Network Storage and Print Server Options

[NSK]

I am thinking of getting a simple solution for home that allows me to back-up data wirelessly as well as print with out a wire (I have a laser printer with USB port; no wireless capability; but, I do have a wireless router that I plan to use with the solutions I intend to get).

I thought of several alternatives:

1) Buffalo linkstation
http://www.buffalotech.com/wireless/products/NetworkProducts/HDH120LAN.html

or

2) Maxtor one-touch back-up with a linksys network storage link (LNSU)
http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=35&scid=43&prid=640

Unfortunately, with the second option I cannot hook up the printer to the LNSU (I think).

I like the one-touch back up idea. If you're using any of these devices, feedback on your experience (on the capabilities of one-touch system specifically - Is it really that simple?) would be appreciated. Are there devices that are similar to LNSU, but can also act as a print server?

By the way, I do have a budget. I don't want to spend more than $400 on the entire solution.

Thanks...

[Matt]

I don't have experience with these specific products, but backing up data over wireless can be rather slow. Doing some rough math, if you get roughly 5 megabits on 802.11b, backing up 40 gigs of data works out to over 18 hours. You might want to just plug ethernet in for the backup, as this can cut the time of the same backup down to an hour or two.

Personally, the way I deal with network storage and printing is that when I upgraded my computer I kept the old one around. I run it without a monitor, and have a few big hard drives in it. I can then back up to the network drive which resides on that computer. It also has both of my printers on it and shares them to the LAN.

This second slow computer also serves as a nice backup for when the main computer breaks. :)

[NSK]

Thanks Matt... I recently bought Linksys 802.11g router (at 108 Mbps) and hence am hoping that I will get speeds of at least 75 Mbps. This would roughly 5-6 times slower than using USB 2.0 directly (at about 500 Mbps), but hopefully serviceable (especially if it's one-touch, incremental back-up).

I also like your idea of a second computer (bulked up for I/O)... Simple and elegant solution!

[JM Resident]

Another option to look at is to add a second hard drive and use RAID level 1. (if your motherboard supports it) Your data can be automatically mirrored on both hard drives. It's a cheaper solution since all you're paying for is a second harddrive and possibly a new motherboard.
As for the wireles G solution, make sure you're not using any 802.11B devices. Wireles G access points typically automatically steps down to the B standard when the wireless is shared between G and B devices. (I found this out the hard way) Hope this helps, good luck.

[Matt]

RAID is no substitute for a backup though. With RAID you can still accidentally change/delete a file, or have your filesystem get corrupted by OS bugs. Any mistakes or problems are instantly mirrored onto the second drive too, so there's no going back to a copy from last week when things weren't broken...