NAS suggestions

[busterp]

I want a NAS for our system. (Mix of XP Pro machines and SBS 2003).

I've been leaning towards D-LInk DNS-323 or DNS-321 but reading some reviews on them makes me think twice.

Slow, very slow. File size limit of 2Gb? No support for NTFS? (DSN-321)

Then on the other hand, many reviews were positive. I'm most afraid of the slow file transfer speed.

Who knows of something better they can recommend?

Thanks.

[Paul T]

Do you have an old PC with room for hard disks?
FreeNAS
openfiler

cheers, Paul

[busterp]

Yes I do. I'm already backing some files up that way. I want to get away from that. Or, should I be looking at that more seriously?????

I'd like to find a NAS that comes recommended by actual SBS users for backup. Because of it's design, it would then be easy to have a copy of our files off site (assuming we are using more than one of course - that we would rotate use of).

[Paul T]

NAS and off-site backup don't fit in the same sentence, unless you have a lot of money.

If you want off-site backup then a tape library is about the only option because it's a standard, and therefore supported, method. If you have a really small amount of data to backup, less than 4GB, you could opt for a DVD writer and send the DVDs off-site, but this is a manual arrangement.

Backup Practice
1. Make 2 copies and send one off-site.
2. Test a copy before sending it off-site regularly.
3. Retrieve an off-site copy occasionally and test it.

If you want the really cheap option go for a free NAS solution for the nightly backup, copy that backup to DVD the next day and take it home with you.

cheers, Paul