Recommend NAS device

I am looking for a nas device. I came across the buffalo series first and then onto the qnap. I very much like the menu and functions of the qnap series (219) however it is a little more costly.

I ideally would like a..

- 1tb drive system
- Access for my mac, where I use mac os x and windows 7
- Use with my PS3
- Access data from my iPhone

I have concluded that it is between these two:

Buffalo Linkstation duo 1tb
LG N1T1

I dont really need raid1 and because it is my first nas I dont want to spend too much, both are just over £100. The n1t1 has the benefit of dvd burner which I dont have. So which one should I choose?

Do you have an old PC lying about?

If so, FreeNAS is a very, very good option to consider.

FreeNAS is good if you want to play around and see what it is like, personally I use a DS210J made by synology, and it is an excellent device, although much more costly than what you are looking for.

I dont have experiance with the two you listed, but I have used thecus previously, suprisingly good for the price and ZyXEL:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/thecus-n0204-mininas-...

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/zyxel-nsa-210-1-bay-n...

I would recommend trying freenas on an old machine first becuase it will do everything these do for free, but the system will draw a little more power than a dedicated NAS so remove all add-on cards, gfx cards, all memory bar 1 dimm and cd/dvd drives.

I just purchased a Netgear Readynas (RND2110) 1TB, with free 1TB for £180 from novatech, all setup in 15 min.

Edited by deleted (Fri 11-Feb-11 15:20:40)

4 hours from "what should I buy?" thread start to bought and running - didn't realise it was an emergency!

You could also look at the Western Digital WorldBook drives. I have 2 of these, BUT on a 100mb wired network with cisco switches they can be a little slow - less so with gigabit switches, something about the interface not liking the 100mb speed I guess. SMB, FTP and NFS is fine but AFP access can be painful at times, other times it's fine.

On the plus side they have a built in TwonkyMedia DNLA server which will also allow you to share iTunes music (within iTunes), and Media to the PS3, Mac and Windows 7 machines. It will also act as a time machine backup disk. I use mine with Mac's, Windows 7, PS3 and Samsung TV, and don't have problems streaming music/video.

There's also a fair amount of 'hacking/modification' done on these devices (just google them), but I've yet to see much in the way of iPhone access.

Have you taken a look at Synology's range of NAS enclosures?