Best NAS appliances for small business

When we tested Network Attached Storage devices seven years ago, the products boasted an amazing (for the time) 1TB of disk space. This time around, we’re testing six units that sport 8TB or larger storage capacities – for just about the same price as the first batch back in 2005. This time around, however, the appliances include antivirus, print server, cloud backup, file indexing and searching, plus RAID-5 or RAID-6 to protect data if a drive fails.
COMPANY: QNAP (Quality Network Appliance Provider)
PRODUCT: TS-569 Pro
PRICE: $1,000-$1,100 (diskless)
PROS: Easy setup, cloud backup, bonus apps, antivirus
CONS: Price doesn’t include disks
COMPANY: Netgear
PRODUCT: ReadyNAS Pro 4
PRICE: $2,400 (8TB)
PROS: Small, easy to set up, offers cloud backup
CONS: Old-fashioned interface
Company: LaCie
Product: 5big Office+
Price: $1,450 (10TB)
Pros: Stylish, Windows OS, integrates well with Windows shops
Cons: Installation not as easy as other products
Company: Iomega
Product: StorCenter px4-300d
Price: $1,950 (8TB), $2,750 (12TB)
Pros: Full-text search functionality, cloud backup, updated look and feel
Cons: Security could be tighter
Company: Buffalo
Product: TeraStation TS5400D
Price: $1,300 (8TB), $1,400 (12TB), $2,150 (16TB) URL:
Pros: Good price/performance, text search, straightforward interface
Cons: Search interface is clunky
Company: Seagate
Product: BlackArmor NAS 440
Price: $875 (8TB), $1,425 (12TB)
Pros: Simple interface, best price/performance
Cons: Not a lot of extras