Home NAS

[marz]

I've been looking for a mini NAS (Network Attached Storage) device that I could use at home, maybe around 120GB - to have an easy storage location on my home network to save my iPhotos and iMovies, and iTunes to. Outside of sharing a drive on a PC.

I was wondering if anyone thought Apple might have something like that in the works, it would seem a logical extension of their business - a nice little device like the Airport Wireless Access Point, could be added to, to include storage capabilities, even if only via a firewire port, if they include a small server in it to serve up the share.

Aside from my hope that Apple would do something like that, does anyone have any experiences with other SOHO NAS devices, like the Linksys Etherfast NAS or the Buffalo Technology Linkstation or any others?

Thanks in advance!

 

[btoneill]

Apple most likely does not have anything in the works for this, atleast not for the consumer market. I wouldnt' be surprised to find a packaging type setup with Xserves and Xserve RAID units shipped setup specifically for file sharing with an easy web based configuration for setting it up. The NAS devices for home use are really a niche market where the only way you can make money on it is by selling very large numbers of very poorly made units. I don't see Apple going there because there is no money there, and so few people are interested in them. The ones that exist are fine for bulk storage of files, but don't expect any sort of performance out of them. You could use it to store iMovies, but you don't have a change in hell of editing while using it for storage.

Brian

 

[MDLarson]

We have an Iomega A300u at work (120 GB NAS). It's really designed for rack-mounting, which we have done, but it's got rubber feet thingies if you don't rack-mount it. We paid around $1000 for it, and it's actually had a lot of problems for us, not the least of which is the horrible web interface.

BUT, I know Iomega is selling some refurbished NAS units for cheaper... maybe you want to look at them. If you have more questions about my experience with them, I'll be happy to share.

 

[btoth]

I saw a Ximeta NetDisk at Best Buy for under $300, 160GB. I don't anything about how good it is though.