Apple's newest AirPort Extreme Base Station Reviews

The Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station offers Wi-Fi speeds up to 3x faster than the previous generation. It features next-generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a powerful beamforming antenna array for higher performance and range, simultaneous dual-band support, and a new vertical design with a smaller footprint. And the AirPort Extreme is easy to set up and highly secure, letting you share your broadband Internet connection, a USB printer, or a hard drive.

With three-stream 802.11ac technology, the AirPort Extreme Base Station can reach data rates of up to 1.3 Gbps (based on theoretical peak speeds) -- up to three times faster than 802.11n Wi‑Fi. You also get double the channel bandwidth, with 80 MHz-wide channels providing more room for more data to flow faster than ever. And if you have 802.11a/b/g/n devices, AirPort Extreme maximizes that connection as well.

It features simultaneous dual-band 802.11ac Wi‑Fi, which transmits at both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies at the same time. That means your devices automatically connect to the best available band for the fastest possible performance. In addition to Wi-Fi networking, the AirPort Extreme Base Station includes three Gigabit Ethernet ports for fast wired connectivity with desktop computers, network drives, and more. The new AirPort Extreme Base Station features the intelligent, powerful beamforming antenna array. Most base station antennas emit an equal and constant Wi‑Fi signal in all directions. But the beamforming antenna array is smarter -- it knows where an 802.11ac device is on the network. Then AirPort Extreme targets its signal to that device, so your Wi‑Fi signal is stronger, clearer, and faster.

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Specifications

Wireless	IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Six-element beamforming antenna array Simultaneous dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Maximum number of users: 50
Compatibility	Interoperable with 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, and 802.11ac-enabled Mac computers, iOS devices, Apple TV, Windows-based PCs, and other Wi-Fi devices
Security	Wi‑Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA2); WPA/WPA2 Enterprise; MAC address filtering; NAT firewall; 802.1X, PEAP, LEAP, TTLS, TLS, FAST; time-based access control
Ports	Gigabit Ethernet WAN port for connecting a DSL modem, cable modem, or Ethernet network USB 2 port for connecting a USB printer or hard drive Three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports for connecting a computer, Ethernet hub, or networked printer
Setup and Administration	iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 5 or later and AirPort Utility 1.3 Mac with OS X Lion v10.7.5 or later and AirPort Utility 6.3

Can I use a NAS with iTunes?

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The DLNA technology standard offered by Digital Living Network Alliance that enables you to easily stream music and video to a stereo or HDTV, print photos from a camera, and transfer files to a mobile device. In order to serve files to other devices, both the NAS and the device that will be receiving the file (either as a stream or as a download) must be DLNA Certified Products.

With Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), devices that are connected to the same network can automatically detect one another for easy sharing of files. A NAS with a UPnP server can easily connect with and stream multimedia to other UPnP-enabled devices, such as game consoles.

While the Wi-Fi-enabled Time Capsule provides a central location for backups for all the Macs in your home, it's technically not a NAS device as it only provides backup and recovery functionality. You can't use it to stream media (i.e., via an iTunes server) or access files remotely.

What is RAID?

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RAID (redundant array of independent disks; originally redundant array of inexpensive disks) utilizes a series of two or more hard drives and either divides or replicates data across them in a number of ways. RAID is a way of storing the same data in different places (thus, redundantly) on multiple hard disks.

By placing data on multiple disks, I/O (input/output) operations can overlap in a balanced way, improving performance. Since multiple disks increases the mean time between failures (MTBF), storing data redundantly also increases fault tolerance.

In a single-user system where large records, such as medical or other scientific images, are stored, the stripes are typically set up to be small (perhaps 512 bytes) so that a single record spans all disks and can be accessed quickly by reading all disks at the same time.

In a multi-user system, better performance requires establishing a stripe wide enough to hold the typical or maximum size record. This allows overlapped disk I/O across drives.

There are at least nine types of RAID plus a non-redundant array (RAID-0):

• RAID-0: This technique has striping but no redundancy of data. It offers the best performance but no fault-tolerance.
• RAID-1: This type is also known as disk mirroring and consists of at least two drives that duplicate the storage of data. There is no striping. Read performance is improved since either disk can be read at the same time. Write performance is the same as for single disk storage. RAID-1 provides the best performance and the best fault-tolerance in a multi-user system.
• RAID-2: This type uses striping across disks with some disks storing error checking and correcting (ECC) information. It has no advantage over RAID-3.
• RAID-3: This type uses striping and dedicates one drive to storing parity information. The embedded error checking (ECC) information is used to detect errors. Data recovery is accomplished by calculating the exclusive OR (XOR) of the information recorded on the other drives. Since an I/O operation addresses all drives at the same time, RAID-3 cannot overlap I/O. For this reason, RAID-3 is best for single-user systems with long record applications.
• RAID-4: This type uses large stripes, which means you can read records from any single drive. This allows you to take advantage of overlapped I/O for read operations. Since all write operations have to update the parity drive, no I/O overlapping is possible. RAID-4 offers no advantage over RAID-5.
• RAID-5: This type includes a rotating parity array, thus addressing the write limitation in RAID-4. Thus, all read and write operations can be overlapped. RAID-5 stores parity information but not redundant data (but parity information can be used to reconstruct data). RAID-5 requires at least three and usually five disks for the array. It's best for multi-user systems in which performance is not critical or which do few write operations.
• RAID-6: This type is similar to RAID-5 but includes a second parity scheme that is distributed across different drives and thus offers extremely high fault- and drive-failure tolerance.
• RAID-7: This type includes a real-time embedded operating system as a controller, caching via a high-speed bus, and other characteristics of a stand-alone computer. One vendor offers this system.
• RAID-10: Combining RAID-0 and RAID-1 is often referred to as RAID-10, which offers higher performance than RAID-1 but at much higher cost. There are two subtypes: In RAID-0+1, data is organized as stripes across multiple disks, and then the striped disk sets are mirrored. In RAID-1+0, the data is mirrored and the mirrors are striped.
• RAID-50 (or RAID-5+0): This type consists of a series of RAID-5 groups and striped in RAID-0 fashion to improve RAID-5 performance without reducing data protection.
• RAID-53 (or RAID-5+3): This type uses striping (in RAID-0 style) for RAID-3's virtual disk blocks. This offers higher performance than RAID-3 but at much higher cost.
• RAID-S (also known as Parity RAID): This is an alternate, proprietary method for striped parity RAID from EMC Symmetrix that is no longer in use on current equipment. It appears to be similar to RAID-5 with some performance enhancements as well as the enhancements that come from having a high-speed disk cache on the disk array.

How much hard drive storage will a NAS provide?

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A NAS device can have either fixed amount of hard drive space or single/multiple hard drive bays that allow you to easily add more hard drives when more storage is needed (or swap out a drive when it becomes full or needs replacing).

A Network Attached Storage with a fixed amount of storage will have either one or two hard drives placed in an enclosure for storage space ranging from 500 GB to 4 TB. This is a good solution for those who are focused primarily on streaming media, or those who want to back up just a couple of computers with small storage capacities.

With the ability to add more hard drive space as needed, a NAS with multiple hard drive bays is a good solution for those with larger multimedia libraries, creative professionals (such as photographers and videographers), and small businesses or homes that require multiple computers to be backed up.

Another advantage of using a NAS with multiple hard drives is the ability to redundantly back up your data over multiple hard drives using RAID.

Tip: Some NAS devices also include one or several USB ports, enabling you to add even more storage via external hard drives. Additionally, depending on the NAS device, the USB port can be used to connect a printer if it includes a built-in print server.

What can a NAS do?

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For those of you who have stumbled over to this section, you may be asking yourselves "what is a NAS"? NAS or Network Attached Storage is is a system consisting of 1 or more hard drives, an Ethernet connection and an operating system.

When it comes to NAS, sharing can mean multiple things. You can share files, share storage capacity and even share a printer. Here's a rundown of features a NAS can provide your home or small business.

• Back Up: Easily and automatically back up and protect content from PCs and Macs. Many NAS devices come with backup software (either proprietary to the manufacturer or commercially available software such as Retrospect). Additionally, some NAS devices are compatible with Apple's Time Machine software, enabling all the Macs in your home to back up to a central location.
• Share Files: With a NAS device centrally located on your network and available to all users connected to your network, everyone in your home or business will have access to documents, photos, videos, music, and more--all without having to turn on another computer to get access to files.
• Stream Media: In addition to storing video, music, and photo files, a NAS device can also stream those files over your network to not only your computers but a wide range of connected devices. For instance, many NAS devices can be used as a server for the Apple iTunes media library software, allowing you to serve up music and video to any computer or device (such as an Apple TV) in your home. And many NAS devices can easily stream music, movies, and more to UPnP and DLNA-certified devices, ranging from HDTVs and set-top boxes to game consoles and mobile phones.
• Remote Access: If you want to grab documents that you left behind at home or your home office, or stream music that you forgot to load into your MP3 player, a NAS device can deliver them to you wherever you might be (as long as you have broadband Internet connection for the NAS and either a Wi-Fi or 3G connection for the remote device). Most NAS devices provide a secure method for connecting your laptop to files stored on the NAS, and more NAS devices are offering apps for Apple and Android-powered mobile devices to remotely access files stored back at home--allowing you to show off.
• Print Server: This gives you the ability to share a printer with all the computers and compatible mobile devices on your network. Just plug the printer into a USB port on the NAS and the printer becomes visible on the network.
• Video/Media Encoding and Downloading: Using the included processor, some NAS devices can encode video files to other codecs--such as converting AVI files to formats that are compatible with Apple's iTunes and iOS devices. Additionally, some NAS devices include the ability to manage and download BitTorrent media files

Hopefully you now have a better understanding of What can a NAS do!.

What do I need to set up a NAS?

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Network Attached Storage (NAS) is essentially a device that connects hard drive storage to your home or small business network and allows that data to be accessed by other computers and devices connected to that network.

You need to have a network router to create a local area network (or LAN) and a computer. The NAS will typically connect to the router via wired Ethernet connection, and then be visible by your computer. At that point, you can run any software set-up that's required (or added software, such as for automatically backing up your computer).

While most NAS devices require an Ethernet connection to your network router, some models offer built-in Wi-Fi wireless connectivity and don't need to be physically connected to a router.

While some NAS devices come with software that needs to be installed on every computer on your network in order for them to access the storage device, many NAS devices don't need any complicated software tweaks. Just connect the NAS device to your network, power it up, and your connected PCs, Macs, and mobile devices will see the NAS on the network and be able to access its files and features.

How is a NAS Different from a Hard Drive Connected to Computer?

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You're probably familiar with having an external hard drive connected to your computer, which provides additional storage capabilities as well as a way to back up your most important files, photos, videos, and music. But with that one-to-one cable connection between the external hard drive and your computer, it can be difficult to share those files with other computers and devices in your home or business.

With a NAS device connected to your network, you can store all your photos, movies, songs, and documents in a single centralized location and have them be visible on every computer as well as compatible Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phone and tablet, networked TV and set-top box, and game console that's connected to your network.

Additionally, most NAS devices are actually computers themselves with an internal processor and RAM to complement the hard drive storage, as well as an operating system (such as Microsoft Windows Home Server). This allows the NAS to multitask in serving files to multiple devices at the same time while also backing up files from your computers.

And when your network is connected to the Internet, many NAS devices allow you to connect to it remotely and securely via the Web using computers or mobile devices--as long as that remote device has the proper permissions or software installed on it.

Synology DiskStation 4-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage (DS413j) Reviews

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Synology DiskStation DS413j is the Synology j series are the "basic" models of their Network Attached Storage products with the "plain" (DS413, DS213) series being midrange and the "+" series being the highest end consumer versions.

It's Features

• With Synology DS413j, you can centralize and share up to 16TB of data and files with coworkers and friends.
• The Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) automatically builds an optimal RAID volume with data protection based on the hard drives installed, eliminating the need to have hard drives of identical size, while still offering a manual setup option for advanced users.
• Photo Station simplifies photo, video, and blog sharing to the public. Features such as theme personalization, blog, and user privilege settings make Photo Station your state-of-the-art lifestyle sharing center on the Internet.
• Build Your Own Cloud
• Flexible Storage Management
• Share your Memories to Friends
• Versatile Multimedia Center for Home
• Your 24x7 Download Server

Unlike many other companies, Synology doesn't artificially cripple their models depending on their cost for the most part. The j series model has all the same features from file sharing, video sharing, IP camera recording, etc. The two things which change between the series are the CPU/RAM and external ports.

As a j series model the DS413j has only the basic 2x USB 2.0 ports and a 1.6 GHz ARM-based CPU. Moving up the line you start to get things like eSATA, USB 3.0 and SD card readers. The highest end models have either PowerPC (Freescale) or Intel Atom CPUs. Do you need the faster CPU? If you're just using it for file serving, etc. No. You probably don't. If you're going to use the NAS for either photo viewing or video transcoding - yeah, you might want to spend the extra money as the lack of a floating point unit makes image thumbnail generation really slow on the ARM CPUs and some transcoding packages are only available for the x86 Atom chips.

As for the ARM chip and 512 MB of RAM in this model, it's pretty easy to max out the processor doing a couple things at once, but it doesn't really slow things down. Under normal use you won't notice it. The RAM is rarely full past 40% or so.

Synology DiskStation DS413j is a budget-friendly 4-bay NAS server for small offices and home use, specifically designed to provide a solution for file storage and sharing with data protection for your home environment with low power consumption, quiet operation and reliability.

List Price: $379.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver

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The media streaming devices that connect to the cloud

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With the growth of cloud-based streaming video, there is a wealth of choice for media streaming devices that connect to your HDTV and serve up rented or purchased content as well as subscription sites and web videos. Here's a sampling:

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Other home entertainment devices can also connect to cloud-based media streaming services, including Internet-capable Blu-ray Disc players and HDTVs plus game consoles:

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Cloud computing takes files off of your computer's hard drive and makes them accessible wherever you roam and have access to the Internet. However, if you want to share your music and video library with just the multiple computers and media streaming devices in your home, you can create your own personal cloud using a Network-Attached Storage device--also known as NAS.

A NAS device connects hard drive storage to your home or small business network and allows that data to be accessed by other computers and devices connected to that local area network (LAN). With a NAS device, you can store all your photos, movies, songs, and documents in a single centralized location and have them be visible on every computer as well as compatible WiFi enabled mobile phones and tablets, networked TVs and set-top boxes, and game consoles connected to your network.

Additionally, most NAS devices are actually computers themselves with an internal processor and RAM to complement the hard drive storage, as well as an operating system (such as Microsoft Windows Home Server). This allows the NAS to multitask in serving files to multiple devices at the same time while also backing up files from your computers.

NAS devices enable you to create your own cloud storage and provide remote access to files from the server in your home or small business over the Internet. This is a great way to allow far-flung family members to access home movies and photos and co-workers to collaborate on projects, as well as give yourself the ability to stream movies and music while traveling.

For example, Iomega's StorCenter NAS devices now offer a Personal Cloud feature that can be set up in minutes and doesn't require any additional Internet hosting. You can invite up to 250 remote users to securely access the Personal Cloud from a wide variety of devices--from PC, Mac and Linux computers to Apple iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

While a NAS device serves multiple computers and connected devices over a local area network and can even be remotely accessed over the Internet, a new type of NAS device adds portable functionality. The Seagate GoFlex Satellite is a portable hard drive with an integrated battery, Wireless-N Wi-Fi, and a web server. This enables you to serve music, video, photo, and document files to up to three iPads simultaneously. While a free iPad app is available, other tablets as well as PCs and Macs can access files using a web browser.

What is network-attached storage (NAS)?

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Network-attached storage (NAS) is a combination of hard disk-based storage and a network adapter. Its purpose is to provide a centralized data repository for computers sharing a network. Rather than connecting to your computer via a USB cable (like a typical external hard drive), a NAS connects to your local area network (LAN) via an Ethernet connection to your router, and it becomes available to all computers and devices connected to your network. Some NAS devices allow you to expand storage with additional hard drive bays, or USB ports for connecting external hard drives.

A NAS unit is a computer connected to a network that provides only file-based data storage services to other devices on the network. Although it may technically be possible to run other software on a NAS unit, it is not designed to be a general purpose server. For example, NAS units usually do not have a keyboard or display, and are controlled and configured over the network, often using a browser.

NAS is useful for more than just general centralized storage provided to client computers in environments with large amounts of data. NAS can enable simpler and lower cost systems such as load-balancing and fault-tolerant email and web server systems by providing storage services. The potential emerging market for NAS is the consumer market where there is a large amount of multi-media data. Such consumer market appliances are now commonly available. Unlike their rackmounted counterparts, they are generally packaged in smaller form factors. The price of NAS appliances has plummeted in recent years, offering flexible network-based storage to the home consumer market for little more than the cost of a regular USB or FireWire external hard disk. Many of these home consumer devices are built around ARM, PowerPC or MIPS processors running an embedded Linux operating system.

If you want to know more clearly go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage