NAS Versus Firewire External HDD

[sammich]

In preparations for Time Machine.

I've been hunting around for a backup/storage solution for the household. We currently aren't looking into buying a desktop (iMac/MacPro), so it will have to be connected to either the network or one of the PB/MBP's around the house (all connected via a gigabit switch).

I'm currently engaged in a small debate over which one is more useful. Clearly, the odds are in favor of the NAS option which allows it to be always on and doesn't require a computer for usage. The particular model I'm looking at is the Thecus N2100 NAS. It is a little bit pricey, but it offers everything I need. It has two SATA bays (although if it's SATA I or II, I don't know), and is Gigabit.

However, purchasing an external dual SATA bay FW800 FW800 enclosure is FAR cheaper than buying the NAS box. It should also be quite a bit faster.


THE QUESTIONS

Firstly: most importantly, does anyone own or know of anyone who has that particular NAS Box (link above) (or any NAS box that Thecus makes). I don't want to have a dud on arrival esp since it is being shipped intl. Also, how friendly is this box's usage in Mac Os X, and any possible incompatibility with Time Machine?

Secondly: does anyone have any experience with a gigabit NAS solution? If so, what are the xfer speeds like (LaCie comes to mind)? The linked device above also has a small Intel XScale chip in it, so it may faster than consumer based NAS solutions such as the LaCie.

Thirdly: is the Mercury Elite Pro loud when under heavy use? If we do purchase this, it will most likely end up attached to a MBP in my bedroom.

The hard drives will be bought separately. Most likely to be a pair of 750 GB Seagate Barracuda's.

Thanks in advance for any advice and experiences,
Sam

 

[sammich]

Update: I just read a review over at Tom's Hardware and just saw exactly how old this device is.

Given the cons in the review, it has almost turned me off buying it. So if anyone owns a good consumer level NAS solution, please post your experiences.

 

[LeviG]

take a look at infrant (now netgear owned) and synology

infrant are really 4 disk solutions while synology has a range of different solutions for 1-4 disks. I have a synology ds106j and the support is pretty good.

 

[sammich]

Whoa, thanks Levi!

The Synology NAS boxes look fantastic. They even have AppleTalk! Nice find. Too bad they are pretty darn expensive. Would have gotten them in a second.

Thanks again.

 

[LeviG]

Whoa, thanks Levi!

The Synology NAS boxes look fantastic. They even have AppleTalk! Nice find. Too bad they are pretty darn expensive. Would have gotten them in a second.

Thanks again.

Yeah they are expensive but they are worth it, it has built in ftp, photo gallery and web servers (great for hosting temp sites etc) which is a nice bonus for you if you use it. Current firmware has an apple itunes server (acts like sharing without any images etc) which isnt too bad.

I will probably get a multidrive version at some point purely as a media storage device as they run a lot cheaper than having my pc file server on all the time.

edit - missed the question on gigabit transfer speeds - I get about 20mb/s iirc which is admittedly lower than firewire but is good for a nas box supposedly