Lately I’ve become paranoid about my home backup strategy. I’ve realized that burning CDs/DVDs just doesn’t cut it. Not only are compact discs a lousy medium, but I’m not diligent enough to make the backups. Even when I do make backups, they tend to get lost in my house – oftentimes ending up as the coaster of a frosty mug. A Network Attached Storage (NAS) device would give me centralized backups with the added benefit of a shared storage location on my home network.

I’ve been researching NAS solutions to adequately CMA. I’ve narrowed my search down to five choices. Each of the devices will work for my needs, but they all come with their own baggage. My list of must have features along with the five devices and my perceptions of each can be found below.

Must have features:

1. Ethernet connected storage.
2. RAID 1 mirroring.
3. Less than $500 total price.
4. 1TB (500GB mirrored) of drive space.
5. Works in a mixed environment.

My choices:

1. D-Link DNS-323
   Pros
   • Good user reviews on CNet.com.
   • Scalable.
   • Fast write speed.
   Cons
   • Looks like my toaster.
   • Price. With 2 500GB SATA drives this comes close to my $500 limit.
2. Linksys NAS200
   Pros
   • The NSLU2 was a success.
   • Inexpensive. Amazon.com is selling the unit at a preorder rate of $129.99 (drives not included).
   • Scalable.
   Cons
   • Yet another ugly device.
   • Not yet released.
3. Maxtor Shared Storage II
   Pros
   • Nice design.
   • Quiet.
   Cons
   • Average price. I found this retailing for $429.99. at JR.com.
   • Bad user reviews on Amazon.com.
   • Reviews suggest that the internal drives cannot be replaced.
4. NetGear SC101
   Pros
   • Inexpensive. Retails at TigerDirect.com for $74.99 (drives not included).
   • Scalable.
   Cons
   • IDE drives only.
   • Toasteresque design.
   • According to user reviews, this device may not work in a mixed environment.
5. Western Digital My Book World Edition II
   Pros
   • Price. I found the 1TB device for $356.99 at JR.com.
   • The best looking device. It reminds me of an Apple product.
   Cons
   • Horrible user reviews on both Amazon.com and CNet.com.
   • Supposedly has a very noisy fan.
   • Reviews suggest slow write speeds.

In the midst of writing this article, I ran across a detailed comparison of NAS performance specs. I’ll definitely be reviewing this information before making my final decision. I’m also open to suggestions as long as they fit within my list of must have features.

UPDATE: My final review of the Linksys NAS200 has been posted.