Linksys enters the home network-attached storage (NAS) device market with the budget-conscious and bluntly named NAS200. You purchase the box as just that-an empty box-for about $135 (street). Adding storage can bring up the cost to anywhere from $200 to $600, depending on what capacity eSATA drives you purchase.

The NAS200 has room for two drives, configurable separately or together, the last in shared or mirrored mode. You’ll also find all the usual NAS features, including backup (via third-party software), access accounts, a UPnP-compatible media server and even an FIT server that you can use to get to your shared files across the Web. Unfortunately, accessing the more advanced features isn’t particularly intuitive.

Performance was noticeably slow, averaging 4.7 MBps on our tests. This isn’t poor enough to be a deal breaker for standard data operations, but if you plan to view video from the NAS200, the slow throughput means you’ll probably experience some frame loss.

Performance troubles aside, however, the NAS200 has all the features you’d expect in a home NAS device, and at a good price. So unless you’re looking to use it primarily as a video server, this is a workable storage solution.

Linksys NAS200 Short Review
Price range: $135

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