Buffalo LinkStation 160 GB Network Attached Storage HD-H160LAN

by BUFFALO

Product Details

Product Manual [4.58mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002ICEHM
• Item model number: HD-H160LAN
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 23, 2004

Product Description

From the manufacturer

Store and Share Multimedia Content Over Your Network!

The quick and simple way to store and share all your music, videos, images and other files in one safe and convenient location! Easily stream digital media to a Buffalo LinkTheater Network Media Player!

The LinkStation Network Storage Center from Buffalo Technology offers an easy and economic solution to add 160 GigaBytes of network-attached storage via wired or wireless connections. Quick and simple installation allows you to instantly store and share your music, videos, images and other files via a web browser from both PCs and Macs. Offering a built-in print server, the LinkStation simplifies network printing, and with two USB 2.0 ports, an additional hard drive can be added for extra space or backups instantly. Simple setup and maintenance, versatile usage, and a compact design make the LinkStation the "must have" solution for storing and sharing files on your home or small office network.

Features

• 160 GB Network Attached Storage
• Quick and Easy Installation
• Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux Systems
• Additional Drive Capacity via USB 2.0 Ports
• Managed Backups over the network or via USB 2.0 to External Storage
• Built-in Print Server
• Built-in FTP Server
• Minimal Power Consumption and Schedulable Auto-power Off
• Compact, Aesthetic Design
• Silent Internal Fan
• Internal Power Supply

Product Description

BUFFALO TECHNOLOGY HD-H160LAN -- The LinkStation Network Storage Center offers an easy to use, affordable solution to your network storage and sharing needs. Add 160GB of network attached storage via wired or wireless connection, for instant sharing of music, videos, images and other files via web browser from both PCs and Macs. One year warranty

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor Software Design, January 21, 2005

By 

Thomas Reiter (Washington DC, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Buffalo LinkStation 160 GB Network Attached Storage HD-H160LAN (Personal Computers)

This product was easy to install on our small office network, but then we hit the following snag:

We wanted to set up seperate secure folders for each user, so that one user cannot access another user's folder. I checked that the Buffalo has this feature before buying it.

The problem is that this rather basic function only works if the username and password for the Linkstation are the same as the username and password for Windows XP login. While this doesn't sound like a big problem, three factors make this a real pain:

1) this is not mentioned anywhere in the product manual or website;

2) Linkstation does not allow all XP usernames and passwords; ie, most windows XP user names are, well, the user's name ("John Smith"), but the Linkstation does not allow spaces in user names, so you have to change all of your XP user names to use secure directories on the Linkstation. Also, the Linkstation only allows passwords of up to 8 characters, while XP allows much longer passwords/phrases.

3) In order to back up your computer once a month on the Linkstation, you've got to create an XP login and use it every time you boot up your computer.

Looks like a good product for single users, but beware of the issues above if you plan to use the secure folders feature.

UPDATE--January 25, 2005
After trying to use this device for a couple of days, looks like I'll be sending it back. In addition to the problems identified above, the Linkstation keeps disappearing from the network and periodically does not allow users to log in to their secure folder (all of this even after a firmware upgrade). Very disappointing.

Tom

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Product, September 12, 2005

By 

D. Miranda (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buffalo LinkStation 160 GB Network Attached Storage HD-H160LAN (Personal Computers)

We have a small network of 4 macs and 2 windows pc's. It works great for us.

We use this network drive mostly to store archived project files and to store all our media files such as music and movies. iTunes allows us to centralize the location of our music. All the computers in the network can access the music and videos from the network drive.

We have been able to set up the network drive so that we can authorize people to access only specific folders.

The drive also has a great sleep feature and is very energy efficient. the drives only consumes a few watts per hour during active use.

This product is also very small, and is perfect when space is a problem. The drive has been very easy to set up and use web administration so both macs and windows can do administarion.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buffalo Tech 160 LinkStation, August 2, 2005

By 

Donald J. Little - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buffalo LinkStation 160 GB Network Attached Storage HD-H160LAN (Personal Computers)

Once it got the LinkStation installed, it has performed flawlessly. I have copied Gigabytes of data to the device with NO problems at all.

The installation when well, but the device kept disappearing from my PC. After some frustration, I called Buffalo. I was connected with a Tech in a few minutes. The tech understood my problem and sent a link to the current firmware. This resolved the problem. BTY, Firmware should be 1.47 or laster. Apparently, earlier version do have the disappearance problem. Also, not that there are two versions of the machine. The older version has a switch in the back that selects either crossover or straight thru to allow you to attach either directly to a PC or to a switch. The newer version autodetects the attachment type. I have the older version, but suggest that you RETURN older versions with the switch since they are less flexible for non-techies.