To learn about setting up NAS at home for sharing files and photos over the Internet, see "".

All of the units expect to receive an IP address from a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server in order to work on your network. Your broadband modem or router/firewall device in your office usually provides DHCP services. However, if you're using a simple Ethernet network hub or switch without DHCP capability and you don't have broadband access to the Internet, you may not be able to network these devices.

In each case the enclosed documentation was Spartan. Most packages include a storage unit, power cord, network cable, installation CD (with a PDF version of the manual) and basic instructions to get you up and running. All of the units include two USB ports that support additional disk drives. Some also allow you to share a printer by attaching it to a USB port.

Full documentation is either online or on the installation CD. Assuming that your Windows networking is functioning properly, most of these devices should show up in My Network Places soon after you turn them on, and you should be able to map a drive letter to each device in Windows Explorer. This was the case with most of the units, although I had problems getting some models to network with my Computerworld laptop.

The installation software provides access to device configuration settings and attempts to set up drive mappings and desktop shortcuts. Most drives also include basic backup software and tout a range of features that promise faster network speeds and disk transfer rates. For basic data storage in a home environment, such differences probably don't mean much, unless you plan to stream lots of multimedia content from the shared disk.