N2100 vs N4100+

[meathead]

I am a home user looking for a good NAS that I can backup all of my music, videos, and other important files on. Right now, I have about 500GB of music alone, so I am looking for a solution that will give me, at a minimum, 750 GB (I would ultimately like 1TB+).

My basement is wired with Cat5e (this is where most of my computers reside). Anything upstairs runs off of my wireless "G" network. I have a wire closet in my house, so noise & air flow is not an issue. I am not looking to use a lot of the advanced administration features of any NAS I purchase. I am going to keep things about as basic as possible. I have a network printer, so I will not need the print server feature. I have both Mac & PC machines at home, and I plan on mapping drives directly to the NAS as opposed to using the HTTP client. I have zero Linux knowledge & I have no plans of ever putting any Linux boxes on this network.

For the N2100, the pro is that it is cheap, compact, and has received fantastic reviews. The con is that it is plastic & not metal, it only supports RAID 0 & RAID 1, & it only holds two drives.

For the N4100+ the pro is that it has 4 hot swappable drive bays, it supports up to RAID 5, and it appears to be constructed a lot better (metal case). The con is that it has received spotty reviews and it costs more (not only for the unit, but to buy 4 drives vs 2).

Right now Newegg.com has the N2100PM for $279.99, the N2100BM for 297.99, and the N4100+ for $409.99.

Based on everything I listed above, is the N4100+ overkill for home use? Is the $409 price on the N4100+ too good of a deal to pass up? Would I be better off just going with the N2100?

Also, is the "PM" & "BM" just the outside finish of Pearl or Black?

Thanks for your help!

[gideon007]

I think the price of $409 is good. Compared to what it costs in Germany/Austria (~€475).
But you can't complain about the N2100 only holding two drives and then complain that the N4100 is too expensive because 4 drives cost too much
If the N4100 is similar to the N5200 then you can just put in three drives for a Raid5 and later add another drive ot it (if I'm not mistaken).
And you PUTTING a linux box in your network if you choose a Thecus (sorry, had to say it even though everyone hates a smartass .

I did choose a N5200 because I wanted a Raid5 and enough space on it, so I'd recommend you the N4100

[meathead]

gideon007 said:

I think the price of $409 is good. Compared to what it costs in Germany/Austria (~€475).
But you can't complain about the N2100 only holding two drives and then complain that the N4100 is too expensive because 4 drives cost too much
If the N4100 is similar to the N5200 then you can just put in three drives for a Raid5 and later add another drive ot it (if I'm not mistaken).
And you PUTTING a linux box in your network if you choose a Thecus (sorry, had to say it even though everyone hates a smartass .

I did choose a N5200 because I wanted a Raid5 and enough space on it, so I'd recommend you the N4100

Thank you for your reply. I know the price complaints seem to cancel each other out since one unit holds 2 drives & the other holds 4. Also, I realized that all Thecus drives run Linux after I posted my question. I guess what I intended to say was that I do not plan on having any dedicated Linux machines running as desktop machines (as opposed to the Thecus which I classify as a file server).

My biggest hesitation is the number of negative reviews I have seen about the N4100 & 4100+. Are these just a few angry individuals or are these more of the standard for this device?

It seems that if the price is only a little more, there is more benefit to having 4 drives & RAID 5 as opposed to 2 drives & RAID 1.

[gideon007]

My biggest hesitation is the number of negative reviews I have seen about the N4100 & 4100+. Are these just a few angry individuals or are these more of the standard for this device?

I hope someone here can answer you this. Just remember the ones with problems are always louder than the ones satisfied with a product
(but don't holde me on that answer if you will have bad experiences with a N4100)

It seems that if the price is only a little more, there is more benefit to having 4 drives & RAID 5 as opposed to 2 drives & RAID 1.

I do feel better with a RAID 5.

As for the linux I know what you mean, I don't feel at home with linux myself.