The lineup

I tested the Buffalo Technologies' LinkStation, Iomega's StorCenter, Western Digital's NetCenter, and Seagate Technologies' Maxtor Shared Storage II. Each configuration varied a bit.

I also looked at Seagate's Mirra Sync and Share Personal Server, which allows you to back up data and then share selected content with other users on your local network or over the Web. It didn't quite meet my basic file sharing needs, but is worth considering for those interested in publishing photos or other online content to friends, family or business associates.

All of the units expect to receive an IP address from a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server in order to work on your network. Your broadband modem or router/firewall device in your office usually provides DHCP services. However, if you're using a simple Ethernet network hub or switch without DHCP capability and you don't have broadband access to the Internet, you may not be able to network these devices.

In each case the enclosed documentation was Spartan. Most packages include a storage unit, power cord, network cable, installation CD (with a PDF version of the manual) and basic instructions to get you up and running. All of the units include two USB ports that support additional disk drives. Some also allow you to share a printer by attaching it to a USB port.

Full documentation is either online or on the installation CD. Assuming that your Windows networking is functioning properly, most of these devices should show up in My Network Places soon after you turn them on, and you should be able to map a drive letter to each device in Windows Explorer. This was the case with most of the units, although I had problems getting some models to network with my IDG laptop.

The installation software provides access to device configuration settings and attempts to set up drive mappings and desktop shortcuts. Most drives also include basic backup software and tout a range of features that promise faster network speeds and disk transfer rates. For basic data storage in a home environment, such differences probably don't mean much, unless you plan to stream lots of multimedia content from the shared disk.

Then there are the nice to haves that are tacked on - including remote access, printer sharing and media streaming. These tend to be vendor "checklist item" features that most users never take advantage of, but they may come in handy in some cases.

Print serving is a nice feature -- if you happen to want to place your printer next to the share storage device. Some devices also support the Universal Plug and Play (UPNP) and Digital Living Network Alliance media server specifications, which means that they can stream multimedia content to your home entertainment system by way of a digital media adapter that you buy separately. I did not test this feature, however.

Setting up remote file transfer protocol (FTP) access is a different can of worms entirely. Most products don't document the ins and outs of configuring FTP very well -- nor do they warn of the security issues. An FTP server presents a security risk and a firewall configuration hassle that's best left to network experts. The NetCenter, for example, requires that you open ports 20 and 21 to the outside world. Then you'll need to configure up a rule in your firewall to map the IP address of your cable or DSL modem to the dynamic IP address given to the network storage device. A dynamic IP address assignment can change over time, and if it does you'll have to map that again.

"FTP is still an advanced user feature and requires some firewall configuration," admits Brian Verenkoff, with Buffalo Technologies' technical support. "Due to security flaws in FTP, it's best left for advanced users anyhow." Buffalo plans to add features that will make setup and security for FTP access easier, he adds.

FTP servers in a corporate environment reside in a demilitarized done, or DMZ, that is "firewalled" off from the rest of the internal network where your important data lies. Turning on FTP on a home NAS device allows access not only to your internal network, but if something goes wrong it could potentially put at risk all of the data on the shared storage device, not just the folder with FTP access.

During testing with my work laptop I experienced setup problems that lead to several conversations with Dave Callahan, director of IT at Computerworld US. He thinks less network-savvy small and home office users should steer clear of FTP. "It's a stupid idea to share to the Internet," he says flatly. "You don't want anyone from the outside coming anywhere near your network."

Do you really need the configuration headaches and the risks of opening up ports to a home network -- especially when remote FTP services are available on the Internet? I decided to pass.