$99 Linksys NAS200 is the Cheapest Networked Hard Drive Solution Yet

Chances are that you have more than one computer in your house, maybe even several. Personally, I find myself constantly running in between computers to pull off files that are located on different PCs, and it can get really frustrating. Sure you can carry around a hard drive, and I actually do usually carry around a portable hard drive with me, but there is a more convenient solution out there for home users - networked hard drives. A network hard drive allows all of the computers using your router’s internet connection, to share and access files located on the hard drive. Many network hard drives also offer other features like FTP access and printer sharing. Unfortunately network hard drives of course cost significantly more than regular external hard drives - with the average one costing around $300 and up. However, Linksys’s NAS200 can be found on Amazon for just $99. Granted there is a catch - you have to provide your own hard drive, but you can get a decent sized hard drive for pretty cheap nowadays. The Linksys NAS200 provides you with two SATA hard drive bays and you can add more storage via its two USB 2.0 ports as well. The device also supports the ability to share files via FTP and it can work as a built-in media server. Check out Linksys’ home made video if you want to see the NAS200 more in depth. And if the idea of supplying your own hard drives isn’t appealing to you, we’ll have a review of Maxtor’s Shared Storage II up shortly.