Startup Tackles Digital Content

Called Mirra, the Linux-based product combines an appliance with software and free services to enable users of one or several PCs to manage, protect, remotely access and share digital content, such as documents, photos, e-mail and other files. Ispiri CEO Richard Mandeberg said Mirra will help users get better control of their "digital lives" by providing an inexpensive, one-stop solution for backup, remote access and file sharing.

"We are targeting anybody who doesn't have on-staff or local IT support, who has a small network, who has one or multiple computers and who has shared broadband. That's 20-something million users between homes, SOHOs and small businesses," Mandeberg said.

"What our target customers have in common is the sense that as their digital content has grown, they're increasingly feeling vulnerable and that it's all sort of unmanageable," said Leslie Latham, vice president of marketing at Ispiri.

Mirra includes a 120-Gbyte hard drive; backup, restore, remote-access and file-sharing applications; 10/100 Ethernet and USB 2.0 ports; and audio/video connections. Users can customize auto-backup functions and decide who can access specific files. Co-workers and friends are notified by e-mail, and they access the shared files via a password-protected Web site. Any file changes are synchronized between the PC and Mirra.

The server is slated to cost about $400 and ship Oct. 15, Mandeberg said.

Plans initially call for Mirra to be sold via Ispiri's Web site, with channel and retail distribution to follow in early 2004 after the Consumer Electronics Show, Latham said. "At CES, we will be actively recruiting resellers. Today, we have a working agreement with an existing national retailer."

VARs could sell Mirra as a "network in a box" or bundle it as part of a bigger small-office/home network solution, Mandeberg and Latham said.