NAS Vs. File Server

Since storage is 1p for 4GB (at time of writing on a 1TB drive) there is really no reason not to have a central storage solution. Even if you only have one computer its still very useful because you may have a PS3, 360 or even a blu ray player that can read file servers. But the question is do you build/buy a machine that can handle all your file sharing needs and many more or do you buy a network attached storage device?

Well 3 years ago you would have laughed off such an idea and had said network attached storage (NAS) since they were cheaper and used less power than a traditional server.

Now its role reversal a U1 NAS box can now cost about 3 times as much as a cheap U1 windows server (with OS). now since NAS boxes can be evil to set up and maintain, mainly because they use a very cut down version of Linux/Unix so when something goes wrong it normally means digging through Google search results for a few days until you find a solution.

So in an rack environment a server wins without question since you can actually have control over it remotely without headaches (as long as you install a full OS on it).

But how about in a small business or home environment, The reason I’m lumping these together is because to be honest they have very similar requirements these days, apart from a small business will do backups more often (in real life this is never the case).

Now this is where it gets a bit more complicated. If you are sensible about this you can avoid massive headaches and punishment to your bank balance. ok so a cheap single bay NAS box will set you back about £30 – £100 (though £50 is about right), this are great though they lack raid and other features from the dual or quad disk boxes (Though for a cheap solution go for it).

Now the Quad boxes are a total waste of money you’ll pay over £250 for once on these (with no disks). These are only useful when up time is critical since you can have a hot swap. But from experience you spend more time restarting Netgear readyNAS drives than actually using them (not used any other 4 bay NAS).

For this just get a server and save yourself the headaches and wasted days. When you think about it you can get a cheap motherboard with RAID that support 8 disks, a CPU, PSU case and RAM for the same price as these.

This just leaves the 2 Bay NAS boxes, this is a strange area of the market since they cost between £50 – £150 and the cheapest ones aren’t generic no brands.

D-Link and netgear have a good foothold here but the major difference is the D-link models are much more user friendly (really it shocked me to) and you don’t need to restart them once a week like the netgears (also netgears have a bad habit of overheating). In netgears defence they offer better more expensive models and they also run much more quietly.

If you are wondering about technical support and advanced features like OS plugins then netgear wins, but there support is still horrible (but D-link is next to none)

For £60 you can get a DNS-320 (pictured above) which is a bargain and with features like one touch backup and print server it will suit a home or small business no problem.

This only leaves small business servers for 2 disk drives. This is a very fast developing part of the market that used to be highly dominated by VIA. In recent years the Intel atom has come onto the scene bringing the price down rapidly. the D510MO (pictured below) is only £50 and offers a 1.5 Dual core HT chip passive cooling, 2 SATA and 8 USB (it only lacks raid).

So there are viable solutions in the small business/home data storage server department but they will set you back about £200. So for this sector NAS still wins.

Conclusion

Its rather simple really NAS boxes are still a cost effective way or getting simple file servers up and running quickly (no permission per user etc. etc.). But when it comes to more complex setups such as in a rack or 4 Bay NAS boxes for small/medium business A server is more productive and in the long run can be a lot cheaper (due to lost time dealing with the NAS boxes mini OS).

For Joe Bloggs in the home the NAS box still wins for the simple things in life regarding media/file sharing and backups mainly because of the cost of home NAS boxes. Though for the people out there who need more than just a file share a nice ITX setup will be the best choice by far (shame about the cost though).