Pros & Cons
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- Comes with hard drives installed and set up in a RAID 1 array.
- SMB-friendly features like Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) support.
- Front-panel LCD.
- Speedy transfer rates.
- Three-year warranty.
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- No USB port in the front of the case.
- Can't leave front-panel door unlocked.
Buffalo TeraStation 5200DN (2TB) Specs
| Connection Type | USB 2.0 |
| Connection Type | USB 3.0 |
| External USB Hard Disk Expansion | |
| Hard Disk Configuration | RAID |
| Media Server | |
| Network Medium | Wired |
| Printer Server | |
| Rack-mount or Standalone | Standalone |
| RAID Level | RAID 1 |
| Remote Access | |
| Wired Network Speed | 10/100/1000 |
If you just need a simple network-attached storage (NAS) system for file backups for your small business, then the Buffalo TeraStation 5200DN ($499.99) is worth considering. The TeraStation 5200DN comes preconfigured with two 1TB drives mirrored for safety, is easy to set up and administer, and comes at a fair price.
Design and Features
The TeraStation 5200DN is built into a black, metal case measuring 6.7 by 6.7 by 9.1 inches (HWD). The top third of the front panel features a LCD that shows information like the NAS's IP address, the status of its drives, and whether the USB ports are in use. The rest of the front panel is a lockable door for access to the drives. Instead of locking each drive sled individually, like the QNAP TVS-463, the door protects both drives. It gives you easy access to the drives when you need to replace one or both, but unfortunately, you can't leave the door unlocked; the key remains captive until you lock the door again. It won't keep out a determined thief for long, but it's more secure than consumer-oriented boxes like the Netgear ReadyNAS 202.
View All The back panel has a good selection of ports, including two Gigabit Ethernet ports (for failover protection or link aggregation), two USB 2.0 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports. You can connect Ethernet port to your company's LAN, or connect it via iSCSI if you need an isolated network with a server or a workstation. You can hook up a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, or an SSD to the USB ports in the rear, and back up your data to the NAS, but it's less convenient than competitors that have a USB backup port on their front panel, like the Editors' Choice Western Digital My Cloud DL4100. There's also a serial port for connecting a UPS, so you can set the TeraStation 5200DN to shut down properly (with all of your data and system kept safe) if you lose power in the office. The NAS uses a standard three-pronged power cord, so you won't have to find a spot for a power brick, like on the Seagate NAS 2-Bay or the QNAP TS-251.
