Small Network Storage

[Synchronicity]

I'm not really sure which area this should be in since it's really hardware but...

I was copying files from one of my USB external disks when I started to wonder if there is a network version of these available. 
I had a NAS (Network Attached Storage) box a few years ago but didn't replace it when it died.  It s something like that that's what I'm talking about, except it should be smaller and not cost £200 or more without disks!

Has anyone seen such a thing?

Thanks

Michael

[vlaiv]

Don't think you will find anything like that in suggested price range.

There is no dedicated SATA / USB to Ethernet controller - that is precisely what NAS is for and it needs capable hardware to do that kind of work. Best you can probably do in budget variant is some sort of single board computer equipped with some sort of SATA controller, and that will probably be slow. Once you get into more capable hardware range you exit sub 200 category.

Take a look at Beaglebone (beagleboard org) for example - only X15 variant is equipped with SATA interface - or having USB3.0 connectivity and that board is $249. Other cheaper variants have only usb 2.0 and no SATA.

If you are willing to put up with slow performance, beaglebone black is ~$50. Put some sort of linux on it, attach USB external hdd to it and it will provide you with small network server - only 100Mbps connection.

Actually, scratch above and check out ODROID-XU4 board.

Have a look here under " NETWORK STORAGE PERFORMANCE " section (further down on the page) - USB3.0 external disk via Gigabit ethernet:

https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-xu4/

Not out of the box solution, you will need to provide power and install OS and configure it for storage operation but it will be cheap. Odroid XU4 is ~$60 (add power adapter, some sort of case if you need it and you are ready to go apart of installation and configuration).

[fireballxl5]

Maybe more costly than you'd like but I've been using one of these for the last couple of years and I'd highly recommend it.

Synology DS215J Desktop NAS https://g.co/kgs/Dez975

 

[Gfamily]

I have one of these Zyxel's , an earlier NAS320 model, but very similar

https://www.ebuyer.com/742498-zyxel-personal-cloud-storage-2-bay-nas-nas326-eu0101f

Then a couple of these 

https://www.ebuyer.com/753878-seagate-barracuda-2tb-3-5-hard-drive-at-ebuyer-com-st2000dm006

Will give you 4Tb of data for about your £200 including discs.

Ours is cable connected to our router and lives in a storeroom (well, technically it's the integral garage), so size isn't an issue.

Admission: our first one failed after a couple of years, but Zyxel sent a replacement no question asked when we contacted them. I had been expected to pay something, but no!