The Buffalo TeraStation 3010 range offers a robust and reliable NAS
solution for the SMB user. The TeraStation 3210DN is Buffalo’s mid-range
business model, offering the user an impressive level of storage along with
excellent features and build quality.
Buffalo aspired to combine the ease of use from its LinkStation
consumer models, with the flexibility, mass storage and high
performance of its top-end business models when designing
the TeraStation 3210DN, and it’s worked too.The desktop version of the TeraStation 3210DN (also available
as a rackmount option), houses an Annapurna Labs AL212
Dual-Core CPU running at 1.4GHz, with 1GB of DDR3 system
memory to help drive the Linux OS along nicely.This is a two-bay model NAS, with the drive bays accessible via
the lockable swing front door of the unit. You can purchase set
capacity models: 2TB, 4TB and 8TB, spread across the two
drives within and offering a number of RAID levels to choose
from. The drive bays are hot swappable, so you’re able to quickly
remove and replace any faulty drives and rebuild the RAID
should anything go wrong.There’s also a pair of USB 3.0 ports and dual Gigabit Ethernet
ports. The main ports are located to the rear of the unit,
grouped to the bottom of the NAS, allowing attachments of
other storage options and quick syncing with USB flash pens.The software is similarly very good. There’s the usual
media serving capabilities, along with an FTP Server,
web access and cloud server duties. There’s also
support for iTunes, Time Machine backups and
various settings to help create automated backups
of your workstations.The design of the TeraStation is simplistic but effective. The
black matte and glossy black mixture of metal and plastic
throughout works well and will certainly take the day to day
brutality of being in a busy office. There’s a range of LEDs on
the front panel indicating the current state of the installed
hard drives, power and network activity. It’s effective and not
too distracting either.The Buffalo TeraStation 3210DN is a great business NAS. True
you can find more capacity with Synology and QNAP’s models,
and essentially there’s more on offer in terms of the software,
operating system and available apps from the other two
manufactures, but there’s something simple and useful about
the TeraStation that puts it on a level pegging with the other
models. It’s an ideal NAS for the SMB user and the home office,
power user too.Expect to pay in the region of £600 for the 8TB models,
housed with a pair of 4TB drives. Obviously the price drops with
the lesser capacity models, so shop around and see what you
can find.Buffalo TeraStation 3210DN
Advanced Cloud Uses