That processing platform increased performance for popular consumer applications such as video processing by as much as 85%.

The new hardware platform supports 6 PCI Express lanes, 12 USB ports, and 2 eSATA ports.

Equipment manufacturers such as Acer, Cisco, LaCie, LG Electronics, NETGEAR, QNAP, Super Micro, Synology and Thecus have all announced plans to offer products based on the new Atom processor platform, Intel said. Storage vendor products featuring the Intel Atom processor-based platform are currently available and additional devices will be released later this year, it added.

LaCie recently introduced two storage servers using Intel's Atom processor technology to "deliver enterprise-level storage capabilities to small and medium businesses that were previously only experienced in large, corporate environments," said Erwan Girard, solutions business unit manager.

Dinesh Rao, product line manager for Intel's Storage Group, said the new Atom processor "makes it possible for storage vendors to develop low-power appliances that can innocuously sit on a desk or shelf while keeping digital content safe and available anytime, anywhere."