Netgear SC101 Storage Central

If you have performed a few PC upgrades in the past, there is a good chance you have some old hard drives knocking around. With the SC101 Storage Central, you can resurrect up to two drives to provide storage for your home network.

The advantage of network storage is you don’t need a specific PC to be turned on to access the data. But, unlike most other network storage devices, the SC101 requires a client to be installed on each PC in your network.

It’s also Windows only. Moves are being made to rectify the latter, but for now Mac, Linux and other non-Windows users will be disappointed.

There’s nothing technical about the hardware installation. Open up the case, slot in your drives and hook up the cables. A wizard is included to get everything set up on the software side.

Sadly, the SC101 doesn’t run any media streaming software, nor is it UPnP compatible. We can’t help feeling Netgear missed a trick here, especially since Netgear has an audio streaming device in the form of the solid-performing MP101.

As it stands, you will still have to have a PC turned on to feed the MP101, or any other streaming device, with content.

The fact that the SC101 doesn’t have a fan and is only passively cooled may cause trouble when using two fast hard drives. Although we didn’t experience any such problems during our testing, the Netgear support forums tell a different story. We’ve also heard reports of certain drives not being compatible, so we’d advise you to check with Netgear before you buy.

The SC101 does what it sets out to do, and at a good price, but Netgear would do well to iron out the various problems, especially the operating system support. Once it does this, the company will have a very attractive product on its hands.