There probably aren’t many offices without a Network Attached Storage (NAS) box in the corner these days. That’s for those who came in late. The things are so ubiquitous you can buy them at department stores. Of course, there are varying levels of NAS devices with varying features sets and corresponding price points. One of the most popular models for the office is Netgear’sReadyNAS NV+, which used to be made by Infrant until they sold out and retired to the Bahamas or to wherever recently-made-rich former tech startup directors retire.
The regular ReadyNAS NV+ can hold up to four terabyte drives in a redundant array, which is a tad more than the average household can justify. However, the Netgear R&D crowd figured people might like to run the same kit at home that they run in the office, if they could get the price down to a reasonable level. They’ve achieved their goals by shrinking the box and leaving room for only two drives and calling it the ReadyNAS Duo with an asking price of $699 with one 500GB drive installed.
The second slot will take another identical-sized drive but it won’t give you any more storage space – the second drive is insurance against hard disk failure, as it mirrors the data on the first drive and vice versa. The ReadyNAS Duo is otherwise almost identical to its big sister ReadyNAS NV+ with the same web-based interface to configure the features. If you’ve used the big one, you’ll have no trouble using the small one. And if you’ve never used either you won’t have any trouble because there’s a setup wizard included.
The only gotcha with the setup wizard is that you’re expected to click “Apply” on each page before you click “Next”. This is pretty silly, since the software is smart enough to pop-up a message saying “You forgot to Apply” if you click Next before you click Apply. It makes you mutter to yourself “If you knew that, and you’re supposed to be a wizard…..” Other than that interesting feature the rest is pretty straightforward. The ReadyNAS Duo comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port, but no WiFi so you’ll need to park it near your router.
It also has built-in software to copy all the media files from anything you plug into its USB port on the front of the box into a folder on the NAS. Unfortunately you don’t get card reader slots, just USB, but you can connect a camera directly via this USB cable. Once the images are loaded, the clever ReadyNAS Duo software will scale them for display on its internal web server, so you can easily look at them on any PC, and you can also look at them from anywhere on the Internet. You’ll probably have to muck about with the port-forwarding menu on your router before this works as advertised.
The ReadyNAS Duo also knows how to be a repository for your iTunes music library, or if you’ve resisted the iPod urge and use another brand of MP3 player, it can operate as a Home Media Streaming Server or SlimServer, which should cover most bases. It also knows how to perform UPnP AV (Universal Plug-and-Play Audio Video) which should work with most streaming video players on the market. There are also third-party add-ons you can download for specific streaming services beyond those included with the box.
When it comes to just being a file storage box for your PCs, the ReadyNAS Duo works with Windows, Macintosh, Unix/Linux clients as well as offering FTP and HTTP access. Each protocol can be chosen individually for each shared folder so you’re not stuck with an all or nothing approach if you decide to make some files visible via the Internet. You can also create groups of users, to whom you then allocate the type of access appropriate. People you trust might be allowed to upload images to your box while the great unwashed might only be allowed to look, without or without a password. It’s up to you.
You’re probably thinking that’s enough features, but wait, there’s more! This NAS box can extend its storage by connecting more hard drive boxes to the rear USB ports. You can use any attached drives as extra space or you can perform automatic backups of your NAS files to an attached USB drive. This is very handy for those who like to wear belts and braces. The rest of us will just make use of the extra space.
That USB port doesn’t just give you access to more storage – it can also be used as a print server as well. There are two ports on the back so you can have more storage and a printer attached simultaneously. And you’ve still got the front USB port for plugging in your camera. Come to think of it, why do you still need your PC? Oh, that’s right, so you can download stuff. Well, the ReadyNAS Duo can also participate in BitTorrent peer-to-peer networks. Maybe you don’t need your PC after all.