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The Verdict
he Vantec NexStar LX is a great little device for not a lot of money. It however lacks a couple of features. Very important is monitoring for example, I like to see who's connected to this little box. Currently you have no idea who's connected to it though and thus is sweeping through your files. I also would have liked to see a more advanced USER based managing method. Next to that the world has moved on towards Serial ATA and yet we are bound to PATA. Another thing comes to mind, performance of the HD was bottlenecked by the 100 MBit/sec Ethernet interface. Why is it not 1000 Mbit/sec ? At 100/8 we are stuck at 12MB read/write speeds at maximum. Sure you can use the USB 2.0 connection .. but that's not really what a NAS server is about.
Although straight forward and easy to use, the user interface does not come with any help functions. If you are a novice you might get lost in there.
All these little factors I find a little substandard as this from the ground up is a really fun and good device. It's just limited here and there. So for who is this product the most interesting ? Well not your typical small office clients. The NexStar NAS unit is for personal use to share with friends and family only. It's a good way to share your MP3 files, movies or simply when you need to access data on the move - it's easy to take along with you. Also when you open up port 21 in your router you can run a really fun FTP server with the device in a pretty secure and easy to manage way.
The trick however is obviously the pricing level. I'm missing several options to call this unit a 'real' NAS server, yet a good NAS storage unit typically starts at 300 bucks. The NexStar LX can be bought for merely 69.99 USD and that's where the difference is to be found.
NexStar LX NAS Hard Drive Enclosure from Vantec is a pretty resourceful and clever device that without problem allows the consumer to add a simple NAS server. For an easy to setup portable storage device with a no hassle and easy to install environment the LX comes recommended, but for personal use only.
Info: vantecusa.com
Price: 69.99 EUS
