware vSphere ESX 5.5 iSCSI and NAS, XenServer 6.1 and 6.2 with multipath I/O.

The NAS also helps keep malware out of critical data stores. LenovoEMC’s px4-400d ships bundled with McAfee VirusScan Enterprise, which supports the company’s centralized security management technology, ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO). LenovoEMC Storage Connector (LESC) provides automatic discovery of LenovoEMC devices via preloaded client software on Lenovo Think systems with Windows 8.1. Finally, new Transmission Torrent software enables direct downloads of torrents.

“Our new LenovoEMC px4 platform is state-of-the art network storage that meets the needs of 21st century business users,” said Wenping Gao, vice president of Lenovo’s Global OEM storage and enterprise product group in a statement.  “The px4-400d is a powerful desktop NAS with superior reliability, advanced storage and security capabilities, ease-of-installation and the overall versatility to handle an organization’s network storage needs.”

The LenovoEMC px4-400d is available now. Prices start at $729.00 for a diskless version. The rackmount px4-400r ($1,399.00 to start), with support for dual GbE NIC with port bonding and an Intel dual-port GbE option, is also currently shipping.

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Small Business Computing. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.

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