A few days ago, I was asked what the best file/print solution for a home office (SOHO) would be. While researching what would be his best choice, I came across a few interesting options in the market today. Network appliances are, in my opinion, the easiest route for home users with the most basic needs. Yes, I understand that there are more functional and flexible solutions both on Windows and Linux - however, at the end of the day, a "one person shop" doesn't want to have to worry about things. The closest you can get to "plug it in, forget it" the better. I ended up pointing him towards a new product from Buffalo Technology - something they call the LinkStation. This thing is about as simple as you get - a network appliance with 120GB worth of HDD space and a USB print server. It was "brain dead simple" to install - he plugged it into his Linksys switch, plugged it into the wall outlet and he was done. It grabbed an IP address from the router and he could browse to it from both of his WinXP machines. The crazy part was that he ended up paying $185.00 for it. Hard to believe that ~$200 will get you a basic print server and a file server with 120GB these days. And for those of you paying very close attention, it runs Linux. Almost blasphemous for me to even be posting this...
Buffalo's LinkStation Network Storage Center - 120GB
(http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-detail.php?productid=36&categoryid=16)
I thought for everyone's benefit, I would list some other possibilities that I uncovered in my search:
Buffalo Technology
Buffalo also makes a 160GB and 250GB version of the LinkStation. The Buffalo LinkStation Network Storage Center - 160GB (http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-detail.php?productid=71&categoryid=16) and the Buffalo LinkStation Network Storage Center - 250GB (http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-detail.php?productid=72&categoryid=16)
Axentra
From what I can tell, these folks are relative newcomers. However, out of all of the options I looked at this one is the most feature-rich and functional for the price. $399 gets you a network appliance that can do everything from host your website to store your files to handle your internet mail. Everything is configured through a web browser - I wonder though, for the home office user, if this might be a bit too functional and a tad confusing to setup/maintain. Remember, the simpler the better. (http://www.axentra.com/products/multifunc_server_appliances/home_series_net-box/)
Linksys
Linksys has four different solutions which (functionally speaking, anyway) are comparable to the Buffalo LinkStation. The problem with the Linksys devices is price - they are considerably more expensive than other solutions I found. And I couldn't find any glaring feature differences to justify the gap.
The EFG120 (http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=35&scid=43&prid=555) and the EFG250 (http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=35&scid=43&prid=622) are both file servers and print servers. An added bonus - both devices have room for one more IDE drive should you decide to expand your storage capacity down the road. You can also set these boxes up to be accessible by FTP from the Internet. That's something the Buffalo device doesn't offer.
The EFG80 is a little brother version of the EFG120 and EFG250 - and the price is outrageous considering what you're getting. Other than an additional method of remote access (via HTTP browser), it has the same functionality as found in the EFG120 and EFG250, but with an 80GB HDD. My guess is that Linksys is pushing the newer models and these are just leftovers in the channel that retailers are still trying to get rid of... (http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=35&scid=43&prid=447)
The NSLU2 is probably the most interesting device (IMHO) that Linksys makes. It's a new take on the same idea - a networked storage device. The difference is that this party is BYOD - Bring Your Own Disk. It sports two USB 2.0 ports for connecting any USB HDD - even a USB memory stick. No print server functionality, but the price is good (~$100) - especially if you already have an old USB HDD hanging around in a closet somewhere. It also includes built-in backup software so you can keep the data on your PC in sync with the data on the network. It doesn't appear to have any remote access (HTTP/FTP) functionality though. (http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=35&scid=43&prid=640)
U.S. Robotics
U.S. Robotics has a pretty neat product called the USR8200. It's by far the most feature-rich appliance (aside from the Axentra product) that I found. It includes not only file server (via external FireWire and USB ports) functionality and print server functionality, but also full-blown firewall and VPN services so that you can plug it right into your DSL or Cable modem. It even includes a 4 port switch. At $349 it's a bit on the pricey side, but it can (for the most part anyway), replace all of someone's existing devices (router, switch, file/print server, etc) and give them additional functionality like remote access via VPN. (http://www.usr.com/products/networking/router-product.asp?type=specs&sku=USR8200)
Mirra
The Mirra personal server comes in 3 different flavors, the M-120 (120GB) for $499, the M-80 (80GB) for $399 and the M-250 (250GB) for $749. As a comparison, it is a network file server similar to the products from Buffalo and Linksys. It doesn't have print server capabilities, but does have some pretty slick synchronization software and remote access software built-in. For just the file server functionality, it's a bit over-priced - but if you want nothing more than a backup and remote access solution for data, it's a good choice. (http://www.mirra.com)
Sercomm
Sercomm provides a line of NAS / Print Server appliances with the interNAS moniker. Similar to solutions above - most support SMB over TCP/IP and HTTP as well as shared network printer capabilities. (http://www.sercomm.com/NAS.htm)