The 2TB LinkStation Live delivers shared folders, user accounts, workgroup and domain support, AFP and FTP file sharing, and-of course-iTunes and DLNA-certified media servers. Unfortunately, it fell off the pace in copying files, its UI was rather slow to respond, and configuring many of its features-including remote access-proved to be less than intuitive.īuffalo Technology’s LinkStation Live is packed with features, but it’s not the fastest performer. You’ll find the nitty-gritty details at the end of this article.īuffalo’s LinkStation Live ($140) is a capable media streamer with the strongest feature set of the four boxes we looked at. However, each manufacturer added widely different features and amenities on top of the hardware. The hardware configurations proved to be surprisingly similar: Each box uses a 3.5-inch mechanical hard drive, a gigabit ethernet interface, and an external AC adapter and each is about the size of a medium-format trade paperback. If you store anything on them that you can’t afford to lose or can’t re-create, back them up. One caveat: Though single-bay NAS boxes are cost effective, they provide no data redundancy. Follow the same principle when shopping for a NAS box. Would you buy a Lamborghini strictly for driving to the corner store? Barring a spectacularly successful PowerBall encounter-probably not. You needn’t pay big bucks for an expensive multibay model designed for small businesses, either. Better NAS boxes make remote access possible, so you can access your stuff from-and stream your media to-any device anywhere you have Internet access.
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You can also stream your favorite movies and digital photos to your smart TV (or to your dumb TV, if you have a streaming box or home-theater PC connected to it). Second-and more enjoyably-a NAS box can store your media libraries and stream files to any PC or networked audio device in your house (examples include devices in the AirPlay, NuVo, and Sonos product ecosystems). If your home network lacks a NAS box, you’re missing out on two counts: First, network-attached storage (NAS) is the easiest way to back up connected PCs.