VIA ARTiGO A2000

Introduction

Is networked storage really necessary?

The ultimate truth behind that question lies within the individual and what he or she use the data for. On one hand laying down extra money to have dedicated storage seems to be something unnecessary in a sense that they really do not need more storage, or there is only one computer in the network. On the other hand if there are multiple computers on the network that share a printer, then the ability to have a computer dedicated to network storage becomes more and more acceptable. Aside from data sharing features, networked storage offers redundancy back up options to secure key data on all of the computers across the network.

So if after all of these deliberations have decided that networked storage is an important aspect in one’s home environment then the VIA ARTiGO A2000 is something that you might want to pay close attention to. The A2000 is designed to be a home media server designed to be as energy efficient and low power as possible. It comes with a total of 2 3.5″ hard drive bays a Base 1000/100/10 Ethernet connection and an optional WiFi card. The VIA Artigo is a barebone system which also focuses on minimizing the costs of owning a home server for the end consumer. Noting that it is a barebone system means that there will be some manual work involved in assembling all of the components of the system. Read on and join me as I try to distinguish whether the extra cost and efficiency match up to the extra work.

Features

Supports high-speed data transfer (up to 3 Gb/s) and big storage capacity (up to 1.5TB for each of the two 3.5” SATA-II hard drives).	A quiet ball-bearing fan silently cools the system with noise levels remaining below a mere 26.8 dB.	Based on a VIA processor and chipset combination, the ARTiGO A2000 is an energy-efficient system with low power consumption.

Designed with high quality solid capacitors, the ARTiGO A2000 is built reliability in mind — promising up to six times the lifespan of a regular PC.	Supports high-speed Internet access on a speedy PCI Express bus.	Built-in bootable Compact Flash socket is perfect for installing a slimmed-down version Windows or Linu