I am really close to buying a Network Area Storage solution. The frontrunner: Buffalo Technology Linkstation gigabit 250 gigabyte solution for $200. Actually, I may upgrade to the 300 gig solution ($280) after learning that installing the linkstation open firmware lets you install a server and media player software like swisscenter or twonkymedia (which apparently work well with my Avel Linkplayer DVD player via its ethernet connection).
I have a lot of things on my plate now. I really don’t need the chaos of having to maintain a buggy opensource hardware solution. All I really need is a backup solution. On the other hand, I’ve always been a gadget/hardware kind of guy, and it would be a feather in my cap (and nice to mention on the resume) if I can claim to put this together.
Update: Gosh, money doesn’t grow on trees. $300 for a backup NAS seems excessive for someone currently on sabbatical and trying to pinch every penny. 300 gigabytes; couldn’t I make do with 250 or 160? Maybe. But I have 4 devices (XP Desktop, XP laptop, Fedora Core 5 Laptop, Nokia 770 pda) I need to back up, many of which are media files, some of which are high definition files (and need to be viewed) on my HDTV. Those things, plus the advantages of having a nice media player interface on my HDTV/DVD player, makes spending $300 seem like not a big deal. Plus, having the ability to run media server software for my HDTV would really add to my ability to use my HDTV.
Now all I need to do is buy a HDTV capture card, and I’ll be set (just joking).
Update #2: By combining the order with two other things and ordering from newegg instead of amazon, I ended up spending $281 for the network storage server. Not bad.