Acer, not content with its success in netbooks, is going after another market which appears ready to take off – servers for home networks. This week it launched a $399 home server called the Aspire easyStore Home Server in the States. The compact unit runs Microsoft Windows Home Server, the same as HP does on its home servers.
Users at any PC on the network can access files on the server such as photos, music, videos and documents. One bonus is that it makes an image-based backup of each PC, daily. Like its netbooks, Acer’s home server uses Intel’s low-cost, lower-power Atom processor 230.
It comes with a 1TB hard drive plus three bays that hold swappable hard drives. Fully maxed out, it can hold up to 7TB of data. There are also five USB ports, one eSATA port, a Gigabit Ethernet port and an RJ-45 LAN port. It comes with 2GB of DDR2 memory.
The unit is DLNA-certified and thus is compatible with DLNA-compatible devices such as PCs, TV sets, media players, set-top boxes and other digital media devices. They can access files on the home server such as for streaming music and video or showing digital pictures. Users can also connect to the server when away from home and access their data and applications.
Oh, by the way, the server can also be used in small businesses. HP has led the way in home servers with its MediaSmart server, whose prices also start at $399.
Microsoft Windows Home Server software, launched in early 2007, has had a hard time getting traction. Adding netbooks, more PCs and digital media devices to the home network is sure to increase demand, especially for one at such a low cost and with automatic backup. At $400 and with automatic backup, it would seem that many consumers will want one.
Although it was not first with a netbook, Acer now has the largest market share. Helped in the States by its acquisition of Gateway, Acer is third behind HP and Dell in worldwide PC sales.
Now if someone will come up with a legit way to copy movie DVDs from the major studios to the home server!