14 DAY TRIAL // As hardware makers saw that the market for network-attached storage (NAS) devices grew, they kept bringing out new models that tried to outdo their competition in such areas as raw storage capacity, reliability, functionality and security. LG, however, seems to have taken a different approach and has released an NAS that stands out through having an extra capability compared with others. The N2B1 is LG's NAS device with a built-in Blu-ray re-writer.
The product is a two-bay Linux NAS that can also communicate with PCs and Mac systems. The LG Network Storage allows users to play music files through iTunes (the N2B1 can act as an iTunes server), but can also act as a DLNA multimedia-content server, so that users may enjoy the stored movie, photo and music files through their TVs.
The NAS is designed with 10/100/1000 Ethernet, three USB ports, a multicard reader (SD, MS, xD, MMC) and an eSATA port at the rear. In addition, a USB printer may be connected and used as a network printer. Of course, like most recent NAS products, the N2B1 features hot swappable hard disks, which allow users to easily remove and replace drives in case of failure, while the power is on.
What is especially unusual, for an NAS, is the existence of the built-in Blu-ray re-writer. This expands the unit's capacity by 50GB of optical storage. In addition, the new NAS from LG has BitTorrent and is accessible remotely via LG's DDNS service. This means that all the data stored within the product will be within the reach of the owner even when traveling.
The LG N2B1 NAS is already available and has a price starting at around $320 for the 500GB model and at about $450 for the 1TB version. The company is also offering a DVD version, known as the N2R1, which costs about $220.