Intel’s Atom processors may be best known for their role in netbooks, but the low-power chips have also been making inroads into always-on devices such as NAS, RAID arrays and small servers. It comes as little surprise, then, that Intel have pushed out its first “storage-optimized” Atom-based platform, using the latest D410 and dualcore D510 CPUs paired with the high-throughput Intel 82801IR I/O Controller. Apparently the platform has already been picked up by LaCie, LG, QNAP, Synology and Thecus for upcoming products.
While Atom chips generally balance performance with power savings, in this context – and with the I/O controller – they can fight above their weight. Intel reckons the platform will allow up to 20 users to simultaneously stream high-definition-level (30Mbps) data within a local network; it also supports six PCI Express lanes, twelve USB 2.0 ports, a port multiplier function and eSATA, along with an integrated gigabit ethernet controller and hot-swap drive capabilities. Compatible OSes include various Linux builds and Microsoft Home Server, and one of the first devices to use the platform will be LG’s N4B2.
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