*Based on internal Buffalo Technology testing of first generation LinkStation and second generation LinkStation Pro. First generation LinkStation is representative of performance for competitive products.

These devices are assigned an IP address and can then be accessed by clients (PCs or laptops) via a server that acts as a gateway to the data (this server is within the NAS device and hence NAS devices are often referred to as NAS servers).

Some of the big advantages of NAS include the expandability; if you need more storage space, add another NAS device and expand the available storage. They also bring an extra level of fault tolerance to the network. Fault tolerant measures such as RAID (link to RAID page) can be used to make sure that the NAS device does not become a point of failure. NAS systems often contain more than one hard disk drive, often arranged into logical, redundant storage containers or RAID arrays for added redundancy/security - thus protecting data in the case of disk failure.

Benefits of NAS

Network Attached Storage (NAS) has emerged as a powerful, proven technology for storing data that needs to be shared in the office or the home. Network attached storage (NAS) devices enable home and business users to easily share large amounts of data in a cost-effective and efficient manner. A number of factors are accelerating end user demand for NAS offerings:

	Cost benefit. NAS offers an affordable and expandable solution for endusers requiring network shared storage in a home or office environment. It is an effective strategy for extending an existing investment in server technology. NAS architecture allows these businesses to add storage on the network without requiring any upgrade and/or replacement of existing servers.
	Administrative convenience. NAS offers a simple solution for sharing photos, files, music or videos stored in one central location, accessible to anyone in the family by PC/laptop.
	NAS-based storage offers administrative features that simplify or eliminate manual disk expansion and archiving functions, user and application partitioning, data protection, and other time-consuming storage maintenance activities. NAS can be a simple storage solution to an otherwise complex IT problem!
	NAS devices with more than 1 hard drive bring an extra level of fault tolerance to the network as many offer mirroring RAID features and functionality.

NAS from Buffalo

Buffalo's award-winning family of LinkStation™ and TeraStation™ NAS devices provide a simple cost effective solution to protect, manage, and share your critical information. They are designed for small to medium-sized businesses or homes that want to share central data. All Buffalo NAS devices include Memeo™ AutoBackup software to manage your essential backups.

All of Buffalo's Network Storage and External Drives , including the DriveStation™ , LinkStation™ , and TeraStation™ products include Memeo™ Zero-Touch™ AutoBackup software. The partnership allows users to securely store, track and share data files such as music, photos, presentations, etc. while providing the ability to manage and preserve those files for additional data security. MEMEO offers end-users a sophisticated, user-friendly option for data management and preservation.

The SmartPick™ checklist is designed to take the guesswork out of locating and placing important files and allows users to use any available storage location. Its patented DataClad™ multiplexing data processing engine automatically updates and saves changes made to a file. MEMEO also keeps track of changes made to a file while disconnected from a designated back-up destination and automatically updates those changes upon re-connection. MEMEO includes a powerful search feature so users can instantly find and restore any information - from a version of a single file to an entire computer's worth of data.

Memeo™ - Award-winning software for award-winning products!

If you put off making backups because it seems like such a hassle, this utility is for you.

The idea behind the product is great-a backup data solution that manages multiple destinations, including subscription-based online storage, hard drives, and USB keys, from one software interface.

Tanagra's Memeo software is quite clever at allowing you to back up and keep track of all your files, including those ever burgeoning folders of photos, music and video.

After the initial backup, it backs up new or changed files automatically, immediately, to almost any kind of backup device, including to an FTP server.

2005 Mobile Gold Star Award for Storage and Backup - Its high performance backup software Memeo is ideal for covering an entire network.

In addition to its standard backup capabilities, Memeo backs up Outlook e-mail, calendar, contacts, and notes to the iPod.

Memeo™ - Save, Manage and Restore your Digital Files!

	Backup photos, music, and files
	Auto Backup to any device or location
	Effortlessly restore files
	Use at home, at work, and on the go!

The Problem!

Memeo™ the solution! Memeo solves the technical, time and cost issues that keep consumers and small business customers from backing up their digital content and critical business files
Easy one-time set-up. SmartPicks™ makes choosing which files to protect simple. No time-consuming backups. Files automatically and instantly protected. Seamlessly backup to external hard drives, USB flash drives, iPods, networked computers, NAS, FTP servers, Memeo Internet Disk, and more. Fraction of the price of other full service offerings.

Smart-PicksTM: Simple one-time setup designed to locate files across multiple directories
Select a single file or file types across directories or within specific folders Ability to add file types Support multiple profiles One-click complete backup capability Exclusion lists Meter shows if files selected exceed available space

Support Multiple Storage Destinations Simultaneously
Internal Hard Drive External Hard Drive USB Flash Memory iPod NAS Networked Computer FTP Server Integrated Remote Backup with Memeo Internet Disk

Automatic and Continuous Backup New or modified files immediately backed up
Zero-Touch Data Preservation™ Only modified files are backed up Native file format Encryption and password for additional security Multiple version support Several profiles operate simultaneously Backup files queued when destination not available Event logs and reporting

FastRestore™ Replace Deleted Files in Seconds
Search tool easily finds files to restore Search by file name, file type, directory, backup location or a combination of search criteria Restore to same directory path or new location Can restore earlier versions of file depending on number of versions archived

Buffalo is the market leader in providing storage solutions that fit any network and budget. Memeo patented Zero Touch data preservation technology works seamlessly with Buffalo products to provide an unparalleled user experience.

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks.

The basic idea of RAID is to combine multiple small, inexpensive disk drives into an array of disk drives which performs better than a single large expensive drive. The array of drives appears to the computer as a single drive.

Disk arrays can be made fault-tolerant by redundantly storing data i.e. duplicating all or part of the data stored over the drives. So if one of the disks fails the data is still preserved over the good disks which are left. There are several forms of RAID, all provide disk fault-tolerance and each form offers different trade-offs in features and performance.

2 of the main RAID options used are as follows:

RAID-1: Mirroring
RAID-1 provides fault tolerance but does not improve performance. Multiple drives are created identical, meaning the data is saved to all drives not just one. So in the case of drive failure there will be an identical drive to replace the faulty one.

RAID-5:
RAID-5 requires at least 3 drives. Data is split into blocks and stored over all the drives. Parity data which is used to regenerate lost data is also distributed in blocks over all the drives.

SO, WHICH CONFIGURATION MODE SHOULD I USE?

The configuration mode you choose depends on your needs:

STORAGE SPACE
Standard: The No RAID option permits the use of the complete capacity of all drives. Each drive is seen as its own separate drive. But there is no fault-tolerance. If a drive fails there is no way of replacing the lost data on that drive.

Spanning: This option uses all drives as an array but it is not RAID. This option also permits the use of the complete capacity of the drives, but the drives are seen as one massive drive.

The advantage over the standard configuration is that now the max capacity for storing large data files is the capacity of all drives, as oppose to the max capacity of a single drive.

The disadvantage however is that it offers no fault-tolerance and if one of the disks fails, the data on all of your drives is lost for good.

HIGHEST FAULT-TOLERANCE
Mirroring: RAID-1 mirrors the data completely onto all of the disks providing multiple copies of all the data. However this reduces your capacity to the size of a single disk.

FAULT-TOLERANCE & TOP PERFORMANCE
RAID 5: offers fault-tolerance in conjunction with high performance and capacity. It offers higher transfer speeds than RAID-3 or RAID-4. If one disk fails the data is safe but if two or more disks fail the data is lost. For most users, this is the recommended RAID mode used on four drive 1 TeraByte TeraStation™.