Telecommuting? Working at home? Then as the sheer number of your computers grows, you might be interested in setting up a storage network at home. Here’s some tips from Computer World.
With five computers in my home/office, I told myself, the last thing I need is to add a shared network storage device to the clutter. But I had been eyeing these systems with interest for some time, hoping prices would come down. Now, with retail sticker prices for consumer versions now in the $200 range for 250GB or more of shared disk space, it was time to take a serious look at what these devices can do for the small office and home office user.
These network attached storage (NAS) devices connect directly to your home office network and provide a shared storage space that’s independent of any individual machine. Such devices used to be expensive, industrial-grade only products, but small, consumer market units are selling in increasing numbers out of retail stores such as Staples and Best Buy. The units come with an Ethernet patch cable that you plug into an open port on your Ethernet switch or router. Once it’s attached to your network, any computer on your network – wireless or wired – should be able to use the device.
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