The LG N2A2 NAS has some other add-on features which may be of use in some specific cases for the target market. These include:
- Web and FTP server
- Multi-user support
- Selective file / folder duplication
- Full logging of all accesses to the NAS
- Extensive Mac support (AFP / Time Machine)
- DLNA support
- Home monitoring (creating a network camera with the help of an UVC USB webcam)
Amongst these features, DLNA and home monitoring are the ones which deserver further mention. The unit is DLNA certified (unlike the Synology DS-211+), but that really doesn't mean much. Most video content needs to be transcoded into a format suitable for the end device for DLNA to work properly.
It would have been nice if the LG N2A2 were to recognize any IP cameras in the network and record from it. This is done by other NAS vendors like Synology. The LG NAS allows USB cameras to be connected to the NAS. The video can be previewed in the NAS administration page and also be recorded to the hard disk. However, there are two drawbacks to this approach. The first is that only USB cameras complying with the Universal Video Class (UVC) standard are recognized. The second is the fact that the USB interface for the camera severely limits the location of the surveillance camera since it has to be placed in the vicinity of the NAS.
LG seems to have taken the safe route with respect to power consumption numbers in its specifications. At idle, the NAS consumed around 14.4 W of power on an average. Under heavy traffic, the power consumption spiked up to 21.3 W. These numbers roughly correspond to what the DS-211+ consumed. So, there are no surprises here.
In conclusion, it is inexcusable for LG to deliver a NAS model which doesn't allow for the replacement of the internal hard drives. In effect, it is a glorified networked hard disk with some NAS features thrown in. Thankfully, it allows data recovery in case of failures, and the underlying NAS platform / software looks very stable. The data transfer rates are very competitive with other similarly priced NAS products.
When contemplating the purchase of your next 2-bay NAS for home applications, take a look at the price of the competing offerings from other companies. If you can snag this on a deal and don't mind voiding the warranty, the appliance may turn out to be quite suitable in many scenarios. If you can't find any use for the two bundled 1 TB drives, a deal on the diskless version (N2R1) might be worth considering.
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Chupathingy220 - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
I've been swinging back and forth between picking up a NAS like this one, or repurposing an old netbook I have lying about with some Linux server software and simply attaching drives to it via USB. Suggestions?kmmatney - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
I would just suggest picking up a copy of WHS (only $59 at NewEgg) and eityher using your old laptop or making a cheap server. I tried various solutions, such as a home-made NAS and Linux (Amahi). In the end, it's just so much nicer using Windows Home server. My only regret was wasting so much time with other solutions before getting WHS.Zan Lynx - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
You can get better performance with WHS (or Linux) and your own hardware. Gigabit jumbo frames, four or five fast hard drives, you should be able to get over 80 MB/s in sequential access.But you lose one of the bigger advantages these little NAS boxes have, which is low power consumption and quietness.
name99 - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
Why limit yourself to WHS or Linux?You can use a Mac Mini (low power when it's on AND it can go to sleep, registering itself with an AirPort base station, to be woken as necessary.)
OSX offers built-in striping, so hook up 3 USB drives and you can hit basically 100MB/s or so reads and writes.
SilthDraeth - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
Maybe if WHS was installed on the Mac Mini.EddieBoy - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
I'll second the comment about trying Windows Home Server. I have been using Version 1 for several years and it works great. Version 2 is getting good reviews although a few people were upset that it doesn't continue the use of Drive Extender. That didn't bother me too much as there are add-ons for DE if you really feel you need that functionality. The Newegg price for WHS is very tempting. I may have to grab a copy of Version 2 and upgrade my configuration.phu5ion - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
If you are going to re-purpose an existing system, use a Linux server OS. You don't want some pesky GUI eating CPU time like some other OS options.kmmatney - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
The GUI is Windows XP based - very light. You use a console app to connect to it most of the time, anyways. The GUI comes in handy when you need it. A lot of us just don't know Linux all that well to attempt running it without a GUI. I also use WHS to share (sort of) a scanner.ShoePuke - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
I too agree that for most of the people that read Anandtech, a DIY NAS will get you way more features for same or less money. I was pretty psyched about WHS until they removed data redundancy in the new version (I thought that was it's best feature!). Now I'm using unRAID and love it. My 14 TB unRAID box draws ~35w idle and ~80w peak. Really like being able to mix drive sizes w/o penalty while having parity.Rick83 - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
just got a 20 euro more expensive buffalo 2-disk NAS, which allows proper hot swap, but it is insanely loud (for what it is).I'd expect these enclosures to be silent and the disks to be minimally intrusive, but this one will have to be hidden in an insulated cupboard..