500Gb External HD CDN$119.99

[123]

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...=&langid=EN
This is a "web-only" offer.

The "Comstar 500GB USB External Hard Drive With RJ-45 Network Connection" is a re-branded Ximeta product. I bought a 320Gb version several weeks ago for $99.99 and it works like a charm. You can connect it to your PC via USB 2.0 (like any other external HD) or directly to your Ethernet switch or router using Ximeta's NDAS (Network Direct Attached Storage).

This is not "NAS" (Network Attached Storage) but Ximeta's interpretation called NDAS. You will need a driver to make the NDAS magic happen and it is included on the CDROM or you can download it from Ximeta's site. The CDROM includes a driver for Win 2K and XP. Ximeta's site has one for Linux and an alpha version for Mac.

My informal testing shows about 12MB/s throughput via USB and 7MB/s via NDAS (for the 320GB unit).

NOTE:
Acronis True Image supports NDAS (I haven't tested it yet). By this I mean that if you boot your PC with True Image's Loader (a slim, Linux-based, disk-recovery application) it includes an NDAS driver to access a network-attached HD.

 

[johnnynine]

Is that a good speed for NAS? I've been thinking about getting a NAS drive or windows compatible fileserver box for backups but don't have any experience with them.

 

[123]

Is that a good speed for NAS?
..

I don't have any first-hand experience with NAS either. If you believe Ximeta's claim, NDAS's performance is superior "to the competition". All I know is that it is fast in USB mode but no slouch when attached directly to my 100Mbps switch.

Here's an old PC World article about the Ximeta NetDisk (Futureshop's Comstar is a rebadged Ximeta ... and does not include any goodies like Acronis True Image).

I forgot to mention that you can combine two disks in a RAID 1 configuration (mirroring).

PS
Many NAS devices (like the LinkSys NSLU2), have been hacked in order to support additional features (such as a UPNP-aware media server). I doubt this is possible with the Ximeta product ... I think its hardware is trimmed down to serve only one purpose.

 

[CollinR]

Newegg has Western Digital Caviar SE Series 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive, model WD5000AAJS - OEM for $94 and free shipping.

Entrer promo code at checkout.
EMC1129HDD01

 

[Digger]

Newegg has Western Digital Caviar SE Series 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive, model WD5000AAJS - OEM for $94 and free shipping.

Entrer promo code at checkout.
EMC1129HDD01

Also if you pay with paypal dont you get another 20% off?