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It's fair to say that so far Synology is the NAS maker with the fewest misses. Ever since the company joined the network storage arena in early 2008, it has earned three CNET Editors' Choice awards, with the newest one being the DS409Slim.

The new DS410j NAS server from Synology supports Time Machine.

(Credit: Synology)

Synology NAS servers offer a vast number of features; signature among those are the advanced surveillance system, sophisticated photo sharing/managing capability, and a robust user interface. And now Synolgoy has overcome one of its only former missteps: by adding support for Apple's Time Machine.

The company announced Wednesday the launch of its new four-bay NAS server, the DS410j. This new NAS server carries all the features of other Synolgoy NAS servers and, on top of that, support for Apple's popular backup solution. For the first time ever, Mac users can use Time Machine (available in Mac OS 10.5 and later) with a Synology NAS server. Currently, very few NAS servers on the market support this feature.

Beyond that update, according to Synology, the DS410j is designed for busy home networks and entry-level businesses. It can house four 3.5-inch SATA hard drives of up to 2TB each, making the total storage up to 8TB. Like other models, the DS410j supports multiple RAID configurations when used with two or more hard drives. It also comes with automated backup, remote file sharing, and multimedia streaming features and is fully DNLA-compliant.

The DS410j is available now both with and without hard drives. Its price varies depending on the configuration; however, like other Synogloy NAS servers, it will not be cheap. It seems that affordability is something that Synolgoy will continue to miss for a while.

The new StorCenter ix2-200 from Iomega.

(Credit: Iomega)

If you like the StorCenter ix2 NAS server, Iomega has some news for you.

The company announced Thursday the next generation of the server, the Iomega StorCenter ix2-200. This is a dual-bay NAS server that can be set up in RAID 1 configuration for data protection.

Like the previous version, the new server doesn't offer a quick way to replace the hard drive. You will have to use quite a bit of screwdriving work to get this done, which means no hot-swapping, either. Some other two-bay NAS servers, such as the QNAP TS-239 Pro, offer a tool-free way to do this. The new Iomega NAS server also lacks an eSATA port for external storage.

To make up for this, it has Bluetooth support, which has been the unique feature of Iomega NAS servers, and comes with three USB ports that can be used with both USB external hard drives and printers. The server is powered by EMC's Linux-based proprietary firmware, which offers a generous set of network storage features, including:

Like most editors at CNET, I often receive questions from CNET readers about specific problems. Here are a few that were brought up to me in the last month.

It's probably time I went wireless myself.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Q: My laptop's Wireless-N adapter only caps at 130Mbps even though my D-Link DIR-855 can offer 300Mbps speeds. What can I do to boost the wireless speed of the laptop?

A: That might already be the best you can get. Wireless-N (802.11n) comes in different "tiers" with different amounts of streams (also referred to as antennae). Each stream offers a throughput speed up to 150Mbps.

While most routers are dual-stream and cap at 300Mbps (future ones can even support multistream, offering speeds up to 450Mbps or even 600Mbps), a lot of adapters built in to laptop and notebook computers to conserve the battery life use the single-stream standard. This means they cap at 150Mbps (which translates into something around 130Mbps, which is plenty fast, by the way). Also note that the throughput decreases as you increase the range. Generally the optimal range for the Wireless-N is between 15 feet and 70 feet away.

Q: Does my laptop have to have a dual-band adapter to take advantage of dual-band routers, such as the Linksys WRT610n, the Apple Airport Extreme or the D-Link DIR-825?

A: No, it doesn't matter how many bands an adapter supports; wireless networking devices only connect to one another in one band at a time. ... Read more

Netgear Stora NAS server.

(Credit: Netgear)

Thinking that its Ready NAS line of storage devices is too business-centric, Netgear on Monday announced a line of its network-attached storage servers, the Netgear Stora, that Drew Meyer, director of marketing for Netgear's NAS unit, called "most definitely a platform for everyone."

The new NAS server is a two-bay storage device that can hold two internal SATA hard drives of any capacity. For now, that means drives offering up to 2TB of storage in RAID1 (mirrored) configuration. This RAID configuration mirrors data on two drives for protection against a hard drive failure.

The server supports PCs, Macs, and Linux computers. It also supports digital media streaming and is Windows Media 7-compliant. It has one USB port that can be used to connect external hard drives for extra storage or to share a USB printer. At 6.90 inches by 5.91 inches by 5.74 inches, the NAS is cube-shaped and weighs about 3 pounds without hard drives.

Netgear Stora NAS server photos

While I haven't seen the product yet, judging from its specs and photos, Meyer's idea of a NAS platform for everyone seems rather simple. The Stora neither supports RAID0 (which is optimized for speed and large storage capacity), nor does it have eSATA ports. It also doesn't have more than one USB port and it's on the front of the server--not an ideal spot to add a permanent storage device or printer. It's also likely that it doesn't offer advanced home NAS servers functions, such as PC-less download or FTP server.

According to Netgear, the Stora offers remote access via the MyStora Web site where users can do cross-platform file sharing, music listening, movie watching, and photo sharing from any Internet-connected device. Netgear also will offer a yearly premium service to support additional remote access and third-party service integration such as Flickr and mobile phones. The service costs $20 after an initial 30-day trial period.

For the local network, the sever also supports multiple media streaming standards and is able to host digital content for iTunes as well as game consoles such as the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, as well as for smartphones.

The Netgear Stora (MS2110) comes with a 1TB hard drive installed; however, users can put the second hard drive in, on the fly, without any tools and the server will automatically mirror the content of the first hard dive. The Stora also comes with automatic backup utilities for PCs and Macs.

The Netgear Stora is available immediately and costs $229.

The new SmartMedia EX495 from HP.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

I reviewed the HP MediaSmart LX190 a while ago, and though I wished it had more storage, I still gave it the editors' choice award for its great performance. And now both the storage and performance have been increased.

HP launched Monday the two new models of the MediaSmart EX490 and MediaSmart EX495 Home Servers, offering increased capacity, high-performance processors, and more features.

Similar to previous models, both new servers are based on the Microsoft Windows Home Server platform. However, they both now have a refined user interface and a Web-based home page that further facilitates accessing and using the server.

The servers also come equipped with 2GB of RAM and faster processors. The EX495 sports an Intel Pentium Dual Core CPU, while the budget-line EX490 runs an Intel Celeron CPU.

The first of these two models' new feature is a Video Converter that automatically converts video libraries; including unprotected DVDs. Users then can stream the video, as well as other digital content, from within the home network or over the Internet.

The second new feature is the Media Collector, which allows users to collect media by computer, media type, or file location. This features enable the SmartMedia server to automatically collect and organize media files from across Macs and PCs and store them on the server for later streaming.

HP MediaSmart EX495--photos

Other than that, both the EX490 and the EX495 offer additional features for Mac users, including administration, media collection, and a new disc recovery utility that provides complete recovery on a Mac using Time Machine.

iPod Touch and iPhone users can also download a free app called MediaSmart Server Stream from Apple's App Store to play digital media stored on a new SmartMedia server, be it music or photos or video.

Both new servers can support up to 4 SATA hard dives and a total of up to 7TB of internal storage, plus 10TB of storage via external hard drives (connected via USB and eSATA ports). They are, however, shipped with only one hard drive. The EX490 comes with 1TB of hard disk storage and costs $549, while the EX495 comes with 1.5TB and costs $699.

The servers don't support any RAID configuration but has a duplication feature that keeps data safe in case of hard-drive failure. The omission of RAID support also means you can use hard drives of different capacities with the new servers, without losing their storage space.

The new HP SmartMedia servers will be available by October, but you can preorder them starting today.

(Credit: Iomega)

It's back-to-school time, and this is something students might get to use without having to pay for.

Iomega announced Thursday the worldwide availability of the quad-drive desktop NAS server, the Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d. EMC, the parent company of Iomega, simultaneously announced that as part of its Academic Alliance Program which has the participation of more than 300 universities and colleges around the world, each school will score a StorCenter ix4-200d NAS appliance.

The new NAS server--which is geared toward small businesses and home office environments--can support four SATA hard drives of up to 2TB each, making the combined storage amount up to 8TB. It supports RAID 5 and RAID 10 (a combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0) as well as JBOD and is said to be so easy to use you can get it up and running via a few mouse clicks.

Other features of the NAS server include:

I reviewed the QNAP TS-109 II NAS server a while ago and was happy with its Web interface, which is now about to get even better.

QNAP TS-109 II NAS server.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

QNAP announced Wednesday the latest upgrade of NAS management firmware that adds more functionality and ease of use to its NAS servers.

The new firmware version 3.1 includes two of new major functions: support for virtual disk and QNAP RAID Recovery that can recover a degraded or inactive RAID 1, 5, or 6 due to unintentional removal of drives. Other new features of the 3.1 firmware also include support for EXT4 file system (which allows for very large volumes and file sizes), SNMP support, and bitmap support for faster rebuilding of RAID volume after a crash or adding/removing a drive.

Other than than, other existing features also get enhanced. The Network Discovery Services now comes with new Bonjour support, offers zero-configuration networking for HTTP, SAMBA, FTP, AFP, and SSH based networks, and full UPnP support.

The new 3.1 NAS management firmware is completely overhauled with a new Ajax-based User Interface. This means novice users now can easily install and manage the NAS server on the network via simple wizards. The new Web-interface works with major browsers including Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox and Google Chrome. It comes with three different color themes and supports instant switching between a long list of supported languages.

Starting July, new NAS servers from QNAP will be preloaded with the new firmware. Existing devices can be upgraded for free.

If you are the owner of the TS-109 II or any other QNAP NAS servers on this list, you can download and install the new firmware here.

Synology, maker of the DS209+ that earned our Editors' Choice award, unveiled Monday the DS409slim, its first advanced NAS server based on 2.5-inch laptop hard drives.

Synology DS409slim NAS

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There are a few other NAS servers that use laptop hard drives, such as the Buffalo LinkStation Mini (most NAS servers use the regular 3.5-inch desktop hard drives). However, the Synology DS409Slim is the first we've seen that offers advanced functionality, including a variety of RAID configurations.

The biggest advantage of supporting small hard drives is the reduction in size of the device. Measuring only 4.7 inches by 4.1 inches by 5.6 inches, the DS409slim is significantly smaller than other four-bay NAS servers that support 3.5-inch hard drives. According to Synology, the DS409Slim consumes much less energy than other NAS servers of the same performance.

Despite its compact physical size, the DS409slim comes with impressive specifications, including a 1.2GHz CPU, 128MB DDR2 RAM, one Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports, and one eSATA port. The new NAS supports up to four 2.5-inch SATA hard drives with up to 500GB each, which is currently the largest capacity for hard drives of this size. The hard drives are hot-swappable and can be set up in a variety of configurations including JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 6.

Like the DS209+, the DS409slim is powered by Synology Ajax-based Disk Station Manager 2.1 firmware, which supports Windows ADS integration, cross-platform data sharing, several backup alternatives, and a vast amount of multimedia applications. Examples of these applications include a download station that supports BitTorrent, FTP, HTTP, eMule, and NZB; an audio station that supports Internet radio stations, and iPod playback with connected USB speakers; and support for a variety of media-streaming standards that let users stream multimedia files to set-top boxes or game consoles including the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360.

Synology also announced at the end of June that its upcoming version 2.2 of the DSM firmware will be DLNA-compliant. Users will be able to update to this version for free when it's released in September.

The DS409slim is available for purchase now with a street price of about $400 without hard drives.

HP's new MediaSmart Server LX195 has only one hard drive and comes in a more compact foot print.

(Credit: HP)

I just got my hands on the details of Hewlett-Packard's upcoming MediaSmart Server, the LX195. Originally, HP had planned on announcing the new network storage server on May 5, but as a retail vendor accidentally leaked the information about its availability, you all get to hear about it now.

The server has four USB 2.0 ports, but doesn't have an eSATA port.

(Credit: HP)

The LX195 is in some ways the successor of the MediaSmart Server ex475 and its variants, which HP launched more than year ago. However, the LX195 packs some major changes.

The new MediaSmeart Server now is powered by Intel's Atom 1.6 GHz Processor (instead of the AMD Sempron that's in the ex475) with 1GB of DDR2 RAM. This means it will use less energy than the previous models while remaining as, if not more, powerful than the earlier model.

The MediaSmart Server LX195 has four USB 2.0 ports for additional external storage and a Gigabit Ethernet port. However, it doesn't have an eSATA port (which the ex475 offers) and comes with only one 640GB built-in hard drive.

Fortunately, you can replace this hard drive with any regular 3.5-inch SATA hard drive of your choice to increase its capacity. For now, you can upgrade the capacity to up to 2TB. This is sort of a step backward, as the ex475 supports up to four hard drives with hot-swap capability.

To make up for this omission, the LX195 comes in a much smaller design than the ex475, measuring only 3.9 inches tall by 8.2 inches wide by 8 inches deep. It also supports Apple's Time Machine, which is great news for Mac users who use OS X 10.5 or later.

The new MediaSmart Server LX195 is powered by Windows Home Server and supports many backup, file-sharing, remote access, protection, and media-streaming options.

The MediaSmart Server LX195 will be available for purchase starting May 6, with the suggested price of $399. I am trying to test a unit myself, so be on the look out for a full review soon.