Network-attached-storage appliances aren't just for businesses anymore. Buffalo Technology Inc. chose the Consumer Electronics Show today to unveil its 1-terabyte TeraStation NAS appliance with the home market in mind.

The company says the TeraStation is priced to meet the needs of the increasing number of consumers who use their computers to record and share among systems music, video, and other multimedia files. The system supports both Windows and Macintosh formats, and a journaling file system should protect information in case of a system outage.

Starting at around $1,000 and available next month, the appliance includes four USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and four hard drives that could be used together or split multiple ways to support different apps.

There's a growing market for such offerings, says Rick Villars, an IT analyst at IDC. Some of the major players in the NAS market, such as Microsoft and its system partners, should look into simplifying their systems even further. Says Villars, "Sales are embryonic in the home market, but data consumption is taking place there that will lead to growth in easier-to-use storage systems."