Buffalo LinkStation Live

I finally got my LinkStation back from the shop. Only, it’s now a Linkstation Live. Here’s how it happened: A few months ago my CD-R King HDD enclosure died when it suffered a workplace accident. To replace it, I bought a Buffalo LinkStation Pro. But after a only few months, it conked out (Lesson Learned: Do not store important data in these unreliable drives!).

Fortunately,  it was still under warranty so I asked James to return it to the shop for repairs. After a few weeks, the shop told us it can no longer be repaired and that they’re sourcing a replacement unit. After a few more weeks, they still couldn’t find a replacement unit. After repeated phone calls by James, they eventually decided to replace with the newer LinkStation Live.

Although I lost data and had to endure a long wait for the replacement, I had the consolation of having more features. Aside from being a 1TB gigabit-ethernet network-attached storage device, the LinkStation Live has the additional capability of being an FTP server, web-accessible storage, a media server (DLNA and iTunes), a print server, a Bit Torrent client, and a Time Machine storage. There is only one USB port though. So you have to choose whether it’s for a printer, storage expansion, or UPS monitoring.

Setup and configuration was pretty straightforward. Plug it in to power and the network, power it up, browse to the web-based administration console, and configure to your heart’s contents. You can also use the included NasNavigator that allows you to search for Linkstations, view shares, and access the web management interface. But it’s not really necessary, especially if you’re a techie.

Performance over wireless is very slow especially for copying multiple files. Going 10Mbps or even 100Mbps ethernet is still slow. Clearly, you need to use gigabit ethernet for this drive and its intended use of storing and playing media files. It was only when I got a gigabit switch that HD movies played reasonably well on the PS3. Other than that quibble, it’s pretty good. Especially since I got it for the price of the older LinkStation Pro.