I
f you’ve ever experienced the con-
venience of using a shared network
drive at work or school, you know
how much easier it can make operating
in a multiple PC environment.
Want to share the latest “special
interest” video you downloaded with
your roommates? Just copy it to the
share folder on the network. Need to
distribute the latest patch for Office XP
to everyone in your home? You can
store it on one of these new network
drives—just like at work.
—GORDON MAH UNGBuffalo LinkStation
It doesn’t get much easier than this.
Buffalo’s compact and quiet LinkStation
network attached storage (known as
NAS) drive is so easy to operate and con-
figure that you can have it running in
less than 10 minutes—five if you don’t
read the manual.
The LinkStation is essentially a 120GB
hard drive with a Fast Ethernet port. Using
its web interface, you set folder access
permissions, password-protect shared fold-
ers, and assign storage quotas to users and
guests. The LinkStation supports Windows,
Linux, and Macintosh shares.
This network drive doesn’t support
RAID, which may trouble those who
worry about data integrity, but Buffalocleverly circumnavigates this shortcoming
with the inclusion of a USB 2.0 port that
allows it to connect to an external hard
drive. The LinkStation can be set to auto-
matically back up all or some of itself to
such a drive. A second USB 1.1 port sup-
ports print sharing.
It’s worth mentioning that all this
networking functionality can also be
achieved with an obsolete PC you have
sitting around. However, using an entire
PC takes up more space, chews up seven
times more power (the LinkStation sips
about 17-watts), and generates much
more noise.
So what’s not to like? Our main com-
plaint is the support for only Fast Ethernet
in this new age of Gigabit Ethernet.
Performance-wise, the LinkStation isn’t all
that fast; a file server based on a 500MHz
Pentium III or old Athlon is an equal
match for it. Finally, there’s no support
for file streaming, and the 120GB hard
drive feels pretty dinky when you consid-
er the 300GB and 400GB drives in today’s
desktop machines.
Still, the LinkStation is extremely easy to
use and as such, is impressive.Linksys Network
Storage Link
If you’re insulted by invitations to BYOB
parties, the Linksys Network Storage
Link’s BYOHD approach may not tickle
your fancy. The Network Storage Link
allows you to share any USB 2.0 hard
drive on your network. If this sounds like
Buffalo’s LinkStation, it is. In fact, the
Network Storage Link is similar in features
and functionality with one big exception:
No hard drive is included.
The advantage here is that you get to
bring the storage of your choosing to this
NAS party. If you’re not satisfied with the
meager 120GB drive that Buffalo pack-ages, for example, you can buy a 300GB
Maxtor OneTouch drive. (We tested the
Network Storage Link with a Maxtor
OneTouch 160GB external drive.) This
versatility is also the unit’s weakness,
however. Because the Linksys unit formats
your drive specifically for use with the
Network Storage Link, you can’t simply
unplug your external USB 2.0 drive and
carry it to a friend’s home for an MP3-
sharing LAN party. Once formatted, the
drive only works with the Linksys unit
until you reformat it in NTFS.
Much like Buffalo’s LinkStation, you
can program the unit to back itself up
to a second external USB 2.0 hard drive.
You can also set permissions and quo-
tas via web browser, although Linksys’
interface is not quite as intuitive as
Buffalo’s. U nfortunately, the Network
Storage Link is also like the Buffalo net-
work in that it lacks Gigabit support.
The Network Storage Link has a list
price of $100. With USB 2.0 storage cabi-
nets priced in the $30 range and 120GB
drives in the $60 range, you can get the
same capacity as Buffalo’s LinkStation at
two-thirds the cost.Linksys’ Network Storage Link lets you
build your own network storage drive
for less than $200.The LinkStation network drive is
small, quiet, and extremely easy to
install and configure.Reviews
Network Drive Knockdown
.etWorKeD attacheD storaGe helPs YoU easIlY share Data froM a sInGle soUrce
78 MA XIMUMPC SEPTEMBER 2004
MA XIMUMPCVERDICT 8
THE THINGTHE HULKFast and easy installation; very quiet.120GB isn’t enough; no Gigabit Ethernet.$350, http://www.buffalotech.comLow cost and BYOHD.CHARCOALPROPANE
Doesn’t have a print server port and lacks
Gigabit Ethernet.
$100, http://www.linksys.comMA XIMUMPCVERDICT 8