10 Cheap Small Business Storage Boxes

Benjamin Franklin, who famously said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” isn’t normally associated with small business storage. But if old Ben were around today, he might add data growth to that list.

Dell PowerVault RD 100; small business storage

“Sit includes software for easy scheduled backups and continuous data protection,” said Shannon.  “You can have disks inside ranging from 160 gigabytes (GB) to 1 terabyte (TB) each depending on your needs.”


As this article was being written, Dell had the RD 100 on special at a starting rate of $229 for 160 GB. If you load it up with 3 disks of 1 TB each, the price goes up to $1,115.  That price, however, does not include an operating system.


2. Synology DiskStation DS1511+


Synology’s DiskStation DS1511+ has a list price of around $900, and it does a lot more than store files. As well as backup and recovery, it can be used as an email server, surveillance system, or as a Web or print server. If you pay more for extra disks or extra Synology boxes, you can scale it up to 45 TB. This one, though, is probably not right for a company without IT experience readily available, because it provides a lot more features than simpler and cheaper boxes.


3. Gridstore NASg 2.0


Gridstore NASg 2.0 is a brand new release that provides a 1TB for $499 and 2TB for $599, all in a tiny form factor that’s no bigger than a desktop phone.


“Small businesses are grappling with enormous storage growth in the form of presentations, spreadsheets, Word documents, JPEG images and video content,” said Kelly Murphy, Gridstore’s CEO. “Most SMBs run on standalone storage that represents a single point of failure. If the storage system stops — their business stops.”


The new Gridstone system features 1GB of RAM, and includes a basic operating system.


4. Iomega eGo


Iomega’s eGo packs 1.5 TB into a tiny space for $229 (you can buy versions as large as 2 TB) and it’s portable, too. The 5- x 4- by 1-inch drives weigh less than a pound and work very well for people on the go who need their files close at hand. It is fast, rugged and requires no external power supply. Built-in encryption, antivirus and backup are thrown in for free.


5. HP ProLiant MicroServer


The HP ProLiant MicroServer is a general purpose server that HP recommends for small businesses with less than 10 desktops/laptops. For companies with multiple versions of files floating around various PCs, the Microserver offers a way to centralize storage throughout the office. Pricing starts at $329, but you end up paying $729 for 250 GB and $1,288 for 2 TB once you add in the various items necessary to make it function.

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