LaCie has made a lot of external storage solutions over the year and at CES it has presented the first based on Microsoft’s Windows Home Server platform, also known as WHS. LaCie calls the new unit LaCie 5BIG Backup Server, but whether the name is final or not we don’t know. The company was inspired by its own LaCie 5big Network NAS and has used Intel’s new Atom N450 CPU behind the aluminum casing.
Unlike many other WHS, LaCie 5BIG Backup Server will ship with five harddrive slots where most of the competition only offers four. The harddrives are of course hot-swappable and lockable.
Except from Intel’s latest Atom processors we find 1GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, 4 USB ports and one eSATA port for extra storage devices.
The unit measures 178 x 220 x 196 mm and the design is the classic LaCie silver with a big blue circle on the front. The price is not yet announced, but LaCie is expected to start selling the 5BIG Backup sometime in Q1.
