Dependable, slow
Pros:
Works out of the box for Windows, Apple, Linux. Easy Web browser based configuration utility.
Cons:
Slow. Shouldn't be used for transfer-intensive uses.
The Bottom Line:
Essential and reliable for centralized network backup.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Wow. This Network Attached Storage device has transformed my home network.
I have 7 computers at home: 4 laptops (one for each member of the family), two for my small business, and one for my home security/home automation.
Keeping all the files in one place was difficult, and keeping everything synchronized even more so.
I tried using one computer as a centralized server, but that didn't work very well. I had to leave the computer on all the time, which is energy inefficient.
This LinkStation Live has an automatic sleep/automatic awaken mode to save power. Nice!
Set up can be done through a windows utility or through a browser. Since I don't like Windows much (even though two of my kids' laptops still have Windows on them), I used the browser based configuration. Works very well -- clean, options laid out easily.
Setup of this drive took me exactly 5 minutes. I have never had to fuss with set up.
The drive installs by default using DHCP, so it shows up on the network out of the box. It was easy to switch to a static IP address, though.
It showed up on Windows network shares out of the box, and is enabled for AppleTalk shares as well (which I disabled, since I don't use Apple). It shows up on Linux network as a Samba share.
I have a 100 Mbit/sec network (not a Gigabit network) so at first I thought transfer times were somewhat slow because of the network, but it turns out that the drive itself is rather slow. Internal transfers on the disk are also slow, and these don't depend on the network.
Therefore, I don't use this disk for real-time transfer intensive uses (such as my PVR or CCTV systems). But for backup storage and for storage of multiple files that you need to access only intermittently, it is ideal.
