Seagate Technology on Monday announced Seagate Business Storage, its newest network-attached storage (NAS) product line for small office/home office (SOHO), remote mobile office (RMO) and small to medium-sized business organizations (SMBs). Seagate Business Storage delivers centralized backup, data protection and remote access to critical business information in capacities ranging from 2TB up to 16TBs.

Seagate Business Storage provides a secure cost-effective solution that works well with existing cloud backup and online sharing services. Business Storage’s centralized backup capability takes the guesswork out of providing employees with backup protection and sharing across multiple computing platforms. Designed to backup all PC and Mac computers in an organization to a single centralized location, this new NAS includes backup software for Windows PCs and is also compatible with Apple’s Time Machine for backup of Mac OS X computers.

The 2-bay and 4-bay versions of Seagate Business Storage deliver maximum data protection by providing redundant backups of the information stored on the device. Also, the addition of a Universal Storage Module (USM) slot allows for plug-n-play removable external drives to be input and removed from the device for improved workflow and offsite backup capability.

The one-drive solution ranges from 2TB at $199.99 price-point to 4TB at $329.00 price-point. The two-bay business storage solution can either be picked up as a chassis without drives for $199.99, or with 4TB for $469.99, 6TB for $549.99 or 8TB for $749.99. The Business Storage four-bay solution will range from a no-drive chassis for $429.99 to 16TB for $1499.99. Seagate Business Storage can be found as of this week at CDW, Amazon and Newegg.

“Seagate has spent a lot of time understanding small businesses and their storage needs, which in many cases are unique to them. Seagate has designed this new networked attached storage to address the changing needs that a growing small business faces. We are excited for our small business customers to get their hands on this innovative new product. We have added features that will give them additional flexibility in data access and workflow, along with the peace of mind that comes with the Seagate brand,” said Scott Horn, vice president of marketing for Seagate.

Today’s small businesses have new challenges with even the smallest of organizations consisting of employees working remotely. In this common scenario, sharing of information in a secure manner becomes essential to a business’s success. Seagate Business Storage is essentially a private cloud, which can reside in a single office location and is capable of providing access via both Android and iOS applications for mobile devices and a secure networked connection from any notebook. Additionally, for those important files that need increased protection, this new network attached storage also provides hardware encryption for select files.

“Business demand for additional storage will continue to grow and the public cloud is not always the most cost effective or perceived securest option for small businesses. We will continue to see local network attached storage provide one of the best options for these growing business. Security, data redundancy, and remote access are all features that will play vital role in the near term as well as the foreseeable future,” said Liz Conner, senior research analyst for personal & entry level storage at IDC.

Tags: Seagate, NAS, USM