Buffalo LinkStation Network Storage Center The LinkStation Network Storage Center from Buffalo Technology offers an easy and economic solution to add 300 GigaBytes of network-attached storage via wired or wireless connections. Quick and simple installation allows you to instantly store and share your music, videos, images and other files via a web browser from both PCs and Macs. Offering a built-in print server, the LinkStation simplifies network printing, and with two USB 2.0 ports, additional hard drives can be added for extra space or backups instantly. Simple setup and maintenance, versatile usage, and a compact design make the LinkStation the “must have” solution for storing and sharing files on your home or small office network.
1 Seems to work but documentation is poor
It is relatively simple to set this up for Windows users since the included manual is for Windows only.
I couldn't find any administration software for Mac but that does not seem to matter. The Linkstation is accessible via a web browser. You just need to know what IP address your access point has decided to assign it. Once you find it, you can use the Linkstation's gui to configure a permanent ip address.
By the way, the root login for the LinkStation is "root". There is no default password set.
To mount the LinkStation as a network drive, you browse for it in Windows' Map Drive option in the Tools menu of Windows Explorer.
To mount it on the Mac, just search for it as a Network resource.
It seems to have 2 main "partitions" (info and share). Info seems to contain documentation and client software (for windows.) Share is where you store your files.
Printer serving does work although is very very poorly documented.
Here's what you do. On the Linkstation select Postscript as the printer. It probably does not matter what printer you select in the LinkStation's printer menu. For some reason it gives you a short list of outdated Epson printers.
From your Windows PC add the networked printer but make sure to have the printer driver for your specific printer available to install.
From your Mac look for the printer as a Windows printer (after digging thru the gui it will appear as "lp"). Once you have selected that, make sure to also select the correct driver for your printer.
So essentially the printer server is acting as a pass-through for your printer commands.
Other comments:
- The Linkstation is quiet but is audible.
- You can program it to turn on and off at certain times of the day though it does not have enough control to set a more detailed schedule- like work days vs weekends.
- When it is sleeping it does not seem to be smart enough to awaken when a request to access it arrives. At least that is what the documentation suggests. I have not confirmed this yet in a test.
- In general I am happy with it. It is good to have a storage solution and print server in one so I can avoid having a separate computer do that job.
- It also has the ability to back itself up to another USB drive. I haven't tried that yet.
- It does seem to allow me to read and write files seamlessly under Windows and Mac. I suspect the LinkStation is storing the files in its own proprietary format.
- One thing to note is that there is no way to just plug this unit into your computer via USB and access it. If you want to do that use a cross-over ethernet cable and plug it into your computer directly. There is a switch on the drive to enable this feature.
