Friday, 19 August 2011

Where Can I Find A Good Home NAS That I Can Afford?

By Lawrence Edwards


If you are sick and tired of losing information when your external disk drive crashes, or simply want to access your music, pictures and video from any computer - PC or Mac - in your home over your network then a good home NAS is just what you're looking for.

Most people at this time, though, don't have a large amount of money to spend on more computer equipment. So it is smart to find a home NAS that not just reliable but cost-effective too.

For many of us, that means finding a 2 drive NAS, which often ends up being a 2 drive bay network attached storage device. I make this distinction because it is possible to get a 4 or more drive bay NAS device that only has 2 of the drive bays populated with hard drives.

Buying a home network storage solution with more bays gives you more growth capability down the road, and we're all for that. But since those cost more our conversation here will focus on trusty and affordable 2 hard drive systems that only have 2 drive bays.

There are numerous sites and magazines covering external storage that might be accessible over your network. The key, though, is that you purchase an actual network attached storage device and not merely an external disk drive with network capability.

The difference is in protecting your information with RAID technology.

RAID1, also known as mirroring, protects your info if a hard drive fails. In the event of drive failure, you receive a message the drive has failed and you get it replaced before the other drive fails. Since each of the 2 hard drives "mirror" each other, the unit keeps operating whether or not one drive fails.

Do not be confused and think RAID0, which many products offer, protects your data in any way. It does not.

Pick from a list of quality home NAS manufacturers choosing a NAS device that is highly rated by those customers who have acquired one. We've got a list at our web site together with other beneficial reviews.




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