LinkStation SoHo 220

Always wanted a NAS and finally got this one. I am totally pleased with it's ease of set up and cost. I use it to keep photos, music sheets for printing and files for my 3D printer. It's get to be able to open files with every computer in the house. Purchased 7 months ago and had no issues.

I've had this devices for a bit over a month and if you're looking for an inexpensive NAS, this is the way to go. I bought the 8TB version with 4TB usable in a Raid1 array. I had some problems early on, and did a factory reset and rebuilt the array to correct everything. The device is working fine and I have good throughput from my laptop (wireless). It would be a bit better if it had a wireless connection available for it, but that isn't a deal breaker for me. The cabled connection is fine and provides good throughput. The interface is a bit underdeveloped, but functions well enough - especially for the average home user. Good value, great storage (since it comes with disk included). Minus one star for my initial setup problems and the underdeveloped interface.

I am using this device for my iMAC to backup using TimeMachine. TimeMachine runs constantly during the day and device is always available and works great. The device did come with some backlup software but it only works for Windows and nothing available for Apple. I did install the backup software on my Windows.laptop but have not used it yet as I simply copy my data from my Windows machine to my iMAC and let Apple TimeMachine perform all backups from the iMAC.

I bought the BUFFALO LinkStation SoHo 2-Bay Desktop 8TB to serve two purposes. First to act as a repository for seldom accessed documents and photos and secondly, as a redundant Time Machine backup solution. As many have stated, the drives cannot be partitioned to maintain unique space allocations. This is accomplished by setting user/group quotas for individually created shared folders. Not the best solution but okay. Once the quota is reached, any process trying to go further does in fact fail. Will the user be notified when the threshold is breached? Despite what the User Manual says, email notifications related to quotas being exceeded are not supported by the LinkStation. Buffalo Support says that is available with the higher priced TeraStation. Does the UI show the amount of space used by each of the shared folders or user/group? No, only at the higher array level of total space. To get to the shared folder level, one must poke around in Finder or run commands from a Terminal session. It took some doing to realize the Time Machine backups were working and files across multiple targets were all available. Things that do work. Sleep timer works well. Can be slow to fully be available so set the wake a bit earlier than needed. Support of a UPS power backup. A quick test did generate an alert and the LinkStation did power off after the set time limit. Direct Copy from a UPS device. This is an all or nothing affair from what I can tell. If additional files are added after a Direct Copy operation, the new plus the older ones are all copied to a new directory with the current date. Direct Copy can be initiated from the UI or by the function button which is located on the rear of the device. Not the most convenient location. Summary. I haven't tried any of the more advanced functions such as Web Access, Active Directory, iTunes server, etc. I have no need for such features from this device Two stars for the LinkStation overall plus one added for the responsiveness of the Buffalo Support team I contacted several times. Having spent 3 weeks with it, I'll most likely be keeping it rather than start the whole discovery process from scratch with something different. Side note. It took over 52 hours to erase all data and reset the unit to factory defaults. If you have thoughts of returning the device, plan accordingly. The time to complete estimates were extremely accurate. So why can't it tell me how much space a shared folder or user is consuming?

Good product and useful for sharing. with Microsoft torpedoing home file sharing, I had to do something to share files and photos with other PC's in the house. Thus this was the answer. It was straightforward to install and used without pass wording a share. However, I have not been able to put a password on the shares with any luck. Thus, me, wife, Mother-in-law and laptops have open access to all shares. I've put passwords on a share, but then it is inaccessible no matter whether it is me or any other computer in the house. I've exhausted every thing I could think of and even put the question on blog sites to no avail. Buffalo support is basically non-existent. The unit is still protected from the internet ok.

Stay away! Keep looking. Most of the positive reviews are old, much like this technology. The iOS app is antiquated and the web browser that is used to access the storage requires Adobe Flash (end-of-life is next month). This thing belongs in a museum. Definitely not user friendly and while I’m not managing a large server farm, one would need an advanced software engineering degree to get this paperweight to function remotely. Was able to get it functioning on internal network but never could access remotely and I’m not the only one that’s had that issue and been unable to resolve it. Good grief this thing is slow. Just to F-disk this to send it back requires over 12 hours. Tried to load a 3 minute video on my phone from the NAS never could get it to load. At times the app wouldn’t even recognize there was a drive present because of the response time. Overall this would be great as an overpriced external hard drive but that’s not what I was looking for.

The installation guide is not much help. Most the information I got from YouTube videos, but the NAS is solid and easy to use after install was completed.

This would be the first review I have ever written. I felt it was necessary this time around to help people avoid the same mistake I made in this purchase based on the description of a 12TB NAS. This can be a 12tb NAS...IF it is configured as a RAID 0. The description of this product was listed as a 12TB NAS, and that is the reason i purchased it. What the description does NOT tell you, the device is shipped with two 6tb hard drives included. The default configuration is a RAID 1 out of the box, meaning you have a 6tb drive with complete redundancy. I was looking for a 12tb RAID 1. While it is true that I can reconfigure this to be a RAID 0 and use both drives to create a 12tb NAS device...my application requires a 12tb redundant RAID. When I made the discovery of this configuration issue, I had contacted the manufacturer to see if i could upgrade the drives on my own. According to the support response, 6tb is the largest drive this device will support, rendering this device useless to me. At this point i am weighing my options for returning the product. I have been a fan of the Buffalo products in this past, needless to say this was an expensive disappointment.

Replaced a similar unit after years of use, easy to use, very reliable.

Using this as a media drive for the different HTPCs I have in the house and it works perfectly! Came installed with two 4TB Western Digital Blue (IMO decent quality drives) hard drives. I changed the config so instead of configured as RAID 1 they're two distinct drives on the network giving me the full 8TB. The Buffalo NAS utility is lightweight and has no impact on system performance, installs easily and recognizes the drives without issue. The NAS itself performs well when wired to the router and the HTPCs connecting through WIFI. No buffering issues even with 4K video.