Marvell Powers Seagate FreeAgent DockStar Network Adapter

Marvell Technology Group, Ltd. announced that Seagate Technology has used Marvell Sheeva CPU technology to power the new Seagate FreeAgent DockStar network adapter – further reinforcing the momentum and adoption of Marvell’s Plug Computer.

The Marvell-based FreeAgent DockStar network adapter is intended to reinvent how people think of and use network storage, delivering an amazingly simple way to access and share digital content with anyone from anywhere.

"The Marvell SheevaPlug is designed to make it easy for companies and developers to create applications, services, and devices with a quick turnaround time to market," said Dr. Simon Milner, Vice President and General Manager of the Enterprise Business Unit, Consumer and Communications Business Group at Marvell Semiconductor. "We are delighted to see a major OEM partner, such as Seagate, adopt and roll-out a Plug Computer-based product into retail channels."

Marvell introduced the Plug Computing initiative to make high-performance, always on, always connected, and environmentally friendly computing readily available for developers and end users. A Plug Computer is small enough to plug directly into a wall socket and is designed to draw so little power that it can be left on all of the time. Unlike other embedded devices in the home, it contains a gigahertz class processor to offer PC class performance.

"The SheevaPlug is an integral piece of the new Seagate FreeAgent DockStar network adapter, enabling simple installation of a shared device within a home network," said Seagate’s Andy Horwitz, senior director of product line management for Seagate’s Branded Solutions. "Seagate’s DockStar product extends the concept of Plug Computing by delivering simple plug-and-play networked storage, which allows for easy sharing, access and control of digital content with anyone, anywhere, anytime; whether they are in another room or across the country."

With simple installation powered by SheevaPlug technology and an intuitive web-based graphical interface, the Seagate FreeAgent DockStar network adapter is designed to change the way people control the access and sharing of their content by creating their own personal storage ‘clouds’ while keeping the security and privacy of their content because it is located within the safe confines of their home.

Available immediately via Seagate and other online retails, the FreeAgent DockStar product comes with one year of service for remote access and sharing for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of USD $99.99.

The Plug Computing ecosystem is rapidly expanding to include a full value chain of product partners, application developers and educational institutions.

About the SheevaPlug Development Platform
The SheevaPlug development platform uses a Marvell Kirkwood processor based on an embedded 1.2GHz Sheeva CPU equipped with 512 Mbytes of Flash and 512 Mbytes of DRAM. Connection to the home network is via Gigabit Ethernet. Peripherals such as direct attached storage can be connected using a USB 2.0 port. Multiple standard Linux 2.6 kernel distributions are supported on the SheevaPlug development platform enabling rapid application development. The enclosure is designed to plug directly into a standard wall socket and is designed to draw less than one tenth of the power of a typical PC being used as a home server.