A Linux-powered storage appliance has landed high up on PC World's annual list of the year's top 100 products. Netgear's (formerly Infrant's) ReadyNAS NV+ ranked eighth, ahead of such heavyweights as Apple TV and Ubuntu Linux 7.04 (aka “Feisty Fawn”).

Overall, Google Apps Premier Edition was awarded the top spot, trailed by Intel's Core 2 Duo processor and Nintendo's Wii gaming console.

Other Linux-based devices represented on the list include the SanDisk Sansa Connect (86th), TiVo Series3 (79th), Iomega NAS (63rd), Archos 704 (49th), TomTom One (28th), and possibly others. The list also includes many software programs that support Linux, such as Firefox 2 and Skype 3, as well as many Web-based applications powered by Linux, such as kayak.com and Picasa.google.com.

The Infrant ReadyNAS NV earned high marks for low power consumption — about 55 Watts, typically — as well as an optional power-saving mode that spins disks down after a configurable interval, resulting in power consumption closer to 20 Watts. Other key ReadyNAS NV features include:

• Patent-pending “X-Raid” (expandable RAID) technology aimed at enabling automatic RAID volume expansion as additional drives are added
• Support for rsync, ftp, smb, appletalk, webDAV
• Sophisticated browser interface

The ReadyNAS NV was originally developed by Infrant, which was acquired in May by Netgear.

The full PC World “Best Products of 2007” list can be found here.

 
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