2009's Top Nas boxes
Get your files off your computers and onto the network
Kit of the Year More and more Register Hardware readers started storing files in network-attached drives this year, and we began our coverage of this hot topic in earnest. We haven't looked at every model from every manufacturer, but here are the Nas boxes that most found favour in 2009.
Qnap TS-219P Turbo
Cool and quiet on the outside and chock-a-block with features on the inside, the TS-219P has a more comprehensive firmware than any other dual-bay Nas we’ve tested. It’s not the quickest product of its kind and its power management needs a small upgrade, but Qnap has created a Nas box that geeks and laypeople alike will spend many hours enjoying.
Read the full review here
Reg Rating 85%
Price £330 Click for best online prices
Promise Smartstor NS4600
An attractive, high performing Nas with features galore, tainted by poor power management. The addition of scheduled on/off - promised in a firmware update - along with the upcoming Gatekeeper service, will put the NS4600 on the top of the Nas box shopping list. For those wanting these functions now, there are plenty of four-bay alternatives for £400 that will do the trick. Nevertheless, the SmartStor NS4600 has more features than most. It’s quiet and has excellent media streaming capabilities with very fast transfer speeds. In this capacity, it certainly lives up to its promise.
Read the full review here
Reg Rating 85%
Price £399
Synology Disk Station 409 Slim
The DS409 Slim will cost you more per Gigabyte than a similarly stocked 3.5in-drive model, but offers excellent environmental characteristics: notably low noise and reduced power consumption. While it is tiny, it does lose out on sheer build quality to the likes of Qnap or the pricier Buffalo units, due to its plastic construction. But when it comes to features and performance, the DS409Slim makes no compromises.
Read the full review here
Reg Rating 80%
Price £322 Click for best online prices
Best of the Rest
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Western Digital My Book World Edition
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EZY Technologies MyXerver MX3600
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Buffalo Terastation III
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COMMENTS
Wot no Thecus?
Thecus released a 7 and 8 bay NAS this year.. and the Thecus N5200B Pro is still an awesome product.
Thecus! Yeah!
Wot no Synology?
I'm astonished that no Synology NAS made the grade, they have a compelling range of NASs to suit every pocket and their interface is what QNAP spends all it's time catching up with. The range of applications out of the box are top drawer (apart from rtorrent which is a bit stinky but you can replace it with transmission via the same package manager as the QNAP) . Also they are all DLNA and UPNP-AV media servers for all your consoles, media clients and compooters.
Reply to post: Drobo for 2009? a new version?
Why not? I have a 19" rack at home. A work colleague was a part-time musician and decided to move state - he sold most of his stuff, including the 19" rack he was using for his musical equipment.
But its a convertor not a nas - bodge not a solution.
doesn't really count in my book..
two flashey light boxes,
Extra power bricks,
extra cables extra sockets...
More wasted leccytrixty.
take two bottles into the shower if you want.
