Keep Your Data Backed up and Secure Wtih the Best NAS Devices
Everyone should be backing up their data – yes, even you. And if you’re using multiple computers on a network, or just happen to have a huge media library you want to protect, NAS (network-attached storage) devices are the way to go.
There are heaps of NAS options out there, so we’ve rounded up the ones we consider to be the best. From the premium storage options with integrated processors and RAM to budget backups, these are our top picks right now. And if you’re not satisfied with our recommendations, we’ve also included a quick guide about what you should look for in a network-attached storage solution.
TL;DR – These are the Best Network-Attached Storage Solutions:
- Synology Diskstation DS218+
- Synology DS120j
- Asustor AS5202T
- Synology Diskstation DS1618+
- WD My Cloud
- QNAP TS-251A
1. Synology Diskstation DS218+
Best Network-Attached Storage
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With two drive bays and zippy-fast write speeds, the Synology Diskstation DS218+ offers a lot for a reasonable price. Inside you’ll find a dual-core 2.0 GHz Intel Celeron processor and 2GB of DDR3L memory, which is expandable up to 6GB.
Like most NAS devices, it comes running a Linux-based interface called DiskStation Manager which is pretty easy to navigate, and Synology has its own apps for streaming media through. You can also use Synology’s cloud service to access your files remotely. Overall it’s fast, reliable, and easy to operate.
2. Synology DS120j
Best Budget Network-Attached Storage
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If you’re looking to start off small or have more meager needs, we recommend the Synology DS120j. Firstly, it’s just $100, making it the cheapest NAS device on our list. Secondly, it’s super easy to use, making it a great pick for NAS first-timers.
It’s a single-bay device, so it’s also more limited than others on this list. There’s also no hardware-based video transcoding (which means some files will need to be converted beforehand), nor does it work with Plex. In sum, there are much better options if media streaming is your priority; but for more basic use, the DS120j does the job nicely.
3. Asustor AS5202T
Best Network-Attached Storage for Power Users
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Two drive bays. Two 2.5Gb LAN ports. A 1.0GHz Intel Celeron J4005 CPU. And yes, a big price tag – but the Asustor AS5202T is perfect for heavy users thanks to its sheer power. The 2GB of DDR4 RAM can be expanded up to 8GB, and there’s 4GB of flash memory to play with. Plus, the LAN ports give you the option of link aggregation for zippy 5Gb Ethernet, too.
We also like the Asustor Data Master operating system, which has heaps of apps for media and productivity. The drawbacks? It’s very expensive, and there are no drives included.
4. Synology Diskstation DS1618+
Best Multi-Bay Network-Attached Storage
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Ok, this is the juggernaut, but if you have a media library that’s grown out of control then it’s absolutely warranted. There’s a powerful quad-core 2.1GHz CPU and 4GB of memory inside (expandable up to 32GB), but the big story is the six-bay drives you get with it. Theoretically, you could pump this thing with up to 84TB of storage.
That’s obviously going to be an insane amount for most people, but it’s good to know it’s there. We also really like the Synology DSM operating system, which is jam-packed with apps and functionality.
5. WD My Cloud
Best Network-Attached Storage With Included Disks
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Available in a variety of drive sizes, The WD My Cloud NAS comes with its disks built-in, meaning everything is ready to go out of the box. There’s USB 3.0 support (for adding more hard drives) and it’s ready to work with both PC and Mac from the get-go.
Overall, it’s good value, but you can also pick up the Mirror version, which comes with two drives and will create a copy of the backup on each (hence the name).
6. QNAP TS-251A
Best Network-Attached Storage for Media Streaming
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If media and streaming are your chief reasons for buying a NAS device, we recommend the QNAP TS-251A. It’s a powerful machine, with a dual-core Intel Celeron N3060 processor and 4GB of DDRL3 RAM (in the configuration we recommend, but you can get it with 2GB).
But it’s the media tricks that really impress us. Chiefly, it comes with a remote for playback control, which is unusual for a NAS device. It offers 4K media transcoding, and there’s an HDMI out so you can connect it directly to your 4K TV. Works great as a Plex server and won’t look out of place on your TV stand either. You will have to purchase the drives separately, however.
What to Look For in Network-Attached Storage
Not everyone needs Network-Attached-Storage, but it can be used to cure certain networking headaches. Do you and your family/housemates all share the same network? A NAS device allows you to share files with all of those computers from one central unit. Don’t want to backup all of your family’s computers individually? A NAS device gives you a way to do it all on one drive.
What are you using it for?
If either of the above scenarios resonates with you a NAS device may be worth considering. If you find yourself in a situation where multiple devices in your home need to access the same tools or files, a NAS device can do that. So it’s not just about storing things but accessing them too.
The other reason for a NAS device is that you have a huge media library that you’d like to be able to access from multiple computers/TVs/tablets/etc. You could turn your NAS into a Plex server, so everyone in the home has swift access to the same movies, TV shows, and music.
Go diskless? How many bays?
You’ll find that most NAS devices come without disk drives, which means you’ll need to purchase them separately. There are exceptions to this, however, such as the WD My Cloud Personal Network Attached Storage – which considering it’s made by Western Digital, makes a bit more sense.
But in many cases NAS makers don’t make hard drives, so they’ll sell their device without any disks included. You may already own some disk drives, in which case a diskless system poses less of a problem, but check the manufacturer’s recommendations as some brands of disks may work better than others.
Bays are what the disk drives go into, so the higher the number of bays the NAS has, the more potential capacity there is. Generally, two or more bays are best; multimedia systems will often have more.
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Hugh Langley is a tech journalist who’s fascinated by wearables, health tech, the smart home, and more. You can find him tweeting (often nonsense) over at @hughlangley.
6 Free Games Amazon Prime Members Can Snag In May
May is nearly here, which means a new month of freebies from all of your various subscriptions. Amazon has revealed next month’s free PC games for Twitch Prime users, all of which will be available starting May 1. They include the great puzzle-platformer, Snake Pass; the stunt racing Trials-like Urban Trial Playground; and the rhythmic music game, Avicii Invector. The rest of the free Twitch Prime games are Pankapu, The Little Acre, and Fractured Minds.
All six of these games can be claimed on the Twitch Prime hub. You’ll also need to have the Twitch PC client to install and play them. The Twitch Prime hub is also home to all of the bonus loot you can claim throughout the month, so it’s worth keeping an eye on this page as we make our way through May. These free games are available to anyone with an Amazon Prime account; all you need to do is link your Twitch and Amazon accounts, and you’re good to go.
On Steam, all of these games have positive user ratings, except for Urban Trial Playground, which sits at a Mixed rating. Avicii Invector stands out with an Overwhelmingly Positive review rating. It was a project started by Hello There Games and late music producer Avicii back in 2015 and was finished after his passing in 2018. In Invector, you hit notes as you fly through various soundscapes set to the music of Avicii.
Watch Tron Actor Reunite With His Light Suit Four Decades Later
“Oh my God, hello old friend. Greetings, program.”
That’s the surprised reaction Tron actor Bruce Boxleitner had after being reunited with his light suit from the 1982 Steven Lisberger classic in Disney+’s new docuseries Prop Culture. In the exclusive clip below, you can watch Boxleitner have a heartfelt reunion with the iconic Tron costume, which he hadn’t seen in years.
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Made of lycra, leather, canvas and plastic, the costume was in such delicate condition that Boxleitner and Prop Culture’s host, movie prop collector Dan Lanigan, needed to wear plastic gloves to handle it. In the clip, Boxleitner reflects on how the costume was made and what it was like to star in a Disney movie that became such a fan-favorite.
“It is amazing holding this because working on a Disney movie for a kid like my age group, this is what we grew up on,” said Boxleitner. “To actually be in a Disney movie was pretty thrilling, I’ve got to say.”
Prop Culture follows Lanigan as he learns more about the extensive collection of movie props he’s collected over the years by talking to the people who made them, while also going into the Disney archives and exploring its treasures. Episodes will focus on a number of Disney titles, including Nightmare Before Christmas, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mary Poppins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Honey, I Shrunk the Kid, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and, of course, Tron.
All eight episodes of Disney+’s Prop Culture will be available Friday, May 1st. Check out our full guide to everything coming to Disney+ in May 2020. If you don’t have the streaming service, you can sign up for a free 14-day Disney+ trial here.
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Terri Schwartz is Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
Disney Live-Action Remake Of Hercules In Development–Report
The production of many Hollywood movies might be currently suspended, but films continue to be put into development. Disney has had much recent success with live-action remakes of its classic animated movies, and it’s now been reported that a new movie of Hercules is in the works.
According to Variety, the live-action version of the 1997 film Hercules will be produced by Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo. The site states that the project is in “early development,” and that Dave Callaham has been hired to work on the script. Callaham’s previous credits include The Expendables, Godzilla, and Zombieland: Double Tap, as well as the upcoming superhero movies Wonder Woman 1984 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The animated Hercules hit theaters in June 1997, and while it was a modest box office success, it fell short of the likes of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, which had preceded it. The voicecast included Danny DeVito, James Woods, and Tate Donovan.
Summer GDC Now Fully Digital As Coronavirus Pandemic Continues
Game Developers Conference (GDC) organizers have announced that the planned GDC Summer event in August that was meant to replace the original March conference will now be all-digital as the public continues to grapple with coronavirus.
In a short blog update, GDC organizers announced that they will be moving forward with the GDC Summer event but as a digital-only affair. GDC traditionally runs as a live event in San Francisco during March. But plans were halted after the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.
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Organizers later announced a shorter replacement event that was to run from August 4 to 6 at its traditional site, the Moscone Center in San Francisco. However, those plans have now changed again.
While GDC is primarily an event for game developers, there are usually talks hosted by industry leaders that give greater insight into some of the year’s biggest games. Developers like Hideo Kojima were slated to give keynote talks at this year’s GDC before the shows were postponed.
GDC also hosts the annual Game Developers Choice Awards which honor some of the year’s biggest and critically-acclaimed games.
Other game shows have been impacted this year due to the pandemic including E3. For a full rundown of video game shows impacted by COVID-19 check out IGN’s master list here.
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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.
How to Watch the Parks and Rec Reunion Special Happening Tonight
The Parks and Recreation cast are no strangers to reunions. Following the airing of its last episode in 2015, we’ve seen Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman team up for a game show and the ladies of Pawnee have been known to get together for Galentine’s Day. Fans patiently awaiting the next reunion will have their patience rewarded tonight, as the cast of Parks and Rec reunite for a special 30-minute scripted episode. In the name of charity and keeping in touch with friends during a very isolating time, the one-time episode follows Leslie Knope as she tries to “stay connected to her friends in a time of social distancing”.
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Money raised during the reunion special will go to the charity Feeding America, a hunger-relief organization working to bring food and other basic needs to Americans who need it. The Parks and Recreation producers and cast along with State Farm, Subaru of America, and NBC will match all the money donated during the airing of the episode, so if you love Parks and Rec and raising money for a good cause, you won’t want to miss it.
Here’s how to watch the Parks and Recreation Reunion special, as well as which cast members you can expect to see and how you can donate.
Where Can I Watch the Parks and Recreation Reunion Special?
The Parks and Recreation reunion episode will air live on NBC on April 30 at 8:30pm ET/ 5:30pm PT. If you don’t have live TV, you can tune in via a few different streaming services such as Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, fuboTV, and AT&T TV Now, which all offer a free one week trial if you don’t already have a subscription. If you do miss the live broadcast, you can stream the special the following day on the NBC website, Hulu, and Peacock TV.
Which Cast Members Are Returning For the Parks and Recreation Reunion 2020?
The following cast members have been confirmed for the Parks and Recreation reunion:
- Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope
- Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins
- Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford
- Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson
- Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate
- Chris Pratt as Andry Dwyer
- Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt
- Rob Lowe as Chris Traeger
- Jim O’Heir as Jerry Gergich
- Retta as Donna Meagle
How Can I Donate During the Parks and Recreation Reunion?
You can donate on the Feeding America website at FeedingAmerica.org/ParksandRec via credit card or Paypal. Remember to make your donations during the live episode so the amount gets matched and more money gets raised!
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Felicia Miranda is SEO Editor at IGN and you can find her on Twitter at @FeliciaVagabond.
Russos Remaking Disney’s Hercules for Live-Action
Disney is hoping Hercules will go from zero to hero again, this time in live-action. The studio has reportedly tapped Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo to produce, but not direct, a live-action remake of their 1997 animated film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hercules will be scripted by Dave Callaham (Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doom, The Expendables). The Russos will produce via their AGBO production company.
The project is in very early development and there’s no director attached yet.
The film is also not at the casting stage yet. 1997’s Hercules voice cast included Tate Donovan, Danny DeVito, James Woods, and Susan Egan.
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THR claims it’s not known whether the live-action Hercules will be a musical as the original animated film was, but it should be expected to have action in it given Callaham’s writing credits.
Ever since the massive success of 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, Disney has leaned into live-action remakes of and sequels to their animated classics (although in the case of The Lion King, “live-action” really means photorealism).
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The Russo brothers’ next directorial effort is the drama Cherry, starring Tom Holland. They also produced Netflix’s Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Sam Hargrave.
All four talents will join IGN today, at 5pm PT, for a Watch From Home Theater breaking down the action-thriller.
A Great PS4 Game Is Free To Play All Weekend
This past generation was treated to a great Hitman reboot, and if you haven’t had the chance to play it for yourself, then now’s your chance. Developer IO Interactive announced on Twitter that Hitman is available to play for free on PS4 until May 3. Hitman has plenty of content to keep you busy all weekend, and if you like what you played, you can snag select Hitman titles at a discount of up to 85% off. Hitman: Game of the Year Edition is $9, down from $60, and comes with all of its content. You can even pick up Hitman 2 for $18, which also has a regular price of $60.
The latest Hitman games are both excellent. GameSpot’s Hitman review scored it an 8/10, while our Hitman 2 review also came with an 8/10, both praising its massively complex levels and seemingly endless possibilities. Each game was also celebrated in GameSpot’s respective Game of the Year awards–Hitman was in our top 25 games of 2016, while Hitman 2 was chosen as one of 2018’s best games.
In related news, PlayStation Plus’s free games for April 2020 are going away early next week. PS Plus users have until May 4 to claim Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Dirt Rally 2 before they go away forever. After that, the free PlayStation Plus games for May 2020 will become available. Next month’s offerings include the city-building simulator, Cities: Skylines, as well as Farming Simulator 19.
Evolution of Assassin’s Creed, From The Holy Land To Valhalla
With the announcement that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is taking us to the Viking Age, let’s take a look back at how the gameplay of Ubisoft’s flagship franchise has evolved over time.