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Now I have to admit that Norco is a hardware manufacturer I’ve not come across before, but they were kind enough to drop me a quick note announcing the release of their new Windows Home Server solution, the DS-520.
The DS-520 is a pretty industrial looking piece of kit for a home server, and it has a high specification to match. Whilst it’s processor is a relatively modest Intel Celeron M class (with a choice of 600 MHz or 1Ghz speeds), with memory up to 1Gb, it’s storage capacity is huge, with up to 8Tb of space available from 5 internal hot swappable SATA drive slots and 3 eSATA ports – THEN add an extra 4 external USB 2.0 ports and that’s one beast of a server! MSRP is $649, and if you don’t want WHS on there, they’ll slap a whole bunch of different OS options on there for you, including Windows XP, Linux, OpenFiler, FreeNAS, Samba, OpenBSD or any other x86 based OS.
Here’s the full spec:
Processor: Intel ULV Celeron M 600MHz or 1GHz
RAM: One DDR SODIMM Socket, up to 1GB
SATA: Eight individual SATA II channels, 3 x eSATA ports + 5-bay SATA backplane
IDE: One 44 pin mini IDE connector, one CF socket
USB: Four USB 2.0 ports
Ethernet: Two 10/100 (Intel 82551ER) or two Gigabit Ethernet port (Intel 82541PI)
VGA: Intel chipset integrated, internal 15pin VGA adapter
Serial port: One RS232, internal IDC 10 pin connector
IRDA: One 5-pin connector
PS/2: One internal 2x 4-pin header for PS/2 keyboard and mouse
Capacity: 8TB + (using 1TB drives)
Power: ATX power, 180W, 110V to 240V AC, 50/60Hz
Dimensions: 6.75″ x 9.5″ x 11″
More Info: Norco Website | Hardware Images
8. October 2007 at 1:02 pm
Very interesting little system, I also note on the spec that only the 1Ghz version comes with Gig ethernet.
28. October 2007 at 11:29 pm
Desperatly awaiting the first tests of this unit. Especially the Software-RAID could make the system slowish.
A bit pricy that cute little thing.
30. October 2008 at 8:45 pm
I’ve been interested in several products from Norco including this little beast, one other item of interest is their 4U Server case the NORCO RPC-4020 Rackmount case it holds 20 SATA drives and costs $299. I however need one in the UK and I couldn’t find a supplier here or a US one willing to ship to the UK.
Be interesting to see if anyone starts supplying Norco to the UK market, there is certainly room for it with their aggressive pricing.
19. December 2008 at 8:36 am
I too am interested in the Norco RPC-4020 and reside in the UK! Unfortunately there still seems to be no sign of a UK retailer for their products. The only option I found was an Ebay seller willing to ship for $299 + $100 postage.
17. April 2009 at 11:25 am
Have a look at X-case (www.xcase.co.uk) they have a 4U server case that they call an RM420 it looks exactly the same ar the Norca and has almost exactly the same features at £299 + Vat