Network Storage (NAS)

[HDefinicktion]

I have been throwing around the idea for the longest time about getting a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device to store all my music so that I do not have to have my main PC running all the time.  I would like to cut down on electrical bills and overall wear and tear with running the PC nonstop.  I have looked into many entry level home NAS devices and can't seem to find one that stands out as something to work in this situation.  I would assume that the Western Digital devices would be favorable, but reviews show otherwise.  I have looked into Buffalo technologies but there are some limitations there as well.  Does anyone have any advice to offer on the situation?

[mrmike]

I've had really good luck with Infrant's boxes, but they're not exactly entry level.  What specifically are the needs you have and how does (for instance) a Buffalo TeraStation fail to meet them?

[HDefinicktion]

It is not that the TerraStation does not meet my needs, which is to stream music initially over my home network.  I have looked mainly at the linkstation, but many reviews from NewEgg, Cnet, and Engadget give it fair reviews at best.  Many reviews talk about speed issues, and I would need to initially transfer my music collection to it, which might take some time.  Many people talked about the NAS formatting the drives for you, meaning that they would wipe the drives, and there was no way of getting around this.  I would love to have a RAID solution, but it is not in my budget at this time.  Maybe I am getting into this a little early.  Have you used the Buffalo TerraStation before?  Which model from Infrant would you recommend for this situation.

[sarusk]

Check out these from HP. They're reasonably priced:

HP Media Vault mv2010 (300GB)
HP Media Vault mv2020 (500GB)


You can mirror the drives, which is nice. Looks like software controlling the array as opposed to some sort of hardware array controller. That's to be expected in this price range I suppose.

[Greg Oman]

A while back I purchased a Ximeta NAS/Ext USB drive at Officemax as I was in a pinch.  It was only $120, and is only a single 120gb drive, but it has proven to be a good, inexpensive first NAS for me.  Ximeta sells the shells, as well as complete units up to 500gb.  Pretty affordable.  Looks like they have RAID models now as well.  We store music and pictures on this mostly now.

The only drawback I've encountered was the driver on the included cd had issues with multiple PCs, but about 5 months ago, I spotted a newer driver on their site and it fixed that issue.  Since then, the NAS has been plugged into my network and I can access it wired or wirelessly through my access point.  I do not have any need to do any PC backups or anything but it looks like some of their current products may affer this as well.  Maybe there's a new NAS in my future now

Hope this helps,

Greg O.

[Gregg Lengling]

Greg Who?? You are still alive...it's alive, it's alive!!!award