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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.

There have always been fewer options in the enterprise-storage market than there have been in the consumer market. That's why it's significant that enterprise buyers now have another choice.

Western Digital announced Tuesday its entry into the enterprise market with the first shipments of its WD S25, 10,000rpm, 2.5-inch SAS interface hard drives.

The new WD S25 enterprise hard drive from Western Digital.

(Credit: Western Digital)

While high-end consumer-grade 2.5-inch SATA hard drives can spin at 7,200rpm, at 10,000rpm the new hard drive from Western Digital is still considered entry-level. This is because in the enterprise market, vendors such as Seagate already offer SAS-based hard drives that spin at 15,000rpm.

Nonetheless, according to Western Digital, the new WD S25 drive is still suitable for high-performance storage for mission-critical enterprise server and enterprise-storage applications, such as high-I/O-driven applications, data centers, and large data arrays. Each drive offers up to 300GB of storage space.

The WD S25 supports both the 3Gbps and the 6Gbps SAS interfaces and offers a sustained sequential data rate of 128MBps. In addition to having the speed needed for enterprise needs, the WD S25 also provides a mean time between failures (MTBF) rating of 1.6 million hours.

The WD S25 drive is available now. You won't be able to buy one for yourself, but chances are you'll find them in your new enterprise-storage gear.

G-Tech's new 2TB 7200 rpm-based external storage devices.

(Credit: G-Tech)

It's not hard these days to find external storage devices that offer 2TB or even 4TB of storage. However, most of them use low-power and relatively low-performance internal hard drives, such as the My Book series from Western Digital or the FreeAgent series from Seagate. If you are looking for top speed and top capacity form external storage solutions for your Mac, G-Tech has some news for you.

The company announced Monday that it now incorporates Hitachi's 2TB, 7,200rpm, 32MB cache buffer SATA hard drives across its entire 3.5-inch product line, offering different storage solutions from single-volume external hard drive to RAID systems, with capacities ranging from 2TB to 32TB.

The company's newly refreshed products include the G-DRIVE, G-SAFE, G-RAID, G-SPEED eS, G-SPEED eS Pro, G-SPEED eS PRO XL, and the G-SPEED FC XL. With these new products, G-Tech claims that it's now the first in the world that offers a complete line of 2TB, 7,200 RPM drive-based external storage solutions, specifically designed for the Mac computer and audio- and video-editing markets.

G-Tech's new storage solutions comes with virtually all existing connections, from USB 2.0, FireWire and eSATA for desktop external drives to miniSAS and Fibre Channel for high-end RAID storage systems. The fact that now it uses the top 2TB capacity hard drives means that customers can significantly increase the amount of storage while retaining the same physical footprint.

The new G-Tech external storage devices are available now with premium prices ranging from $379 for the simple desktop 2TB G-Drive, $3,599 for the high-end 8TB G-Speed eS Pro to tens of thousands of dollars for other high-end storage systems.

The new WD TV Live DH Media player shares the same shape and size with the previous model, the WD TV, but has a lot more to offer.

(Credit: Josh P. Miller/CNET)

Awhile ago, Western Digital tackled the home entertainment arena with the WD TV, which turned out to be a success. Nonetheless, a lot of enthusiasts, including me, were turned off by the fact that the WD TV lacks support for networking and doesn't include the capability to decode DTS audio, which is popularly used in compressed high-def video formats.

It seems Western Digital took our complaints to heart as the company announced Tuesday the availability of the next generation of the device, the WD TV Live HD Media Player.

Outside, the WD TV Live has the same shape and size as the WD TV. However, on the back, apart from the USB, HDMI, and composite ports, you'll find the newly added 10/100 Ethernet port. This port opens the device to many possibilities, which, for now, include access to YouTube, Flickr, and Internet radio stations.

On the inside, the device now can decode both DTS and DTS 2.0 audio encoding and sports a faster processor.

Like the previous WD TV, the new WD TV Live supports playing back all kinds of video, audio, and photo formats, including the most popular high-def video formats such as Matroska (MKV) and DivX. In addition, it also has these new and improved features:

• Full-HD 1080p video playback with support for different sound tracks, subtitles (when available), and the capability to decode DTS audio
• Capability to play videos, music, photos, and radio from the Internet
• Ethernet port for wired connection to access digital content from other network devices
• Supports two USB mass storage devices at the same time, including external hard drives, digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players

WD TV Live DH Media Player photos

I tried the unit out and it was indeed a much better experience than the WD TV.

Lexar's JumpDrive Safe S3000 FIPS keeps your data safe in case of theft or loss.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Thumbdrives offer arguably one of the most convenient ways to carry data around. However, because they are so small, they have been frequent culprits of data breaches. Enter the JumpDrive from Lexar.

The company announced Thursday its new JumpDrive Safe S3000 FIPS, which it claims is the world's first smart-card-based FITS 140-2 Level 3 validated flash drive.

Lengthy name aside, this is the most secure and easy-to-use thumbdrive I've ever gotten my hands on.

(FIPS 140-2, by the way, stands for Federal Information Processing Standard and is a U.S. government computer security standard used to accredit cryptographic modules. Level 3 of this standard is the second highest level of data security, which prevents the intruder from gaining access and requires a physical security mechanism to protect the data inside.)

Physically, the new JumpDrive looks very much like most standard thumbdrives on the market with a detachable lid that reveals the USB head. However, it is noticeably heavier due to its thick metal housing and a presumably sophisticated mix of high-security components inside. Its lid also has a thick layer of rubber insulation to keep the moisture out. According to Lexar, the drive exceeds military waterproof standards.

Lexar said the JumpDrive Safe S3000 FIPS is certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and features hardware encryption and is the first of its kind to have atemper-resistant smart card to manage all security critical computations. The drive uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit technology and utilizes an onboard hardware cryptographic controller to encrypt and decrypt data.

From the user's perspective, however, the drive is almost as easy to use as any thumbdrive. I tried it with a few computers and it worked very well.

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:

If you're into high-class fashion, LaCie has something for you. The company has come out with two new external hard drives by famed French designer Philippe Starck, who makes everything from furniture to clothes to luggage.

The front surface of the new LaCie desktop external hard drive responds to a finger's touch.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Other than the fact that they offer extra storage, the LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive and the LaCie Starck Mobile Hard Drive come with a bit of fashion flair. Both are housed in a distinctive-looking, sturdy aluminum case that protects the internal drives from shocks.

While the LaCie Starck Mobile Hard Drive seems to be just a plain yet good-looking compact USB external hard drive, the LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive features a curvy front that responds to the touch of a finger. It also has a status LED light that shines an orange plus sign--Starck's signature symbol--on the surface.

There's not much you can do with the drive's novelty touch-sensitive surface, unfortunately. It can be programmed to launch an application, such as Firefox or Word, when you touch the front of the drive. But to do this, you will need to install LaCie Destkop Manager software, which runs all the time in the background. I found this sort of a waste for a function that's not really useful or necessary. But obviously fashion isn't always about necessity and functionality.

The LaCie Destkop Manager software will also help format the hard drive to work with a Windows, Mac, or Linux platform. The drives also come with LaCie Backup Assistant software, which can automatically back up the computer's data onto the drive.

Other than that, the LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive is very much like a brick. It also generates some sort of vibration during operation, reducing its suitability for sitting on top of your desk. It only comes with a USB port, which is rather disappointing as this is the slowest connection. Other desktop external hard drives often come with FireWire and eSATA connections.

LaCie's two new external hard drives are available now. The LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive costs $130 for the 1TB version and $250 for the 2TB version. The LaCie Starck Mobile Hard Drive comes in 320GB and 500GB versions, which cost $100 and $140, respectively.

LaCie Starck hard drive photos

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

McAfee Online Backup has a lot of options and a rudimentary interface that could be intimidating for novices.

(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

McAfee, one of the world's largest Internet security providers, wants to go one step further in keeping your data safe. It now offers to store your backup data for you.

The company announced Thursday the availability of its McAfee Online Backup, an online backup service that automatically uploads data from your computer's hard drive to a remote server via the Internet.

While online backup services are nothing new and have been available for a long time from many providers, such as Carbonite, Memeo, or Cuku, the main difference with the new McAfee Online Backup service is that it's one of a few that offer unlimited storage space.

For a fixed annual fee of $60, you can back up as much data as you want. This could possibly the best deal around for online backup, especially for anyone with a lot of important data and a high-speed Internet connection.

Other than the generous amount of storage, according to McAfee, its new service, which is powered by Mozy, is secure and comes with easy-to-use software.

I tried the software out briefly, and it was, indeed, easy to install and get the first backup up and running.

Once you have registered an account with McAfee, you can download the software and install it on your computer, much like you would do with the company's security software. When the install is finished, the software tests the speed of your Internet connection, which later helps determine how long it will take to get the first backup done.

The software offers a lot of options, such as Bandwidth Throttle that limits how much of the Internet connection is used for the data upload, and Backup Speed that lets you choose either fast or slow backups, to lessen the impact on the computer's performance.

McAfee Online Backup can automatically detect and find important data, including bookmarks, e-mail, contacts, documents, photos, and so on, to back up for you. You can also manually back up any folders of your choosing. Once everything is set, the software will take care of the backing up on its own. Depending on the amount of data and the quality of the Internet connection, the first backup can take a very long time (perhaps days), but after that, only data that has been changed will be backed up.

It's worth noting, though, that even when you set the backup speed to optimize for fast backup, the software seems to upload data rather slowly. If you have a cable connection and have tens or hundreds of gigabytes, expect the initial backup to take days to complete. Also, the software's unfriendly interface and the overwhelming amount of unexplained options could be intimidating to novice users.

Nonetheless, overall, this seems to be a decent backup solution and could be the most affordable for those who have a lot of data to back up. If you don't have already have a reliable backup service, consider trying it out, as it comes with a 30-day money back warranty.