Review: Buffalo Terastation Pro network attached storage

Deployment is simple. Plug the Terastation Pro into the network, switch it on and it boots in just under a minute with a small LCD status display to tell you when it's ready.

You can then run the Tera Navigator setup utility provided or use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to assign an IP address automatically.

Either way, it's then a just matter of connecting via a browser and specifying the Windows workgroup or domain you want the Terastation Pro to join, then you're ready to go.

A public share is available straight away, which Windows users can browse to and configure as a mapped drive just like any other network resource.

In addition it's possible to create custom shares and restrict access to files and folders to particular users or groups.

Users, in turn, can be defined locally or authenticated against an external domain server, although there's no support for externally defined groups and no disk quota facilities.

You can also reconfigure and manage the array via the graphical user interface (GUI), and take backups either to another Terastation or USB-attached external disks, with facilities to schedule regular backups.

There's UPS support for managed shutdown of the Terastation in the event of a power cut, and alerting facilities to let you know when attention is required.

A quiet fan is another plus, but we would prefer it if the on-off switch was located behind the lockable disk door. As it is, anyone can power down the appliance. A lack of expansion is another drawback, although if you run out of space you can add another Terastation Pro to the network.

Neither can you run other applications on the Buffalo appliance or share printers with it. Still, if network storage is all you need then none of that really matters, and with all that Raid-protected storage available, the Buffalo Terastation Pro is well worth a look.