BUFFALO LinkStation 710 8TB 1-Bay NAS Network Attached Storage with HDD Hard Drives Included NAS Storage That Works as Home Cloud or Network Storage Device for Home

Easy Setup and Working Great on Day One
The NAS just arrived a little bit ago. I found the quick setup guide to be very easy to follow mostly because all the steps are so simple. If you need more detailed instructions, the full manual is available for download. I’d say it took me about 5 minutes to hook it up to the network, turn it on, download the software, install it on my PC, and have it up and running. It took me about 10 more minutes to read about setting up folders and set up what I wanted. It was so simple I probably could have skipped the instructions. Then it took me about 15 minutes to set up the DLNA server, which I am completely new to, and have it running on my Roku TV with the Roku Media Player.So far it seems to be working flawlessly, ofcourse we will have to see if that lasts.Pros:1) Extremely cheap when you consider it comes with two 2TB hard drives installed.2) Super easy setup3) Super easy and very simple web interface4) Have it working on multiple computers and my DLNA Roku very quickly5) EULA was super short and simple unlike some other NAS companies that I saw have EULAs requiring that you allow them the right to audit your use of the device, access your site, see your books, etc. Are you kidding me?6) Has a USB connection for an external drive which I think will come in handyCons1) Maybe lacking in utilities compared to some other companies. I just wanted very basic functionality so I’m actually happy without all the extras.2) Speeds copying data over the network to the drive so far have been about 17 MB/s for one computer and combined 24 MB/s when copying from two computers at once. I don’t know how much of that is the device and how much is the other drives I’m copying from. But, it does seem a little on the slow side to me.

Not bad, but …
Considering the reviews, most NAS drives for home usage are slow and not very reliable. I went between an WD MyCloud and the Buffalo. The latter is now deployed in my home, but only for a day. It’s connected to a satellite of the Netgear Orbi 750 (5400 Mbps Wifi 6) and base speed should be sufficient.Anyway, setup comes first and the drive basically connects to an ethernet port somewhere in your network. Although the Buffalo LinkStation 710 sports a 2.5 Gbps ethernet port, the mentioned satellite is limited to a 1 Gbps port. However, that’s unlikely to be a problem.Setup has a printed quick start guide, and most of the time it’s fairly clear what to do next. The software link references a Japanese server (in English). This is where to download the two relevant apps (NAS Navigator for setup and firmware updater). The firmware updater is over the network and, for some inexplicable reason, took 30 minutes for the update that ended up failing. A second attempt finished successfully in about a minute.The NAS Navigator software is used to set up a new drive (i.e., to find it), and after that is reduced to mainly being a hyperlink to the web interface of the drive itself. Most information relies on this rather than the software installed on the desktop. Once installed, some options are cryptic at first and user guidance is minimal. You can get it done, however, with a little “guessing”.You can create protected folders that only selected users can access. First i was curious how fast the drive would perform as that’s both a network issue and the included server/drive. The S.M.A.R.T. info for the drive reveals that it’s a Seagate ST4000VX005, which is a 7200 rpm SATA drive. Seagate rates the maximum transfer speed at 180 MB/s. That’s not SSD territory, but pretty good for an HDD.Now, there are multiple factors influencing the effective speed and my tests were neither comprehensive nor may they be representative. That said, from my Windows 11 desktop I could achieve a decent 80 MB/s maximum with a fairly consistent data rate. I used a 1 GB file, and that’s more efficient than small files. Not directly comparable are my Mac Mini M1 results where I used BlackMagic’s SpeedDisk benchmark. As it employs multiple file sizes, it’s more realistic, but that’s likely not the only excuse for the rather disappointing 30 MB/s maximum for read and write.Overall, the performance is in line with other reports and time has been too short to judge reliability. Once set up, it’s easy to use. The supplied software tools, however, are rather minimalistic. The web interface from the drive directly, however, is good.Last, but. It least, the fan is fairly noticeable. In a quiet room, it can be easily heard from more than 2 m.

The BUFFALO LinkStation 720 4TB 2-Bay Home Office Private Cloud Data Storage device is truly impressive. It offers a perfect blend of convenience, performance, and reliability, making it an ideal choice for both home and office use.The 4TB storage capacity provides ample space to store all your important files and data securely. The 2-bay design allows for easy expansion and redundancy, ensuring that your data is always protected.One of the standout features of the LinkStation 720 is its private cloud functionality, which allows you to access your files remotely from anywhere in the world. This is perfect for users who are constantly on the go and need to access their files on the fly.Setting up the device is a breeze, thanks to the user-friendly interface. The device also supports multiple RAID modes for added data protection and performance optimization.Overall, the BUFFALO LinkStation 720 4TB 2-Bay Home Office Private Cloud Data Storage device is a top-notch solution for anyone looking for a reliable and versatile storage solution. Highly recommended!

LinkStation LS210DE19 – 2T byte single drive NASI started using NAS well over 10 years ago. My first NAS (which is still in use is a Buffalo LS-GL284 250 Gbytes) and is around 90%+ full. So then I bought a second Buffalo NAS LS-XLFA8 2T byte unit a few years back but it has become intermittent with an overheating problem causing frequent shutdowns. The files I store on the NAS are not that critical BUT I still wouldn’t like to lose them. Consequently I decided to turf the XLFA8 2T unit and buy a new LinkStation LS210DE19 – 2T byte single drive NAS (and also because it was on sale).As a lot of other reviews state – setup is “not easy” but once set up the NAS does what it’s supposed to do. The instruction sheet that comes with the unit for set-up is less than useless and the CD…. well, it does make a good coffee coaster.I found the “Online Manual” for the NAS to be excellent but at 133 pages in length “ya gotta have patience”. I actually found it a good reference manual after I figured out how to set up the NAS.I set up the NAS using NAS NAVIGATOR2 to find it’s IP address on my LAN and then used the NAS management GUI to perform the setup. After about 6 hours the NAS was up and flying. The area’s I configured on the NAS were the:• Basics – Time, NAS Name, etc• Power management schedule• Local User Names and their privileges• Files folders, their shares and Access Restrictions• Network IP, etc• WebAccess to the NAS (I use an Android phone and the Buffalo WebAccess app)So as can be seen, there are a lot of area’s that I have not set up (RAID / BACKUPS / FTP /DLNA / BitTorrent) and a bunch of other stuff which do not use currently.I did use the NAS “USB Direct Copy” which worked well (good explanation in online manual) and NAS WebAccess on an Android phone was straight forward to set up.File transfer rates on my LAN are about 8-10 megabits /sec. For my type of activity this is OK but others would call this rate very slow. (File transfer rates via WebAccess were/are much faster!!)My final conclusions are that the NAS is a good unit, serves my purpose, is priced OK and I would recommend it to others. Now, if you are new to all of this IP stuff then – “get some help” to set it up.