How Can You Make A Decision Based On Reviews Like These?

Amazon.com  Customer Reviews  WD My Book Live 2TB Personal Cloud Storage NAS Share Files and PhotosI am the defacto IT guy for my cousins who run a law practice here in town. The days of file folders full of papers are fading away. Nearly everything is computer generated and computer stored.

A NAS (Network Attached Storage) unit might be a good idea for their office. It would allow everyone access to the files they need, even from outside the office. And, it would add one more layer of backup. They are justifiably paranoid about backup.

I went on Amazon.com to do some research this morning. The comments on the right are for a Western Digital unit.

WD is a big, respected company. I drive by their headquarters (which could be used as the set for a futuristic sci-fi movie) here in Irvine all the time. There’s a Western Digital drive in my new computer.

Here are four of the latest comments:

  • A solid unit and includes good software
  • Waste of time
  • Awesome product
  • Lower reliability than the computer you’re backing up!

Can you make a decision based on reviews like this? You can’t.

Suggestions are still to come. I’m no closer than when I started.

6 thoughts on “How Can You Make A Decision Based On Reviews Like These?”

  1. I bought an iomega 1TB NAS unit. It’s been working great for about a year, now. I don’t leave it on 24/7, but I power it up at least once a week to do full backups, and to hold large files.

  2. If they’re looking to do storage and backup they should be looking into something a little more substantial. A dedicated, expandable two or four drive raid unit would provide them with expandable storage, because they will always need more, with redundancy.

    1. Raid redundancy is a good start, but some type of off-site storage is also needed in case of fire or other catastrophe.
      You can never have too many back-ups when dealing with critical information.

  3. I sometimes rely on Consumer Reports online. They don’t test and rate everything all the time, but you might get lucky. Just a thought.

  4. Have a look at a Synology NAS like the D213+ http://www.amazon.com/Synology-DiskStation-Diskless-Attached-DS213/dp/B008U69DDG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1384170570&sr=8-5&keywords=synology or D413+ http://www.amazon.com/Synology-DiskStation-Diskless-Attached-DS412/dp/B007JLE84C/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1384170570&sr=8-6&keywords=synology
    They can go and backup themselves to Amazon Glacier http://aws.amazon.com/glacier/ so you get your 3-2-1 backup
    (3 copies, on 2 different media, with 1 offsite.
    More money and a bit more setup than the WD, but a solid setup for a must protect situation.
    I am using glacier myself as part of a 3-2-1 strategy for protecting my photos. I’m not using a NAS myself since it is only one machine for my own photos.

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