nas for home network?

[5Gs]

thought I'd ask here too since it seems like there's always someone with an answer.

I'm looking for a nas solution for home use for a friend. I've seen the netgear (don't like because it uses proprietary software and doesn't work with something other than windows) and the linksys (also works with windows only?). anyway, if you've got something that works great, I'd like to hear about it. here's the requirements/preferences:

- works with windows and linux
- 100mbps speed ok, prefer 1000mbps
- can do raid 1
- no more than $200 (before drives)

unfortunately everything I know of isn't exactly cheap or for home use.

[macphanatic]

The best available is made by Infrant. Driveless enclosure will run about $600. It fully supports gigabit ethernet.

Synology NAS have gotten good reviews and offer gigabit ethernet. They tend to be less expensive than Infrant, but don't support as many drives.

You could take an old pc and install FreeNAS on it. Install a supported Gigabit nic and you should get decent speed.

Most of the other NAS units don't work well for serious backup as they are too slow, even with gigabit support.

If your friend doesn't really need a NAS, you may want to look at Drobo. They have an interesting system that can be expanded and when properly configured can provide data protection similiar to RAID 5.

[macphanatic]

Sorry - didn't read the part of $200 or less w/o hard drives. Rules out most of the options I made. There is a Synology barebones unit (for one drive only) w/o drive that should meet that requirement.

[newblu]

check out the D-Link DNS-323. I think it fits most of your specs. Not sure about Linux support though.

[5Gs]

thanks for the replies! looks like the d-link is a good match. infrant looks really good but it's 3x more than what my friend wants to spend. synology and drobo don't mention linux support. I'm using freenas for my own stuff, and that's where I was headed if nothing interesting comes up.