QNAP TS-219P questions for a complete novice

[Retroglide]

I have no external storage what so ever and am currently searching for a device/solution.
Im the main home user with my Macbook Pro and the wife users her Windows laptop every now and then. Digital Photography is a hobby of mine and im starting to build a collection of images that need storing off the Mac. I was initialy going to buy 2 drives. A WD My Book Studio 2 connected via Firewire800 to the Macbook and then a WD My Book World NAS as a means of storage and also allowing access to my images/family pics to my wife via her Windows laptop. Plus also sharing via the Xbox 360 and PS3. Am I correct in saying that the transfer speeds on the WD devices isn't the fastest?

With that in mind the QNAP TS-219P caught my eye. Its seems faster and reviews seem favorable also. But as a complete novice can this device be recommended as a good solution?

Thanks in advance for any reply

 

[thiggins]

The new generation (white bar) MyBook Worlds are much faster than the first gen. But the QNAP TS-219P is still much faster (check the NAS Charts).

The QNAP TS-219P has way more features than you need, but it would be perfectly suitable for your needs, as would most NASes.

 

[Retroglide]

Thanks for the speedy reply thiggins.

I was so close to purchasing the WD My Books that I mentioned but after scouring the web for info, I found posts in forums (not this one) by hardcore enthusiasts saying that its better to build your own NAS or that the WD My Books are far too slow. Im going to be the only person using any device with regards to transferring files etc and im not too sure I will even be streaming much in the ways of movies to begin with. Although, it would be nice to be able to have the ability later should I need to. The WD My Book choice was initially because I had the option of running both the My Books in RAID 1 which gave me two disks, one on each device, as redundant backup. But I then read that perhaps RAID backing up isnt the best option either. The QNAP does look like a very nice device and more than meets my requirements as you stated. I suppose the choice is whether I want one device (QNAP) or having two with twice the security (WD My Books).

 

[thiggins]

RAID 1 (or any other RAID) doesn't provide "twice the security". If the NAS power supply or controller fails you could lose all your data or face the hassle of a difficult discovery.

Never trust your data to a single device. See Smart SOHOs Don't Do RAID.

 

[Retroglide]

Understood. So it wouldnt hurt just to have a plain external drive connected to the Qnap as a seperate backup.

Do QNAP produce an External drive for connection to a QNAP NAS? Will make a worthy purchase!

 

[thiggins]

You definitely want to be backing up the NAS from the start.

QNAP really isn't in the attached drive business. If you go with a QNAP, you have the option of using faster eSATA external drives.

 

[Retroglide]

Thanks, well I have hopefully come to the point where I can go place an order. Found an external 1TB drive with eSATA/firewire800/USB2.0 connectivity too so will be able to backup from the start also.

Thanks for taking the time to reply and also for the informative input.