NAS

Placing your digital media collection on a NAS has a number of benefits:

• High availability - Many NASes draw very little power when they are idle, so they can be left permanently switched on.  This means you wont have to wait for computer to boot before you can start streaming music
  
• Protects your digital media files - if the NAS has RAID capability (hard-drive redundancy), you are protected from failure of any one of the drives in your system.  (However, this is not a substitute for a proper back up solution.)
  

Additionally, some NASes are capbable of running a media server.  This relieves your computer of one more task, and increases availability of your audio.

References

http://nas-central.org/ has alot of great information about NASes from various vendors.

QNAP TS409 Pro

This is Linn's recommended NAS. It comes pre-installed with Twonky Media Server, is easy to install and manage and has a good solid finish.

The "Pro" version has NFS support, making it suitable for integrating a DS and Akurate Music Server in the same system allowing both products to share the same storage.

QNAP's lower end products are also reasonable choices for DS companion. eg The QNAP TS209 is a good 2 bay NAS with Twonky pre-installed.

Netgear ReadyNAS NV+

Linn's other recommended NAS.  Solid construction, and a good reputation.  4 bays, and an expandible, hotswap RAID implementation (XRAID).  Twonky doesn't come pre-installed but an easy to use installation package is available from their web site.

Netgear ReadyNAS Duo

This is Netgear's first NAS product since they purchased Infrant in 2007.  The Duo is a 2 bay NAS that supports RAID 1.  Good solid construction.  Inherits many of the excellent features of the (more expensive) "NV" ReadyNAS variant. Supports Twonky through an installation package available through their website.

• http://www.netgear.com/Products/Storage/ReadyNASDuo.aspx
• http://www.trustedreviews.com/networking/review/2008/05/05/Netgear-ReadyNAS-Duo/p1

Lacie Mini Ethernet Disk

Compatible with Linn DS products, comes with Twonky Media pre-installed, easy to set-up, but no RAID support.

DLink DNS 323

The DLink is a cheap NAS, with RAID 1 capability.  The drive has limited firmware out of the box, (the pre-installed UPnP server is not very good), but it can be upgraded to run Twonky Media Server.

Installation experience of Twonky is relatively straight-forward if you are prepared to follow the instructions to install "fun_plug", (http://wiki.dns323.info/howto:fun_plug) and the Twonky installation instructions (http://www.twonkyvision.com/Download/TwonkyMedia/TM4Technicians.html)
* 2 disk SATA
* RAID 0,1,JBOD
* Linux ("busybox") based
* DHCP
* pre-installed uPnP server (DLink custom)

HP Media Smart Server

Windows Home Server product

• http://h40059.www4.hp.com/mss/
• http://www.tranquilpc-shop.co.uk/acatalog/T7-HSA.html

Not tested by Linn, but some user reports on Linn's Forums suggest it is working well...

Buffalo

Buffalo Mini NAS

The Buffalo MiniNAS comes with Twonky Media Pre-installed. This is currently the only Buffalo NAS that comes with Twonky.

• http://www.buffalo-technology.com/products/network-storage/linkstation/linkstation-mini/
• http://www.trustedreviews.com/networking/review/2008/05/07/Buffalo-LinkStation-Mini-NAS-Appliance/p1
• http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/09/buffalo_launches_mini_nas/

This NAS has not been tested by Linn.

Buffalo Terastation

The Buffalo Terastation is a basic NAS, with very few add-ons. It comes with the Mediabolic UPnP Media Server pre-installed (under the name Pcast). This has no user-configurable options, and does not support flac. It does however support MP3 and WAV formats, so can be used if flac support is not required, and if the predefined configuration is acceptable. The menu configuration is quite reasonable for usage.

Twonky can be installed on the Terastation, but it is not a simple procedure, and errors in the process could render the NAS unusable. The process is documented on-line.

The NAS is rather lacking in toys (DHCP serv, NFS, database, web server etc.) that are commonly available from other vendors, but most of these don't matter if you just want it for storage.

In conclusion - not really suitable as a companion for a DS, but it can be made to work if you are technically able.

Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo Home Server 1900

The Scaleo Home Server 1900 is a 4-bay Windows Home Server NAS. It comes pre-installed with Twonky.

• http://www.fujitsu-siemens.co.uk/home/products/home_server/scaleo_homeserver.html
• http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/190008/fujitsu-siemens-scaleo-home-server-1900.html

This NAS has not been tested by Linn.

I-O DATA

No review available.

Acer Altos EasyStore

• Review: http://www.itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h1360.htm

No review available.