First Look: Belinea o.center

Posted on 23 May 2008 at 17:48

A Windows Home Server is a PC designed specifically for storing files, which can then be accessed from any other computer on your network. We've been unimpressed with the design of the Windows Home Servers we've seen to date. They've either been too loud, too large, or they haven't had any removable disk trays for easily replacing or adding new hard disks. Thankfully, Belinea's o.center looks set to break that trend.

Belinea's o.center has a striking white and orange design - and it's not too big either. Although it's not the quietest server we've tested, its cooling fans are quiet enough that we could hear the normally inaudible hard disks whirring away. Two of the o.center's four hard disk trays come fitted with 500GB hard disks, providing a total of 1TB. The trays are easily removed and extra disks can be fitted without using a screwdriver.

The o.center performed well in our large files test, copying files at an overall speed of 29.76MB/s, which is as fast as a FireWire 400 hard disk. Unfortunately it was less impressive when copying small files, managing only 0.68MB/s - which is slower than some USB flash drives.

Belinea's o.center is a promising Windows Home Server. It should be able from the beginning of June for around £400 inc VAT. We'll bring you a full review soon.

Author: Alan Lu

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