This is network storage, useful if you’re growing beyond the comfort zone of a couple of PCs and need Network Attached Storage (NAS) so you can give multiple users access to files but still maintain easy administration of the system.
What sets the TeraStation Pro series apart is the fact that it uses Windows Storage Server software, making it secure, powerful, familiar to Windows users and very robust.
It’s affordable and easy to manage but you can scale it up to add extra storage as you need – it’s available in configurations up to 4TB of storage while other models beyond the Duo offer even more space with four or six drive bays instead of the two bays here.
It’s packed with features, including disk quotas to make sure none of your employees guzzles too much disk space. It’s fast and efficient, thanks to the Atom dual-core processor which keeps its performance reliably nippy and makes data transfer satisfyingly quick even when in demanding use from several users simultaneously.
Servers always get hot but the TeraStation is designed to keep things cool with two silent fans and well-designed ventilation slots to help. You can see from the LCD panel the status of the drives and can hot swap them – that is, no need to power down as you do so – if you need to.
Supplied software includes NovaBackup Business Essentials, so you can back up as many as 10 PCs, servers or databases easily.
And the Pro WSS tag in the name is what tells you it uses high-performance components and Windows software. There are Pro NAS dives without Windows and lower-performance TeraStations which are the entry-level models. But if you want speed, the new model will be of interest: for the Pro WSS models Buffalo quotes test results where three PCs are working simultaneously, performing search tasks, replication jobs and the like, with anti-virus scan in the background. The server manages data transfer at around twice the speed of the entry-level machines.
Cost
£622.76
Stockists:
All leading hardware suppliers
Business Matters Rating
3.5 out of 5
