Which home NAS drive?

[pjgtech]

Hi guys...

I'm in the market for a home NAS drive but I am not sure which model to go for, so any personal recommendations would be appreciated.

I have a desktop pc (mainly used for music and games) and a laptop and a netbook, and a PS3. My router is a belkin N mimo wireless model. The pc connects via ethernet, everything else is connected via wireless.

The NAS would be mainly used as a multi media server and a backup storage device. I currently have about 1000 photos (mostly jpegs), and about 2000 mp3 tracks, and data storage is mainly MS word and Excel docs, so nothing too taxing really.

My requirements are:
At least 500Gb (1Tb preferred) HD size.
Reasonable RAM buffer to help with transfer speeds.
Gigabyte LAN speed. (the NAS will be connected directly to my (Belkin) router via ethernet so not worried about wireless connectivity)
A Small form factor / footprint.
Print server (with usb 2 speed).

Possible drives I've identified include:

*Iomega Home network drive.
*Seagate GoFlex Home 1Tb.
*Western Digital My Book World 1Tb (but I am aware these do not include a
printer server).
*Buffalo LinkStation Live 1TB mm.

Any advice appreciated, thanx

Peter G (PJGTECH)

 

[GWillow]

Hi

Have you got anywhere yet in your search yet?

Just asking as I'm in a similar situation to yourself.

 

[aztechnology]

I'd ask in the storage or hard drive forum...

But I went for a synology 109. You might need to add in your own HD.

It's a 2009 model, but for my money is a lot better than the "Home spec" 110j. It will do everything you ask for (and a lot more) and also has an eSATA port. Which should prove handy if you need extra storage. Synology support is supposed to be OK, and the older models are still getting OS upgrades.

You havn't really mentioned a budget, or whether you want RAID (though with your starage requirements probably not).

I'm waffling... add Synology 109, 110, 111 and the cheaper QNAPs to your list to check out.