The Qnap is a Linux server which you can ssh into. The drives are mirrored and use ext3. So I can plug them into a Linux box. The Qnap can also do auto backups, not sure if I use that to backup the Qnap to my external Linux server. The Qnap also uses fairly common hardware. Replacements should be possible. If it breaks down and the company still sells boxes, the easiest way is to buy a new one and plug the drives in.

I’m still undecided. If I have to hide it in a closet, I might still be better of using one of my old servers and doing a soft raid using Linux.

What happens if your NAS server hardware (not the drives) dies and you can’t get a replacement? Do you think you can still read the drives? Or do you have a separate backup plan?

The loud thing is the fan of the power supply unit, so I’ll need to change the whole unit. Might be more expensive than $20. But as the NAS is currently in a closet, the noise is no big deal.

Installation was easy.
Time machine was tricky but does work now.
It feels very solid. Good quality for the money.

The GP drives are tolerable. The fan is quite loud, at least mine is. Too loud for the living room, I have it in a closet near the wlan/dsl router so I do not care.

Otherwise works great and - for now - without any problems. I’m very satisfied should it stay this way.

For my media-consumption and home-server usage and other needs the Synology $320 DS-207 is the right one for me - they have a bigger one coming out soon called DS-508 if I need 5 drives. Shooting RAW, that would be a big need.

I found some 750gb drives for $140 which is much cheaper than the Terabyte drives.

Me, I’m collecting energy-drinks under my mattress in preparation for the food shortages due to the upcoming American chaos as more people drop below the poverty line. Seriously I just hope the next prez can be a leader to more than 40% of our population, and make us proud again of what we have and are. Sigh.

We’re shooting raw with two DSLRs which do produce lots of megabytes.

0.20 EUR, not yet … But 2009 when the $ will crash seriously because of the Fed printing money like crazy and everyone trying to dept themselves out of recession … well then it might be 0.20 EUR ;-) Terabytes have arrived but are quite expensive, a 750gb drive is much cheaper per MB.

http://www.foursky.com/?p=8 I like their comparison…if I get one this big I know I’ll have to decorate it, with a sticker making it look like a toaster.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2275005,00.asp I must have blinked because I’m surprised to see Terabyte drives have arrived. ~$300 ea. (That’s like 0.20 EUR right? sigh)
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