home network storage

[afcal72]

I have found myself with a growing wifi network at home with everything from work station, laptops, smart phones, tablets, hdtv, gaming consoles etc and the list is slowly growing!, all now using the network for internet access.

To better manage my ever growing number of files I now want to use a device on my network as a central storage point that can be accessed from any of the devices independently.

The storage I need is is in the scheme of things these days quite small. I would be happy with 0.5TB and above.

I already have a USB portable HDD which is currently used with PC that I could utilize if possible.

Storage needed is fairly small at around 0.5 TB or I could just use the USB HDD I already have (?)
High transfer speeds are not essential.
Each device must be able to access the Network Drive without any of the other devices being online except for the router obviously.
Remote access via the internet while I am travelling would be a plus though not entirely essential.

What is the best solution for entry level network storage that works with my router and can be purchased on a budget. I was hoping to find something in the price bracket $50 <> $150.

 

[Ethereal_Dragon]

I'm not sure how this specific unit is, but it is only $110 for a 2 drive enclosure. I have a DNS-323 on my network, and I LOVE it. I have 2x 2 TB drives in mine, and it serves my TV (Sony), PS3, 2 desktops, 2 laptops, an iphone and an Android phone (Everything is wired except the laptops and phones), and it is GREAT! I used to have an FTP server and small webpage run off of the device, but I haven't gotten them back up and running since moving from 2x 500 gig drives to the 2x 2TB drives. NOTE: The drive does NOT come with the unit, have to get a drive separately.

Newegg.com - D-Link DNS-320 ShareCenter 2-Bay Network Storage device

Just do a little bit of research.

 

[Slaymate]

You want it to work with your router but you haven't told us what router your using? Is your router fairly new? Does it have a usb port? I would go with one of these.

Newegg.com - Thermaltake BlacX N0028USU External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking Station 2.5" & 3.5" USB 2.0

Or this one supports two drives.

Newegg.com - Thermaltake BlacX Duet (ST0014U) ABS Plastic 2.5" & 3.5" Black USB2.0 & eSATA Dual Hard Drives Docking Station

 

[MindoverMaster]

That's not for network storage, Slay. That is meant just for hot-swapping drives. Not a NAS.

I go with Dragon. I have a DNS-320 as well. I have 2 x 640GB drives, in RAID 1. I love how it's whisper quiet when sleeping.

 

[Slaymate]

That's funny considering I'm using one of those at my office for network storage and it works great.

 

[MindoverMaster]

I guess you could use it for that, but it is not meant for it.

 

[I_Am_Skip]

It all depends, I like the look of this buffalo drive. It plugs into your router via your ethernet plug, however the drive itself has a usb port in the back so you can add extra storage to it at a later date if required.

Buffalo Inc.

They are accessible from anywhere in the world as long as you have a network connection. It means at home you have normal network storage, but when you are away from home it acts like a cloud so you can access the data on the drive anywhere.