CES: Startup Ctera's CloudPlug (Literally)

Sometimes it's the tiniest things that thrill me. In the middle of the gigantic TVs and the booming sound systems and the magic acts and the private suites and the thrumming parties was Ctera, an 18-employee company headquartered in Israel. When they showed me their device, I literally did a double-take (luckily off camera; very awkward). The CloudPlug is a tiny plug with a processor inside, an Ethernet jack, and a USB port, with which you can turn any USB device into a NAS and back up your data to Ctera's cloud-based service. And it's so damned cute.Check it out for yourselves in this video.

The company's CEO and co-founder is Liran Eshel, formerly the CEO of SofaWare, one of many companies Check Point gobbled up over the years. Eshel says the device has a powerful processor inside, making it what seems like the world's smallest server. Via a Web interface you define which folders to share, and with whom, and set it up for automatic backup, which Ctera also offers. This is perfect for a small office that needs simple file services and online backup. Ctera wouldn't specify pricing yet, partly because the company will offer it through managed service providers who will likely set pricing based on connectivity and storage requirements.