First post here. Hopefully I have the right place for it.
I need to purchase a basic NAS drive that is primarily going to store a database for a small business. Right now the information is being stored on one of the office computers, but for various reasons we would like to get it onto a NAS drive.
As I said, the drive is mostly for a simple database and will store some Word and Excel files as well. We may store some pictures on it but probably no video or music. I have done a bit of research and have looked at some of the Netgear and Lacie drives, but it is tough trying to figure out what is going to work best for us. I was at Best Buy today and bought a Netgear Stora drive. However, upon opening it and reading the directions it looks like it is made specifically to store home media and it uses a specific interface to access the drive. I could be wrong on that but it seemed to me like you have to use their interface. I really just want a network attached hard drive without anything extra. I would then map all of the office computers to it and direct the database software to it to retrieve records. Is that possible with the Netgear drive that I bought or does it have to be used with the media interface described in the directions? If the Netgear drive won't work can anyone recommend an alternative drive? I use a Simpleshare NAS at home and it seems to work pretty well but I am hoping to find something just slightly more robust for the office. I would still like to keep it at around $300 or less though.
I am also curious about security with the NAS drives I am looking at. Assuming the network has a functional firewall should I be concerned about security for the NAS? Of course I use security software on all of the computers but I need to consider it further before I move the critical and personal data to a NAS. The network is both wired and wireless and the wireless is not broadcast and uses a WEP code.
Thanks for any input or direction anyone can offer.
Matt
I need to purchase a basic NAS drive that is primarily going to store a database for a small business. Right now the information is being stored on one of the office computers, but for various reasons we would like to get it onto a NAS drive.
As I said, the drive is mostly for a simple database and will store some Word and Excel files as well. We may store some pictures on it but probably no video or music. I have done a bit of research and have looked at some of the Netgear and Lacie drives, but it is tough trying to figure out what is going to work best for us. I was at Best Buy today and bought a Netgear Stora drive. However, upon opening it and reading the directions it looks like it is made specifically to store home media and it uses a specific interface to access the drive. I could be wrong on that but it seemed to me like you have to use their interface. I really just want a network attached hard drive without anything extra. I would then map all of the office computers to it and direct the database software to it to retrieve records. Is that possible with the Netgear drive that I bought or does it have to be used with the media interface described in the directions? If the Netgear drive won't work can anyone recommend an alternative drive? I use a Simpleshare NAS at home and it seems to work pretty well but I am hoping to find something just slightly more robust for the office. I would still like to keep it at around $300 or less though.
I am also curious about security with the NAS drives I am looking at. Assuming the network has a functional firewall should I be concerned about security for the NAS? Of course I use security software on all of the computers but I need to consider it further before I move the critical and personal data to a NAS. The network is both wired and wireless and the wireless is not broadcast and uses a WEP code.
Thanks for any input or direction anyone can offer.
Matt