Okay, assuming you want 500GB - 1TB *usable* space with RAID capability (which might simply mean striped, but I suggest use of the R part of the acronym), and expandable, as you note... [the price changes if you need say 1TB under redundancy, obviously!]
These units use SATA II drives and gigabit ether and USB2. This Synology DS-207 2-bay shell *might* meet your needs, you could mirror 2, 1TB drives: $310 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822110015 open box: $278 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822110015R I didn't like their price point for a loaded model, so I left it out, so byod here. Another 2-bay NAS I saw on newegg looks decent too, but is not review/ranked. Sans Digital, $215 bare http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822110047 and $480 w/ 2x500GB drives http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822110049 These QNap TS-209 2-bay models say they use DDR2, not sure if the others do... $400 "pro" http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822107009 $360 "soho" http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822107008 (2nd one out of stock) Thecus N4100+ 4-bay, $410 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822102018 Synology CS407e, a bare 4-bay, $530 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822110039 Just search by category, see the bar along the top saying : Home > Categories > Networking Hard Drives > Network Storage ...? That shows you where you are. The power search box on the left, plus the usually-detailed reviews and specs and good pricing makes newegg a great site :) for example http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000240124+1157420571&Configurator=&Subcategory=124&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= If you poke around and price things out, due diligence, you will find some drive-loaded, non-bare models for better prices, but from what I've seen it is NOT safe to assume that a bare nas plus drives will end up cheaper than a pre-loaded system. I like both google.com/products and dealnews.com for loads of price comparisons. I don't know much about these units, but in general, be aware that in this type of equipment (the low-end consumer-grade goodies) it can be a crapshoot, so I always try to get something that has proven reliable by reviews and searching for problems and recalls, hater-spam, etc. Some embedded devices are well-made to run forever under a variety of conditions, some are just underpowered delicate crap. Watch out for cooling issues -- but there are a lot of passive arrangements you can arrange to keep the gear happy. best of luck, ben PS - you're quite welcome... let me know what you decide on. On 11/6/07, Joseph Toman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Rob Hudson wrote: > > Does anyone have ideas on network attached storage, preferably with > > RAID, for cheap? I'm looking for something small, cheap, easy, with > > roughly 500GB to 1TB, expandable, for a home to share and store > > photos, music, etc. > > > > I saw an ad for Iomega but that's in the range of $750. Drobo looks > > cool but that's $500 without drives and doesn't have a network option. > > > > I've never used it, but it looks interesting, and it's Linux. > > http://www.openfiler.com/ > > > > Thanks, > > Rob _______________________________________________ EUGLUG mailing list [email protected] http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
