42 JANUARY2021|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE395
01
Anetwork-attachedstorage(NAS)
deviceletsyoustoredocuments,
media,andotherfilesonitsharddisksso
youcansharethemwithotherdeviceson
yournetwork.Somehavedisksalready
installed,whileothersareemptyenclosures
intowhich you install your own disks.
Buying an empty NAS can often be the
more cost-effective option, as they’re usually
less expensive and give you the freedom to
add disks at alater date.
Youshould buy one with aGigabit
Ethernet interface,asthese provide the
highest transfer speeds. To useaNAS device
at these speeds, you’ll need computers with
Gigabit Ethernet network adaptors and
aGigabit Ethernet switch or router.
Computers with Fast Ethernet adaptors
Choosinga... NASdevice
can still access the NAS device,but only
at the much slower speed of 100Mbit/s.
02
The amount of networkstorage you
need depends on the types of files
you use.Ifyou want to store Word and Excel
documents, forexample,a1TB device will be
fine.Infact, a1TB device should be sufficient
forafamily’s entire media collection,
regardless of howmanymusic and video files
everyone owns. Small businesses should
consider higher storage capacities,
depending on the nature of the business.
03
If you can see no end to your storage
needs, you should buy an upgradable
NAS device.Many have aUSB port for
adding an external disk. Devices such as
Synology’s barebones NAS kits have spare
disk trays forcheaper and faster upgrades.
04
If you want extra protection foryour
data, look foradevice that supports
RAID.RAID 1and RAID 5arrays reduce the
available capacity by duplicating data, but
you won’t lose it if adisk fails.
05
If you need access to your files while
you’re away, look foraNAS device
with an FTP server.Some can also share a
USB printer across your network.
ANAS device with aUniversal Plug and
Play(UPnP) or DLNA media server can
stream your music, photos and videos to a
network media player,soyou can enjoyyour
media collection in another room.
STORAGE
WDBlueSN5501TB
★★★★★
£102•www.ebuyer.com
ADATA SD600Q480GB
★★★★★
£54•www.quzo.net
Thereare
faster SSDs,
but the Blue
SN550 isn’t slow,either.It’s therefore
agood bet forwhen you want as much
solid-statecapacity foraslittle moneyaspossible.
Put aside your fears
about external
SSDs being too
expensive compared to hard disks
–this 480GB drive is excellent value,
and decently quick.
CAPACITY 1 TB•PRICEPERGIGABYTE£0.10p•INTERFACEM2/NVMe•WARRANTYFiveyears
RTB•DETAILSwww.westerndigital.com•PARTCODEWDS 10 0T2B0C•FULLREVIEWApr2 020
CAPACITY480GB•COSTPERGIGABYTE£0.11p•INTERFACEUSB3•CLAIMEDREAD440MB/s
- CLAIMEDWRITE430MB/s•WARRANTYThreeyears RTB•DETAILSwww.adata.com•
PARTCODEASD600Q-480GU31-CBL•FULLREVIEWAug2019
KINGSTONA20001TB
★★★★★
£97•www.scan.co.uk
The A2000’s
maximum
speeds don’t
look all that hot, but this SSDperforms exceptionally well in
the kinds of non-sequential transfer tasks you’re more likely to
actually undertake in your day-to-daycomputing.
CAPACITY1TB•COSTPERGIGABYTE£0.10p•INTERFACEM.2/NVMe•CLAIMEDREAD
2,200MB/s•CLAIMEDWRITE2,000MB/s•WARRANTYFive yearsRTB•DETAILS
http://www.kingston.com•PARTCODESA2000M8/1000G•FULLREVIEWDec 2019
KINGSTON KC25001TB
★★★★★
£187•www.box.co.uk
It’s worth
paying a
little
more forthe KC2500’s
immense read and writespeeds, which are maintained unusually well
during more difficult transfer tasks.
CAPACITY1TB•COSTPERGIGABYTE£0.19p•INTERFACEM.2/NVMe•CLAIMEDREAD
3,500MB/s•CLAIMEDWRITE2,900MB/s•WARRANTYFive yearsRTB•DETAILS
http://www.kingston.com•PARTCODESKC2500M8/1000G•FULLREVIEWAug2020
PNYProElite 1TB
★★★★★
£163•www.amzn.to/3kqGJFo
Atiny,
very nimble
portable SSD
that’s both faster and cheaper than
Samsung’s similar T5 drive.Just make sure to
connect via aUSB3.1port to get the best performance.
CAPACITY1TB•PRICEPERGIGABYTE£0.16p•INTERFACEUSB3.1•WARRANTYThreeyears
RTB•DETAILSwww.pny.eu•PARTCODEPSD0CS2060S-1TB-RB•FULLREVIEWFeb2020
ISTORAGECloudAshur
★★★★★
£99•www.istorage-uk.com
The CloudAshur
looks like aUSB
drive,but it’s actually a
module that adds PIN-protected encryption to
your files as you save themto the cloud. It’s not fast,
but it is effective and totallyunique.
CAPACITYN/A•COSTPERGIGABYTEN/A•INTERFACEUSB3•WARRANTYThreeyears RTB
withlifetimetechnicalsupport•DETAILSwww.istorage-uk.com•PARTCODEIS-EM-CA-256•
FULLREVIEWJun2020
480 GB
ears
s
lue,
