Features - Storage Innovations:

BROADCOM ENABLES PERSONAL STORAGE WITH NAS ON-A-CHIP SOLUTION

Broadcom Corp, a leading provider of silicon solutions enabling broadband communications, announced the availability of a new network storage processor chip enabling a new class of low-cost and easy to use network attached storage (NAS) devices for the home and small- to medium-sized business markets. An advanced software suite and very high levels of component integration mean that storage products based on the Broadcom BCM4780 NASoC controller can achieve new levels of cost and ease of use. Entry-level products based on the BCM4780 can retail for $99 (without drives), and require no CD installation process.

The proliferation of residential broadband connections and increasing popularity of digital multimedia such as music, video and still images have contributed to the growing need for high-capacity storage systems that can be easily installed, configured and operated by home users. Small business users, such as dentists, lawyers and real-estate brokers, often store years of valuable client information on their PC hard drives, without any backup or redundancy. Today's direct attached external hard disk drives have limited or no sharing and networking capabilities, while stand-alone network storage devices have typically been fixtures of enterprise environments where large budgets and extensive IT support have defined the category. Products based on the BCM4780 will enable hundreds of Gigabytes of NAS functionality at price points and levels of usability designed for mainstream adoption within the home and small business.

"As digital files take the place of paper photographs, audio CDs and video tape, the need for reliable, affordable and easy-to-use storage within the home has steadily become more pronounced," said David Murray, director of business development for Broadcom's Network Attached Storage product line. "By designing advanced RAID-based storage and back-up software into our NAS on-a-Chip solution, Broadcom is making the industry's most advanced features accessible to the home and small business user today."

NAS devices based on the new Broadcom system will be capable of offering functionality previously only available on equipment costing several times as much. Adding a Broadcom-enabled NAS unit to an existing Ethernet-based home network will allow users to share files; gain "always-on" access to data, regardless of whether or not other computers on the network are active; and easily add additional storage to the network without the need for hard disk drive replacement on any of the attached desktop or notebook PCs. The system can also automatically mirror its contents to another drive, providing additional security and protection of valuable personal and business data.

"The addition of affordable and easy-to-use network attached storage is a natural evolution for small business networks, which are facing growing storage requirements," said Bob Ducey, storage marketing manager for HP's Business PC Division. "With data communications, digital imaging and other media technologies playing an increasingly important role in business computing, we believe Broadcom's approach will enable a class of devices with great appeal to small business network users."

Simple Enough For The Residence, Scaleable For The Small Business

BCM4780-based NAS systems will offer a very simple installation and setup procedure that requires no need for user configuration or knowledge of IP addresses. An auto-discovery feature automatically adds the NAS device to all attached clients upon connection to the network.

For more advanced users, BCM4780-based storage products will offer a full range of powerful security and configuration modes, including enterprise-level features, such as RAID 0, 1 and 10 functionality with support for up to four hard disk drives in a single system. The RAID software engine is extremely flexible and can create multiple RAID partitions across any two disk drives of any size and speed, including drives that are attached to the built-in USB ports of the BCM4780. Each disk drive can be made "hot-swappable," allowing the user to easily replace or upgrade drives, with built-in features for online repair capability. Data on the drives can also be encrypted, selectively or in total, with real-time encryption powered by a hardware AES (advanced encryption system) engine integrated into the processor.

Technical Details

The BCM4780 features a high-performance MIPS32 CPU core, ensuring system performance at the highest rates possible on a 10/100Base-T Ethernet connection. Support for both Network File System (NFS) and Common Internet File System (CIFS) are built into the BCM4780, supporting computers running Windows as well as MacOS and Linux operating systems. With an integrated 10/100 Ethernet controller, PCI host interface and USB host and device interfaces, the processor provides many options for connecting to networks and interfacing with other devices such as optical backup drives. On-board AES encryption and decryption ensure that data is recorded in a secure format without the network performance impact caused by software-based security solutions.

The BCM94780 reference design includes all hardware and software components required for a complete NAS device and demonstrates the elegance of the overall system design. Standard features built into the system design include automatic network discovery, support for streaming multiple HDTV- quality streams, and a unique RAID implementation that requires just a few clicks to configure the device for automatic data mirroring.

As a leader in networking technologies, Broadcom was able to leverage its significant product portfolio in the development and implementation of its NAS technology. With leadership positions in broadband access markets such as digital cable set-top boxes and modems, as well as home networking technologies, Broadcom has designed a complete, scaleable system that can easily be combined with other connectivity products.