Gigabit Nas
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 Netgear WNDR4500 100NAS Wireless N900 Dual Band Gigabit Router  US $201.99
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NAS Network Attached Storage - 5 Reasons NAS is Better Than Just An External Hard Drive
When NAS network attached storage devices became available many people thought they were just another type of external hard drive; far from it. Network attached storage is is a quantum leap over just an external hard drive and while they both store data someplace other than your local PC, that is about the only similarity.
Whether you are looking for data storage for home, home office, small office or even certain aspects of an enterprise, NAS devices from companies like Netgear offer varying feature sets in a wide range of prices.
First lets look, though, at the advantages of network attached storage solutions over just an external hard drive.
1) Network is more than just part of the name. While access to the data on these servers is done by way of network cable, these little linux servers can actually replace a full fledged Microsoft server and run your network.
2) Gigabit networking is faster than local USB 2.0. Depending on the model, you normally get a gigabit network port to access your data. This is faster than accessing data via a USB port, but in addition, some units like a Netgear ReadyNAS NVX have two network ports for purposes of redundancy or advanced network configurations.
3) Data reliability and redundancy. High quality NAS devices use enterprise level hard drives instead of the "what's the cheapest we can get today" hard drive you find in most external hard drive offerings. Enterprise drives are a little faster, have longer warranties, and are less likely to fail in the first place.
More than that, RAID technology is usually offered, if not implemented, in any respectable network attached storage product. RAID allows one or perhaps two hard drives to fail without data loss. The server then sends you a message to let you know that you must replace the failed drive as soon as possible to prevent data loss.
4) Backup options are built in. An external hard drive is just a backup drive for most people, and while a NAS device can perform that purpose, an external drive can be used to backup the data on the network attached storage unit.
With Netgear ReadyNAS units, not only can you backup to an attached external hard drive, but you can backup to another ReadyNAS unit - possibly at another location - and you can use Netgears "vault" online backup server, for separate cost, but the functionality is built right into the ReadyNAS device.
5) Data can be easily shared between multiple computers, even Macs and Linux computers. Some NAS servers can have a USB printer attached and share that also. Security is built into the unit and user configurable.
So as you can see, NAS network attached storage is far more than just an external hard drive. You really can run a modest sized network with the NAS server as the "hub" and "brains". Forget paying Microsoft $700 for just a server license, hardware extra.
See the network attached storage reviews at http://NetworkStorageTips.com.
About the Author
Learn how you can benefit from NAS network attached storage servers. They are much, much more than just another external hard drive. Read reviews on popular units and watch some informational videos. The website address is http://NetworkStorageTips.com.
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TS-112 Turbo NAS - NAS server $159 QNAP TS-112 Turbo NAS - NAS - 0 GB - Serial ATA-300 - Gigabit Ethernet - iSCSI |
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TS-212 Turbo NAS - NAS server $249.99 QNAP TS-212 Turbo NAS - NAS - 0 GB - Serial ATA-300 - RAID 0 1 JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet - iSCSI |
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Global Marketing Partners / PROLINUX 3.5IN 2BAY NAS GIGABIT / GS-3215 $136.53 Global Marketing Partners - PROLINUX 3.5IN 2BAY NAS GIGABIT - GS-3215 |
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4TB LaCie Ethernet Disk NAS Rack-Mountable GigaBit Ethernet 301300U $670 4TB LaCie Ethernet Disk NAS Rack-Mountable GigaBit Ethernet 301300U |
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BlackArmor NAS 220 - NAS server $279.99 Seagate BlackArmor NAS 220 - NAS - 2 TB - Serial ATA-300 - HD 1 TB x 2 - RAID 0 1 JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet |
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Ethernet Disk NAS server $749 LaCie Ethernet Disk - NAS - 4 TB - rack-mountable - Gigabit Ethernet |
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FS NAS server $868.99 Drobo FS - NAS - 0 GB - Serial ATA-300 - Gigabit Ethernet |
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uShare USR8710 - NAS server $68.99 USRobotics uShare USR8710 - NAS - Hi-Speed USB - Gigabit Ethernet |
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BlackArmor NAS 440 - NAS server $723.99 Seagate BlackArmor NAS 440 - NAS - 4 TB - Serial ATA-300 - HD 1 TB x 4 - RAID 0 1 5 10 JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet |
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TS-459U-SP+ Turbo NAS - NAS server $1349.99 QNAP TS-459U-SP+ Turbo NAS - NAS - 0 GB - rack-mountable - Serial ATA-300 - RAID 0 1 5 6 JBOD 5 hot spare - Gigabit Ethernet - iSCSI - 1U |
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TS-459U-RP+ Turbo NAS - NAS server $1589.99 QNAP TS-459U-RP+ Turbo NAS - NAS - 0 GB - rack-mountable - Serial ATA-300 - RAID 0 1 5 6 JBOD 5 hot spare - Gigabit Ethernet - iSCSI - 1U |
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TS-412 Turbo NAS - NAS server $539.99 QNAP TS-412 Turbo NAS - NAS - 0 GB - Serial ATA-300 / eSATA-300 - RAID 0 1 5 6 10 JBOD 5 hot spare - Gigabit Ethernet - iSCSI |
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Nas $373.75 Nas |
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SS-439 Pro Turbo NAS - NAS server $668.99 QNAP SS-439 Pro Turbo NAS - NAS - 0 GB - Serial ATA-300 - RAID 0 1 5 6 JBOD 5 hot spare - Gigabit Ethernet - iSCSI |
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TS-459 Pro+ Turbo NAS - NAS server $863.99 QNAP TS-459 Pro+ Turbo NAS - NAS - 0 GB - Serial ATA-300 - RAID 0 1 5 6 JBOD 5 hot spare - Gigabit Ethernet - iSCSI |
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TS-459 Pro II Turbo NAS - NAS server $989.99 QNAP TS-459 Pro II Turbo NAS - NAS - 0 GB - Serial ATA-600 - RAID 0 1 5 6 10 JBOD 5 hot spare RAID 6 hot spare - Gigabit Ethernet - iSCSI |
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SmartStor NS4600 - NAS server $419.99 Promise SmartStor NS4600 - NAS - Serial ATA-300 - RAID 0 1 5 10 5 hot spare - Gigabit Ethernet |
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DNS 343 - NAS server $299.99 D-Link DNS 343 - NAS - Serial ATA-150 - RAID 0 1 5 JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet |
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LaPlug NAS server $74.99 LaCie LaPlug - NAS - 0 GB - Hi-Speed USB / Gigabit Ethernet / 802.11b/g/n |
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NSA325 - NAS server $189.99 ZyXEL NSA325 - NAS - Serial ATA-600 - RAID 0 1 JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet |
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Wireless Space NAS server $239.99 LaCie Wireless Space - NAS - 2 TB - HD 2 TB x 1 - Gigabit Ethernet / 802.11b/g/n |
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N1A1 - NAS server $137.99 LG N1A1 - NAS - 1 TB - HD 1 TB x 1 - Gigabit Ethernet |
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N2A2DD2 - NAS server $267.99 LG N2A2DD2 - NAS - 2 TB - HD 1 TB x 2 - RAID 0 1 JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet |
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SnapServer 210 - NAS server $889.99 Overland Storage SnapServer 210 - NAS - 2 TB - Serial ATA-300 - HD 1 TB x 2 - RAID 0 1 - Gigabit Ethernet |
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NDX-8 - NAS server $3649.99 Quantum NDX-8 - NAS - 8 TB - HD 2 TB x 4 - RAID 0 1 5 10 - Gigabit Ethernet |
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NDX-8d - NAS server $4639.99 Quantum NDX-8d - NAS - 8 TB - HD 2 TB x 4 - RAID 0 1 5 10 - Gigabit Ethernet |
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5big Office + - NAS server $742.99 LaCie 5big Office + - NAS - 2 TB - HD 2 TB x 1 - RAID 0 1 5 5 hot spare - Gigabit Ethernet |
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CDP 6080B - NAS server $11939.99 SonicWALL CDP 6080B - NAS - 6 TB - rack-mountable - HD 2 TB x 4 - RAID 5 - Gigabit Ethernet - 2U |
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CloudStor NAS server $189 Buffalo CloudStor - NAS - 1 TB - Serial ATA-300 - HD 1 TB x 1 - RAID 0 1 JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet |
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CDP 5040B - NAS server $7959.99 SonicWALL CDP 5040B - NAS - 8 TB - rack-mountable - HD 2 TB x 4 - RAID 5 - Gigabit Ethernet - 1U |
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CloudStor Pro NAS server $293.99 Buffalo CloudStor Pro - NAS - 2 TB - Serial ATA-300 - HD 2 TB x 1 - RAID 0 1 JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet |
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DataGuard R4 - NAS server $2259.99 Imation DataGuard R4 - NAS - rack-mountable - RAID 0 1 3 5 6 10 1E - Gigabit Ethernet - 1U |
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Technology N7700PRO - NAS server $1021.99 Thecus Technology N7700PRO - NAS - 0 TB - Serial ATA-300 - RAID 0 1 5 6 10 JBOD - Gigabit Ethernet - iSCSI |
