Posted 10/15/09 at 08:30:30 PM by Michael Brown

D-Link’s DIR-685 Wi-Fi router generated a lot of buzz at CES this past January. And when we took a gander at its spec sheet, we thought it a contender for Best of the Best in the router category; something that would finally displace the Linksys WRT600N, which is becoming hard to find. Alas, ’twas not to be.

The problem certainly isn’t with the DIR-685’s feature set: This router is absolutely loaded with goodies. The 3.2-inch color LCD can inform you of the router’s status and configuration; present digital photos from Flickr, Picasa, and Facebook; display RSS feeds, such as sports scores, weather reports, and stock quotes; and a lot more (this is one router your significant other won’t insist be hidden in a closet).

Next up, there’s a 2.5-inch internal SATA hard drive bay, which can turn the router into a NAS box (complemented by a built-in FTP server and BitTorrent software). There are two USB ports featuring D-Link’s SharePort technology, which allows you to plug in both an external hard drive and a printer and share these devices with any computer on the network. The router’s four-port gigabit switch automatically powers down any ports not in use to save a modest amount of energy.

Continue reading this review after the jump.

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Posted 10/09/09 at 11:30:00 AM by Paul Lilly

Iomega today announced the next generation of its double-drive desktop NAS box, the StorCenter ix2-200. The box comes available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities, each with a four-step setup process, and sports a few noteworthy tricks, such as built-in torrent support.

It also touts multiple IP security camera support, RAID 1 configurations, device-to-device replication, VMWare certification, Time Machine support for Apple computer backups, Bluetooth, remote access, and a bunch more marketing bullets.

"The new StorCenter ix2-200 is definitely the easiest to use small office and consumer network storage appliance in the marketplace today," said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC.

Both the 1TB and 2TB models are available now for $270 and $370, respectively. The 4TB NAS box will debut later this month for $700.

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Posted 09/10/09 at 09:16:24 PM by Ryan Whitwam

LG has chosen CEDIA as the venue to show off its new N2R1 NAS box. The product’s aim, according to the press release, is to protect digital media files. The unit is capable of up to 2TB of RAID storage, and has a built-in DVD burner. Other specs include DLNA, Ethernet, and WiFi. Unfortunately, the wireless networking is limited to 802.11g. With 2TB of storage, you might want to wire this one in via Ethernet.

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Posted 08/31/09 at 01:30:50 PM by Paul Lilly

Xtreamer on Thursday announced its new eTRAYz 2-bay NAS unit with support for up 4TB in storage. Best of all, existing Xtremer Media Player owners are eligible for a sizable introductory discount, bringing the price down from 99 EUR ($141 USD) to 59 EUR ($84) plus shipping.

Price doesn't include drives -- you'll have to bring your own HDDs -- but otherwise the eTRAYz NAS comes with Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard support, RAID 0/1, torrent management, 802.11n, and a surveillance webcam to keep tabs on the unit from a remote location.

Pre-ordering starts on November 1, 2009 with no word yet on a projected ship date.

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Posted 08/31/09 at 06:33:34 AM by Paul Lilly

Iomega has announced a quad-drive desktop NAS appliance (StorCenter ix4-200d) aimed at small to medium sized businesses the company promises will offer oodles of storage without thrashing your piggy bank.

On the setup side, Iomega says you can be "up and running in a matter of four mouse clicks and a few minutes." Once configured, you'll have access to up 8TB of networked storage (4TB and 2TB capacities also available).

The StorCenter works with Windows, Mac OS, and Linux PCs and supports a number features. These include iSCSI block-level access, device-to-device replication to network targets (useful for file recovery), various RAID configurations, Windows Active Directory support, remote access and management, IP security camera support, and a new front-panel LCD and QuickTransfer button for one-touch copying duties.

The 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB models are all available now for $700, $900, and $1,900 respectively.

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Posted 07/28/09 at 11:25:46 AM by The Maximum PC Staff

I have 2TBs of movies that I’m afraid I’ll lose if the NAS device they’re stored on fails. Is it possible to recover the files on these hard drives by putting them in another device, or do I have to have the same product I’m using now? Making DVDs for 2TB of files is not realistic and I don’t really want to buy another 2TB of hard drives just for backup. How long can I expect a typical hard drive to retain data before it fails? One year? Five?

Read on to see our answer for Norm.

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Posted 06/26/09 at 02:49:12 PM by Andy Salisbury

Creating an emphasis towards using a NAS at home, Western Digital recently announced their 4TB MyBook World Edition II that’s compatible with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The MyBook World Edition II uses RAID 1 mirrored drives in order to protect data, and it also ships with backup software that allows for continual backups of each computer on your network. The storage capacity is 4TB, but should you use it in the RAID 1 setup, only two of these will be usable. It will work with Macs, PCs, as well as consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

“Families have more and more digital media like movies, photos and music to store, share and protect. Having two drives inside the My Book World Edition II network storage system, instantaneously and automatically duplicating data, offers consumers the peace of mind of double safe, real-time protection of their valuable content,” stated Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for Western Digital's branded products group. “Families can relax knowing their valuable media is backed up while enjoying the ability to stream their content to a plethora of different devices from PCs and Macs to PS3s, Xbox 360s and the latest connected TVs.”

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Posted 06/22/09 at 05:30:29 PM by Andy Salisbury

Earlier today Seagate announced several additions to its line of BlackArmor external hard drives.

The drives, which are aimed at small businesses, include the BlackArmor NAS 220 storage server, BlackArmor WS 110 external drive and the BlackArmor PS 110 portable drive. The NAS 220 will be able to hold up to 4TB of storage, and sports data protection for up to 20 PCs on a network. The WS 110, which is meant to be a desktop accessory, will come with USB 2.0 and eSATA connectors, and packs with up to 2TB worth of space. And, lastly, the PS 110 comes with up to 500GB of storage, and will feature with a standard USB 2.0 connector.

The NAS 220 will be available starting at $699.99 for the 4TB model starting in July, whereas the WS 110 and PS 110 are available now for $309.99 (2TB) and $159.99 (500GB), respectively.

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