Skip to main content

Consumer Network-Attached Storage Device

The rapid growth in consumer digital content libraries will push worldwide sales of network-attached storage (NAS) devices to nearly 13 million units by 2012, according to the latest market study by Parks Associates.

"Current file storage solutions are not equipped to handle consumer's ever-growing libraries of digital photos, music, and video," said Jane Shields, research analyst, Parks Associates.

"Soon the average broadband household will need close to a terabyte of storage for their media collections on PCs, portable devices, and DVRs. However, the industry will need to pay attention to additional features beyond storage capacity as these devices approach the mass market."

In targeting this broader market, companies should develop storage solutions that emphasize easier file allocation, searching, and media sharing. Manufacturers and retailers must carefully select the features to market.

Messages that emphasize content sharing have as much resonance with this new audience as do those that stress content backup. Intuitive user interfaces and installation processes, allowing easy backup, file sharing, and new device connectivity, will help consumers discover these and other features and grow accustomed to networked storage.

In this way, NAS devices will expand their role in the home into media servers.

The Parks market study defines several categories of consumer storage solutions -- from online/network-hosted services to network-attached storage and home servers. It provides primary consumer research about recent and planned storage uses and purchases and includes worldwide forecasts for network-attached storage devices.

Popular posts from this blog

The AI Application Integration Challenge

Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly become the defining force in business technology development, but integrating AI into applications remains a formidable challenge. According to a recent Gartner survey, 77 percent of engineering leaders identify AI integration in apps as a major hurdle for their organizations. As demand for AI-powered solutions accelerates across every industry, understanding the tools, the barriers, and the opportunities is essential for business and technology leaders seeking to evolve. The Gartner survey highlights a key trend: while AI’s potential is widely recognized, the path to useful integration is anything but straightforward. IT leaders cite complexities in embedding AI models into existing software, managing data pipelines, ensuring security, and maintaining compliance as persistent obstacles. These challenges are compounded by a shortage of skilled AI engineers and the rapid evolution of AI technologies, which can outpace organizational readiness and...