![]() ![]() Since USB NAS are rather small, they can sit quite unobtrusively, connected to a router. Drives can range from inexpensive memory sticks to large-capacity USB drives, which can be costly. Since you have to use external USN drives, you want to factor the cost of drives in. Typically, USB NASes are small devices as they don't contain hard drives. USB NASes are typically under $100, ranging in price anywhere from $60 for basic NAS functionality to about $130 for advanced features like cloud-based remote access. The biggest upside is that they are very affordable. Pros There are both advantages and disadvantages to USB NASes over HDD NASes. This is why they are often marketed as "USB Adapters." Users connect external USB drives (most also support USB printers, as well) to USB ports on the NAS. ![]() USB NASes differ from traditional HDD-based NASes in that they use external USB drives for centralized storage. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.The DockStar comes with a one-year subscription to the Pogoplug service if you choose to not renew the subscription when it runs out, you can still keep using the DockStar as a NAS device on your local network, but you'll no longer be able to share files with other users over the Internet and you'll lose the ability to access the DockStar remotely. The Pogoplug's $99 cost includes lifetime file sharing and remote access. (If Seagate ever makes the DockStar's SSH password public or someone figures it out, then the DockStar can conceivably be hacked to the same extent as the Pogoplug.)Īnother difference between the DockStar and the Pogoplug is that after the first year of ownership, the DockStar requires a $29.99 yearly subscription fee in order to continue using the DockStar's file sharing and remote access features. Seagate, on the other hand, appears to not want DockStar users to muck with the works-you can access the DockStar via SSH shell access, but without the password, you won't be able to get past the login prompt. ![]() As such, the Pogoplug is easily modifiable via SSH shell access, where users can add additional functionality to the device, such as adding iTunes server or BitTorrent functionality (unlike other more full-featured NAS devices, the DockStar and Pogoplug lack these features). Under the hood, both the DockStar and the Pogoplug are actually fully-functional Linux-based computers: They are system-on-chip (SoC) device, based on Marvell's SheevaPlug Development Kit. (You could use the USB port in the DockStar's cradle to connect to a drive other than a FreeAgent Go drive, but you'd need to get your hands on a cable or adapter that has a female mini-USB port.) Another major difference between the DockStar and the Pogoplug is that the DockStar has a total of four USB 2.0 ports versus the Pogoplug's single USB 2.0 port. While the Pogoplug is essentially a small white cube, the DockStar is a bit more svelte (3.39x3.351.50), with a cradle on top designed to work exclusively with Seagate's line of FreeAgent Go portable hard drives-in fact, the DockStar looks a lot like the Seagate FreeAgent Go Dock. The most obvious difference between the Pogoplug and the DockStar is their appearance. Instead of reinventing the wheel, however, Seagate chose to license the Pogoplug technology from CloudEngines and integrate it-with a few differences-into the DockStar. Now a big name in the storage business, Seagate, has jumped onto this bandwagon and released its own USB drive-based NAS device, the Seagate FreeAgent DockStar. ![]()
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