Maxtor, Linksys to unveil wireless hard drive

If hard-drive maker Maxtor and networking company Linksys have their way, your external hard drive is about to become very external.

On Tuesday, the companies announced a partnership featuring a $99 Linksys device that lets an external hard drive connect to a wireless router, allowing PCs to tap into the storage and share files without any physical link to the drive.

The joint effort is geared toward small offices and homes. The latter is a crowded market, overflowing with companies pitching home-networking technology. Maxtor and Linksys--a Cisco Systems unit--are marketing products together and tout a common set of instructions for tying drives to routers with what's dubbed the "Linksys Network Storage Link."

Those common instructions reflect an attempt to make the technology easy to install. Small businesses "need stuff that's going to be really simple," said Stephen DiFranco, vice president of corporate and brand marketing at Maxtor. "They don't have an IT (information technology) department to set things up."

Bob O'Donnell, analyst at research firm IDC, said the technology seems like a miniature version of so-called network-attached storage, which refers to specialized computers that serve up files over networks and are typically found in larger companies. "It's bringing network-attached storage down from the high end of the enterprise to the small office and home," he said. "It's just a logical extension."

Products to store data and zap it around homes are proliferating as companies try to help consumers manage the digitalization of entertainment. The devices include the Mirra "Personal Server" and a new product from Apple Computer that acts as both a portable wireless base station and a way to stream music throughout the home.

The Linksys Network Storage Link connects to an external hard drive through one of two USB ports and includes a file management system, the companies said. It is designed to work with a wired or wireless network, and to work with other external drives apart from Maxtor products.

Through Sept. 30, U.S. residents who purchase a Maxtor OneTouch USB drive with the Linksys Network Storage Link can get a $20 mail-in rebate.

fluff vs substance

When a disk drive product is announced, shouldn't it have a capacity? Price? Physical format? Data transfer rate? None of these got mentioned in the CNET article, creating a conclusion this is a Popular Mechanics quality report: speculative fluff, not a Real Thing by any means.

[neptolac]

If you re-read the story...

...you will see that it says that the device links to an external hard drive. That means that it is not an all-in-one device; rather, it is a wireless access point to which you attach USB or firewire storage devices. Think of it as a USB hub with a wireless NIC built into it.

Home NAS

I've been wanting network attached storage for my home office for a while. This sounds affordable. Too bad the link doesn't work, so that I can go buy it now.

[NathanKitchen]

Security Issues?

Has anyone thought of how insecure this would make your files? Have you read the articles about people using wireless router and things to use your internet connections. Why couldn't one just do the same with these except steal your files or use the hard drive for them selves or install viruses to there systems

[neptolac]

Unauthorized access to your data...

That's why wireless routers have WEP encryption. I'm sure this device is going to be WEP-capable and programmable. Unfortunately you brought up a very valid point - the fact that most home-users are not savvy enough to set it up.

[KDoggMDF]

Good idea but flaky security

I think that it is a good idea to implement this kind of technology. It would help a network out greatly and could also allow for better media sharing in a household setup. Security is a big flaw though. Hopefully, they would have some sort of encryption or other security measure to protect the data in transit.

A few concerns, sure, but way cool!

If you live in an apartment or crowded place, of course <br />this wireless NAS technology may present some security <br />concerns. But overall it could be a really popular simple <br />way for the average consumer to add space to store all <br />those digital photos and music. I had the same idea for a <br />wireless NAS drive late last year; I'm glad somebody is <br />making one! Next maybe we'll see a wireless RAID!... just <br />kidding. Technical note: I hope this product features an <br />auto-wake capability so that the unit goes into deep sleep <br />until a computer needs to use it. I would not want to turn <br />on my computer, then also have to go over to the wireless <br />NAS and power that on as well.