Dual Core CPU – The Thecus N4200 is powered by the new Intel Atom™ D510 dual-core processor. Running at 1.66GHz, this CPU, paired with 1GB of DDR2 memory, delivers quick system response and can even smoothly handle multiple client access. Data can be accessed and transferred quickly, so you don’t have to wait around to enjoy your favorite movies, music, photos and more. The N4200’s Intel® Atom™ D510 dual-core CPU offers wicked performance for the home user.

Dual DOM Technology – The Disk On Module (DOM) of a NAS device contains all of the software necessary to operate the machine. Should it fail for any reason, your NAS will become inaccessible and your data could be at risk. To ensure maximum uptime, the N4200 includes Thecus’ Dual DOM Technology, which allows a secondary DOM to reprogram the primary one if anything goes wrong.

Dual Displays – Take control of your NAS with the Thecus N4200’s Dual Display Technology. The N4200 comes with an LCD display that shows you critical system information, while the 2.8” OLED display allows you to change a number of settings right from the device including WAN, LAN, Link Aggregation and language. Managing your home NAS just doesn’t get any easier than with the N4200.

Dual Power – If the power happens to go out during a critical firmware upgrade, your NAS could be in trouble. The N4200 comes equipped with its own Battery Backup Module (BBM) – a lithium-ion battery pack that kicks in during a power outage and allows the system to save unwritten data to the hard disks, thereby maintaining data integrity.

Dual HDD Profile Support – The N4200 features combo drive bays that allow users to install either 2.5” or 3.5” hard disks. Users can install the smaller 2.5” drives to save power and lower noise, or choose 3.5” drives for huge capacity, making the N4200 an incredibly flexible NAS.

Dual RAID – Why choose between performance and security? The N4200 allows you to configure two RAID modes simultaneously for optimum data transfer rates and rock-solid data integrity. With the power of Dual RAID, the N4200 is your digital data fortress.

Fast, secure, and incredibly easy-to-use, the N4200 with 6D Technology is the ideal storage device for the digital lifestyle.

The packaging for the N4100PRO includes all the screws to plug in your drives along with a quick guide, a CD with the applications and a Network cable. The N4100PRO is based on the AMD Geode LX800 Processor with 256MB memory which should make it reasonably fast. The drives easily screw in the bay and then simply slide into the SATA/POWER connector built on the logic board of the N4100PRO- no messy cables.

The front of the N4100PRO features two USB ports and a small LCD screen along with buttons for accessing and navigating menus. It provides all the information such as fan speed and temperature along with RAID status and uptime. The back features one more USB port and two Gigabit Ethernet ports that come with network bonding in fail over mode to automatically switch between portvs if either one fails.

The N4100PRO has a total of four 3.5″ bays and offers a pretty impressive set of functionality. Starting off, you can select between different types of RAID such as RAID0 for speed or RAID1 for mirror along with RAID5, RAID6 and RAID10 that offer a mix of speed and protection. With a maximum of four drives, I would recommend you setup RAID5 which will give you the highest storage along with failure against one of the drives.

All the options on the Tehcus can be accessed through its web interface which is functional but not as slick as some of the other NAS devices. You start out by setting up your RAID- which can take a while. The 4100PRO is also capable of RAID volume expansion and RAID migration meaning you could add drives to your RAID and even switch to another type of RAID without losing data.

Once your drives are set, you can create users and folders and provide access accordingly to keep secure data secure. For multimedia enthusiasts, Thecus includes an iTunes Server, a DLNA server and a uPnP server for streaming your content. For file transferring a Download manager in included with support for torrent files along with an FTP server.Backing up can also be performed from Thecus and while I did not personally test this feature, you should be able to make PC and Mac backups.

If you’re looking for a little bit more out of it, you can even install a Web Server and a MySQL server on the Thecus 4100PRO, effectively running your dynamic website out of the little box. I couldn’t figure out a way to allow access to the unit remotely through a DSL connection but I was informed by Thecus that this works if you have a fixed IP which is probably something you’ll also need if you plan to set it up as a Web Server.

We’ve compares the N4100PRO to the Buffalo Linkstation iSCSI that was sitting with us and noticed the following results.

As you can see, for smaller files, the Buffalo with iSCSI turned out to be the better choice but for bigger files sizes, Thecus’ performance was much better. If you’re looking for a unit that stores videos and such along with offering downloading capabilities, then the Thecus N4100PRO is certainly a great choice.

Overall, I must say that I am quite impressed with the N4100PRO. Its quite small in size for a NAS device that offers this amount of functionality.Priced roughly $400, the N4100PRO is a bit cheaper than other NAS devices of somewhat similar capabilities making it a great buy.

Thecus® understands that a perfect fit for today’s digitalized life would be a multimedia ready device. Therefore, the media server from Mediabolic® answers home users’ demand on Thecus® NAS. Utilizining Mediabolic’s media server, which supports DLNA/uPnP protocol, Thecus® NAS offers easy and convenient digital multimedia entertainment platform right in your home. Simply connect Thecus® NAS with any DLNA-certified media adapting devices, eg. PS3 or any DMAs, users can play movies, music, and photos directly on TV, instead of playing with PCs. It does not get any simpler, just acquiring media content on Internet then playing on TV directly. For partnership with Mediabolic®, hardware enthusiasts cannot be any happier with the home entertainment on Thecus® NAS.

Backup is an essential element for computer users and network administrators. When files are regularly backed up, there is a chance to minimize the loss. Farstone® DriveClone is one of the well received backup utilities on the market. To provide worry-free computing environment for users, Thecus® teams up with Farstone® Technology to bring highly effective backup solution without additional charge (4-bay and up). Users are able to create an exact copy of the entire personal computer, from photos, emails, files, to the entire system and stored the copy on to Thecus® products. In case of emergencies, DriveClone ensures complete recovery of the entire hard drive by restoring the “snapshots” taken of the hard drive when it was at working conditions. Best insurance to protect users’ valuable electronic information in network environment.

Bringing storage technology to a whole new level, Thecus® has one mission in mind, data protection and digitalized convenience. Teaming up with Mediabolic® and Farstone®, Thecus® offers the truly complete storage solution to worldwide users.

When people are searching for a NAS device, they invariably want something that is not only secure, but also performs well. They want it to be flexible enough to handle any situation, while simple enough to operate without having to have a degree in computer engineering. To that end, Thecus® Technology is proud to unveil its most advanced five-bas NAS unit yet – the N5500. Building off the success of the Thecus® N5200, the N5500 incorporates the latest Thecus® innovations for unrivaled efficiency and data security.

First and foremost, the N5500 is engineered to store your data and keep it safe. The N5500 is equipped with five hot-swappable SATA 3.5” hard disk bays for a whopping 10TB of total storage capacity. To protect this data, the N5500 lets you choose from a wide selection of RAID modes, including RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and JBOD. The N5500 also supports multiple RAID volumes, enabling you to choose the right combination of RAID volumes for your network, and if you ever change your mind, the N5500 also features online RAID expansion, online RAID migration, and auto rebuild for maximum flexibility. In fact, the N5500 is the only storage solution on the market that can be configured as a NAS, a DAS, or an iSCSI device! A powerful Intel® CPU and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports with load balancing, failover, and link aggregation with 802.3ad, the N5500 lets you access your data quickly and reliably.

In a business environment, maintaining functional operation on storage device is critical. With the unique dual-DOM design, an extra DOM is installed to ensure continuous and flawless operation on N5500. Users do not need to worry about down-time due to unexpected system failure. The N5500 also shines in terms of flexibility with support for multiple file systems, including XFS, EXT3 and ZFS, and you can even select different file systems for each RAID volume. In addition to this, RAID volumes on the N5500 can also be encrypted for ultimate data protection and security. Those who require even greater performance will be happy to hear that the N5500 also supports iSCSI initiators, which means that you can enjoy blazing file transfer performance over Ethernet without the hassle and expense of fiber-channel.

For home users, the N5500 also has you covered with robust multimedia support, including an iTunes server, photo web server, and a media server which supports uPnP, making it the perfect central hub for all of your digital content. Debuting on the N5500 is Thecus’ new and AJAX-based web interface, which is more intuitive and easier to use than every before. The N5500 is also fully compatible with Windows, UNIX/Linux, and MAC OS 9/X operating systems, and a scheduled power on/off function means less wasted power and lower total cost of ownership. And with IP cam support, the N5500 can even be configured as a surveillance system for ultimate peace of mind.

With features like these, the N5500 represents the next level in NAS device flexibility and power.

“Powerful, flexible, and scalable, the N5500 is our most exciting five-bay NAS yet,” notes Thecus General Manager Florence Shih. “Offering best-in-class speed, a bevy of useful features, and complete ease-of-use, users will be hard-pressed to find a five-bay NAS that measures up to the N5500 in both home and business environments.”

My 2nd day at Computex was spent at the newer convention center where almost all the famous motherboard manufacturers are showcasing their products. Before we start the day, I was at the MSI party last night where they officially unveiled the X600 with models showcasing the latest super-slim notebook from MSI.

The 2nd day officially started with Intel bunnies- that looked a bit odd.

My first stop was at Coolermaster. They had some of their new chassis on display.Also on display was their latest Gaming Mouse featuring all the bells’n’whistles found in high-end gaming mice nowadays.

My next stop was at SanDisk and they were all out to promote their latest SSD drives. They insisted that I take a picture of the model holding the drives. I complied.

After that, it was time to meet my friend Jackie Chen from Thermaltake. He introduced me to an older friend Thor who was working at Abit previously and Thor showed the latest Thermaltake chassis that was designed by BMW. I must say that this was an impressive chassis

Thermaltake is launching their Tt esports line that along with chassis and gaming accessories will also make clothing. Right.

ASUS was my next stop and I already showed you their U series yesterday. Today, I saw a demo of the touchscreen EeePC and I must say that it looked quite impressive. MUST. NOT. BUY.

After Asus, I stopped by Shuttle that were demoing their nice looking All-in-One PC as well as fanless PCs and the latest XPC.

My second last stop for the day was at Thecus- they make NAS devices and showed me their latest solution based on dual 2.5” drives- a baby NAS device. They had a few more one which was an interesting design- you could either equip it with three 3.5” drives or five 2.5” drives.

Last stop of the day was at Lian Li and they had some tall chassis. But my favorite was the one that reminded me of back home. No points on guessing what this chassis reminds you off.

That’s all for this year folks. I have a day off tomorrow and then back to Dubai.