A couple of weeks ago I decided that I needed a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device. To recap – a NAS device would provide me a better backup solution with the added benefit of a shared storage location on my home network. Given the criteria that I previously listed and a little bit of research, I purchased a Linksys NAS200 and a pair of 500GB SATA drives for a total of $350.18. This is about $150 under my $500 budget constraint.

Before my purchase I had been leaning towards the D-Link DNS-323, but secretly hoping the Linksys NAS200 would arrive in time. Sometimes it pays to wait. I don’t usually purchase hardware that is so new on the market, but a couple of factors persuaded me to make my decision. The Linksys NAS200 retails for about $40 less than the D-Link DNS-323 and packs quite a few more features. This combined with the NSLU2’s success and my overall good luck with Linksys hardware helped seal the deal. Since my home network runs entirely on Linux, I wanted a device that would work well in this environment. I’m not suggesting that I won’t run into problems, but with the NSLU2’s reputation I feel a little less worried. I’ll be sure to follow up with a full review once my new hardware arrives. To be continued…

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