The good guys over at eHomeUpgrade have highlighted a new WHS product from mCubed Information Technology and Illustrate. mCubed has combined a petite WHS device with one of our favorite WHS add-ins, RipNAS Essentials from Illustrate, to create a one-stop ripping and sharing device. Sporting a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, Illustrate’s preferred Teac CD/DVD optical drive, and a fanless enclosure, the RipNAS should be both efficient and quiet.
The base unit can be equipped with 320GB, 640GB, or 1TB of hard drive storage, but only the 1TB version is available with a dual-core processor and gigabit ethernet. mCubed and Illustrate have also developed RipNAS storage boxes that fit under the RipNAS and connect through USB as an option for expanding storage by another 6GB if you opt to spring for two.
Out of the box the RipNAS offers format support for mp3, FLAC, WMA, and AAC and streaming support for SqueezeCenter, iTunes, Sonos, and any uPNP device. It is also interesting to note that the RipNAS includes a VGA connector for those WHS aficionados who are reluctant to go completely headless. At $1365 for the 1TB version, the RipNAS does seem to be a bit on the pricey side given the hardware specs, but this is not too surprising given that the RipNAS appears to be an adjunct to mCubed’s HFX line, including the HFX Mini Server, which is generally geared toward high-end whole-home installations.
That being said, the RipNAS sounds like a solid product on paper and mCubed has certainly chosen a good software partner for their targeted market.
More Info: RipNAS
