As more homes get multiple computers, more homes need some type of network storage. With network storage, you can share music files, videos, and photos among machines; send files back and forth; and implement a backup strategy.

A USB drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station or a Time Capsule wireless drive can handle the backups--assuming all the machines in your house are Macs. But if you want a central repository for your family's iTunes library, or a place where everyone can share files without pillaging one another's hard drives, or if your home network has both Macs and Windows machines, those two Apple solutions aren't enough.

Network-attached storage, or NAS for short, could be what you need. It can handle a wider range of storage chores than either an AirPort-connected USB drive or a Time Capsule can.

NAS has been commonplace on large enterprise networks for years. But this technology can also have a place in the home (or small business), providing always-on storage for Macs and non-Macs alike. NAS is inexpensive and surprisingly easy to set up and use. Compared with the cost of buying every Mac in the house its own external drive, NAS can be cost-effective, too.

How It Works

NAS involves more than just attaching a hard drive to a network: NAS devices are really mini file servers. Running an embedded operating system (usually some form of Linux), they give you full control over users and permissions. Most offer additional services as well: some support FTP, virtually all work with both Windows machines and Macs, and many can function as iTunes and media servers, too.

Many major storage and networking vendors sell some form of NAS (sometimes called network hard drives).

For the purposes of this column, I chose Synology's Disk Station DS107+ and bought a 500GB hard disk to go with it--which provided enough room to back up four Macs and serve up a moderately sized iTunes library. The Synology is compatible with both Mac and Windows, can use external USB or eSATA disks, automatically backs up to an external disk, can work as an iTunes server, and is accessible via FTP.

Whichever NAS device you choose, you connect it via Ethernet (most, but not all, are equipped with Gigabit Ethernet). Few, if any, NAS drives are wireless. You can connect the device directly to your router, to a switch or hub, or even to the Ethernet port of the latest AirPort Express. You can then stash it out of sight.

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