I couldn't seem to find anything that met ALL of my requirements.
My main requirement is that it support two drives, but a print server & USB support are big bonuses. I won't use media serving yet, but one day - who knows. I don't have complicated management needs - just an easy access central storage & backup at the house. We live pretty much on laptops, so high capacity on-system storage is limited.
The Netgear Storage Central & Linksys NAS200 got poor performance reviews, but were low cost and I think one had print server support (limited though).
The D-Link (DS323?) got decent reviews and supports print server, but some user reviews noted compatibility & software problems. This I'm not surprised about - D-Link has always been questionable in my book.
After browsing smallnetbuilder.com a bunch and then browsing NewEgg's offerings on a whim, I came across the QNap TS-201. Dual drives, hot swappable SATA, 3 USB 2.0 ports for external drives & print server (only one printer), button to copy USB drive contents automatically, more than sufficient configuration options, gigabit ethernet, jumbo frame support, quiet operation, RAID 01 or JBOD or individual drives - I could go on. It really looks to meet all my needs and then some.
The only downside is the $300 price tag. It is about twice that of some of the lower models, but half the price of the higher end models which have similar features but are more than I want or will spend. It is on the high side for what I was wanting to spend, but I believe in doing something right the first time.
Does anyone have any other options they might recommend? I considered building a small desktop, but I would spend just as much on a basic chassis and I would want it to be very small - so I would probably have to get an eSATA add-in card and run external drives. That adds a fair amount to the cost and complexity - plus having to configure my OS for file/print serving, with all the complications of running a full OS.
Anyone have any input? I may hold off on the purchase a while since it is more than I expected and I'm not QUITE out of storage yet, but we'll see. TIA
My main requirement is that it support two drives, but a print server & USB support are big bonuses. I won't use media serving yet, but one day - who knows. I don't have complicated management needs - just an easy access central storage & backup at the house. We live pretty much on laptops, so high capacity on-system storage is limited.
The Netgear Storage Central & Linksys NAS200 got poor performance reviews, but were low cost and I think one had print server support (limited though).
The D-Link (DS323?) got decent reviews and supports print server, but some user reviews noted compatibility & software problems. This I'm not surprised about - D-Link has always been questionable in my book.
After browsing smallnetbuilder.com a bunch and then browsing NewEgg's offerings on a whim, I came across the QNap TS-201. Dual drives, hot swappable SATA, 3 USB 2.0 ports for external drives & print server (only one printer), button to copy USB drive contents automatically, more than sufficient configuration options, gigabit ethernet, jumbo frame support, quiet operation, RAID 01 or JBOD or individual drives - I could go on. It really looks to meet all my needs and then some.
The only downside is the $300 price tag. It is about twice that of some of the lower models, but half the price of the higher end models which have similar features but are more than I want or will spend. It is on the high side for what I was wanting to spend, but I believe in doing something right the first time.
Does anyone have any other options they might recommend? I considered building a small desktop, but I would spend just as much on a basic chassis and I would want it to be very small - so I would probably have to get an eSATA add-in card and run external drives. That adds a fair amount to the cost and complexity - plus having to configure my OS for file/print serving, with all the complications of running a full OS.
Anyone have any input? I may hold off on the purchase a while since it is more than I expected and I'm not QUITE out of storage yet, but we'll see. TIA
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