NETGEAR, Inc. announced the addition of two network storage platforms optimized for storage virtualization applications to its family of ReadyNAS products.

With support for up to 500 users, the powerful but cost-effective ReadyNAS 3100 and ReadyNAS 4200 are ideal as primary storage solutions for mid-range enterprises and high-performance secondary solutions for larger businesses. ReadyNAS provides reliable high-performance data storage along with integrated replication and backup options in virtualized IT infrastructures, enabling businesses to reduce costs and increase flexibility. This week, NETGEAR displayed its new ReadyNAS products in Bell Microproducts' booth at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany.


                            ReadyNAS 3100

"The introduction of the ReadyNAS 3100 and ReadyNAS 4200 further solidify NETGEAR as the leader of network storage in the SMB market segment," said Paul Tien, vice president and general manager of NETGEAR's Network Storage Business Unit. "From enterprise branch office to mid-range datacenter, NETGEAR provides powerful but affordable storage solutions that support advanced applications and virtualized server environments. Combined with advanced switching, wireless and security product lines, NETGEAR provides more complete solutions for channel partners than any other vendor in the market."

The ReadyNAS 3100 is a 1U 4-bay rack-mountable storage platform that provides up to 8 terabytes (TB) of storage capacity in a single system. The ReadyNAS 4200 is a 2U 12-bay rack-mountable storage platform that provides up to 24TB and two redundant drives in a single system. Both are VMware®-ready and are unified storage systems powered by the Linux-based ReadyNAS RAIDiator(TM) operating system.

The ReadyNAS 3100 and 4200 deliver high-end, enterprise-class features in addition to the field-proven, award-wining ReadyNAS architecture. Most notably, the ReadyNAS 3100, with 4 SATA channels, is the first sub-$5K 1U rack-mount storage system with redundant power supply for improved reliability and business continuity. Additionally, the ReadyNAS 4200, with 12 SATA channels, is the first ReadyNAS to support the 10 Gigabit Ethernet network infrastructure. This offers customers greatly improved throughput, response time, reliability and efficiency, making the solution ideal for server virtualization, database and other business-critical applications for SMBs.

ReadyNAS 3100 and 4200 features:

• Unified architecture support for both NAS and iSCSI SAN applications - cross platform file sharing, secure replication, easy remote access, cloud backup, disaster recovery and server virtualization;
• Powerful platforms for performance-demanding applications - powered by an Intel Quad Core processor, the ReadyNAS 4200 with 10 Gigabit Ethernet network connectivity delivers over three times higher performance compared to the existing top-of-the-line ReadyNAS platform;
• The most reliable ReadyNAS product design for business-critical applications - hot swappable enterprise SATA drives, redundant system cooling, redundant network ports, Error-Correcting Code (ECC) memory and redundant power supply.

"IT departments are looking for cost-effective yet reliable and high performance storage systems to support the foundation of the IT infrastructure. As such, organizations have begun adopting virtualization solutions as they cut costs and increase operational flexibility and environmental friendliness," said Benjamin Woo, vice president of IDC's Enterprise Storage Systems research group. "NETGEAR's new storage systems exemplify the kind of affordable yet powerful platforms that IT needs in their virtualized environments."

The 1U rack-mount ReadyNAS 3100 can come equipped with 4TB or 8TB of storage capacity at an estimated U.S. street price starting at $3,800. The 2U ReadyNAS 4200 can come equipped with 12TB or 24TB of storage capacity at an estimated U.S. street price starting at $10,000.

Both solutions can be purchased worldwide from NETGEAR PowerShift Partners as of late April. ReadyNAS Vault is included as a 30-day trial of pre-paid and annual capacity plans. ReadyNAS systems come with full 24/7 technical support and an industry-leading five-year warranty with spare parts support and extended service options.