Buffalo Tech Linkstation

[andersnc]

I've found what I think is a reasonably priced Network Attached Storage device for home. It's Buffalo Tech's LinkStation (http://www.buffalotech.com/wireless/products/NetworkProducts/HDH120LAN.html).

The problem is I can't find a good technical review of it. The 2 reviews I've found are http://reviews.designtechnica.com/firstlook31.html and http://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/columnists/2004/0209miller.html but, neither review really puts the LinkStation to the test.

Does anyone out there have one of these LinkStations or know of a good solid review of them?

 

[Ice Czar]

NDAS is relatively new and hasnt seen widespread adoption here in the forums (but thats picking up a bit)

however let me add that while the HDD would probably have an internal performance limitation of 30>50MB/s, and the network is at either 1.2MB/s / 12.5MB/s for 10/100 LAN or 125MB/s for a Gigabit LAN card, the USB interface is another consideration

Originally posted by lessthanjakejohn
The USB standard is in a state of flux, with vendors often using their
own interpretation of the words "full" and "high". At one point, "full
speed" referred to USB 1.1 operating in a USB 2 port at the 12Mb/s
maximum of USB 1.1. "High speed" referred to the standard maximum speed
of USB 2, 480Mb/s. The USB organization has a statement to the effect
that one should determine what is being stated by a vendor from the
vendor itself if there is any doubt about what is being advertized.
This is important since some vendors were using the term "USB 2
compliant" to mean USB 1.1 would work, while customers were interpreting
it as "USB 2".

The USB standards organization still recognizes that Full Speed and Low
Speed refer to USB (formerly known as USB 1.1) transfer rates, and
High-Speed refers to Hi-Speed USB (formerly known as USB 2) at its
maximum transfer rate.

http://www.usb.org/info/usb_nomenclature

The USB-IF's naming and packaging recommendations for low- or full-speed
USB products, as listed on this web site state that such products can
carry only the basic version of the USB logo, which simply states
"Certified USB." We state clearly that manufacturers should avoid using
terminology such as USB 2.0 Full Speed, Full Speed USB or USB 2.0. These
formal recommendations were published to the USB-IF membership and
posted on this web site in August 2002.
[end quote]

Originally posted by PassMark
As there was some discussion about USB speed (Highspeed/FullSpeed), I thought I would mention that there are a number of other factors that impact USB speed. While USB 1.1 vs USB 2.0 is the most important, as already pointed out, USB 2.0 supports FullSpeed (12 Mb/s) and USB 2.0 may only operate below this speed. So it is imporatnt to know whether your USB 2.0 port and device are capable of HighSpeed.

Other issues that impact USB speed include: the manufacturers host controller implementation, point of connectivity to the host controller (e.g. A connection via the PCI bus will insert a bottleneck to achieving High-speed rates. My testing of PCI connected ports show they typically have a much slower maximum speed of 100 - 130Mb/s compared to typically 250Mb/s to 330Mb/s when directly connected to the motherboard, cabling (you might be surprised how much re-transmission is occurring - slowing things down), the device driver used, implementation of the USB device and the implementation of the application software.

This information is based on reliability testing and benchmarking carried out on the recently released USB 2.0 loopback and benchmark plug from www.passmark.com/product/usb2loopback.htm

But that doesnt really matter all that much as that NDAS is limited to (100BASE-TX / 10BASE-T) or 1.2MB/s / 12.5MB/s which sux considering gigabit cards are getting reasonable, personally I think this generation of NDAS is way overpriced for the performance they offer