Network Storages

Advantages: Quiet, fast, small, easy to set up, easy to use
Disadvantages: Err.......

...by an ethernet cable. Fortunately Buffalo have thought to provide one. Even better, it's a flat one, so will happily run under your carpet if so required. Both Euro and GB type wall plugs are included, as is a CD with software on it. It looks ok as well, although that's fairly subjective really. I wouldn't mind it sitting on the bookcase in full view, but my wife would. Setup Without any intervention at all, it picked up it's IP address from the ...
...away in the background. It is already set up with an area called SHARE, which is, well, the shared area. Without installing any software, or performing any setup of any kind, I was able to open My Network Places (in Windows of course), navigate to my workgroup (called WORKGROUP) and there was the linkstation. I was able to create new folders under SHARE, and copy data to it straight away. Unless you have changed your workgroup name from the default, ... Read review

Advantages: In theory should provide LAN based storage.
Disadvantages: Theory and application do not match!

...- The FAQ's on the Netgear site are out of date and inaccurate. - No warnings on the box about this product not supporting Win XP media centre editions. It is highly unstable, can lock up your PC as it ponders on something (that using PROCEXP and looking at the ZSAN driver that is the core of the machine, cannot identify). The data transfer rates, if you do get it running, are pedestrian at best. I have a number of computers running either XP (4) ...
...HP or Compaq brand laptops with Vista despite the claim of Vista support. On XP I have managed to get intermittent operation on 2 old computers - Pentium 3 and Pentium 4, cannot get it to work on dual core products! For a product that has been around for a couple of years the stability has never appeared! Stear CLEAR of this product! ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent at destroying you files
Disadvantages: to numerous to enter, unit lasts abot 2 months and your files are GONE!

...proprietary file system that only Iomega can recover. Not a true Raid 5, but software (controller resident) raid. Controller goes bad, files WILL BE INSTANTLY SCRAMBELLED! . No log files to see what the unit is doing, diagnosing any problem is is impossible. No port to hook up a terminal and issue diagnostic commands, No way to tell what this device is doing, therefore you can't figure out what is wrong! I am now in serious trouble with clients. ...
...con!!. DO NOT USE THEM This is a power off, power on, and pray type device.. you better do a lot of praying, or kiss your files goodbye, they are destined for the pit of hell.. this device is a black hole, files go in and they don't come back out. ... Read review

Advantages: Great for shared files over network or internet.
Disadvantages: Can't really fault it. Bit noisy mabee but not bothersome

I wanted an external harddrive to store photos, video, music and various other things on and free up my laptop. As I have a laptop this is ideal as it connects to my router and is accessable over the network. It saves me connecting another cable to my laptop and with port forwarding set on my router it can be accessed over the internet and used to share files with friends/family, although it is quite slow over the internet. I am quite pleased with ...
...or familys with several computers that can put shared files on here and save having to have duplicate files on several machines. The product is easy to set up, basicly you plug it in to your nework via a cat 5 lead. Plug in the mains adaptor and thats the hardware side done. To configer it is just as easy, the instructions are clear and very easy to follow. Everything is controlled via your computers web browser. ... Read review

Advantages: Solid, feature packed, easy to use
Disadvantages: Not as fast as direct attached storage, plus a little noisy.

I have been using my Buffalo (called 'Bertie'!) for over 4 months now, and it has worked very well indeed. Bertie is connected to my gigabit switch and is accessed by 4 other computers, and it also hosts a file sharing site too. The drive sits in a Windows environment, and is very easy to connect up. After a 15 second boot process, you access the features of the drive through a browser. All the usual tools for network drives are there, plus some ...
...swappable drives too (I bought a spare just in case), but this sold beast I feel will never breakdown. It's not the quietest drive in the world, but this is a minor annoyance. The actual data transfer over the network is not as fast as directly attached storage, but the benefits of using a network far out weigh this. When I need more space, I will be buying another on! ... Read review