Network-attached storage (NAS), once only available (and affordable) for enterprises, is becoming more common for small business and even home use. And necessary — if you are looking for secure backups for your data, a single backup disk collecting data once or twice a day is no longer enough.
PCWorld looked at three NAS units that recently appeared on the market and that could suit the ambitious home or small business:
- Synology’s DS409slim
- Seagate’s BlackArmor 440
- Netgear ReadyNAS NVX
None are enterprise level, but each fits a particular spot in a networking environment.
The tests were run with a 4,661-item (8.05GB) data package consisting of a mixture of files and folders containing data, pictures, videos and music. They were first transferred from a local hard drive in a Windows 7 RC computer to the NAS device. The package was deleted from the source computer and then transferred from the NAS unit back to the computer’s hard drive. A simple copy and paste was used for both operations; times were recorded manually using a Tag Heuer digital stopwatch.
Keep in mind that network traffic as well as the specifications of the hard drives used in a NAS unit will affect overall performance. Typically, the former is out of your control. That’s why you usually schedule backups for after-hours in general.
In addition, the drives that you use will affect performance as well. Out of the three NAS units reviewed here, only Synology’s lets you purchase the drives separately. Otherwise, you’re pretty much locked into whatever drives the manufacturer believes works best with its product.
For each of the NAS devices, the review goes into:
- Hardware
- Installation
- Performance
- Best fit
The review finished with suggesting, basic consumers are better of with DAS, Direct Attached Storage.
At this point, if you’re a basic consumer looking for a single storage solution for multiple PCs, the DataDock II (or a similar drive at a similar price) is probably looking like quite an attractive option. It is, for an individual or a one-person office with multiple systems.
However, you won’t get amenities like back-up timers, maximized capacity within a secure RAID variety (the DataDock II only offers RAID 0 or 1), or drive condition information. For those features, which are important to businesses, you’re going to have to pay more.
Read the whole PCWorld NAS devices review
