Doctor Who would love the Buffalo's LinkStation Mini -- it's small on the outside and spacious on the inside.

Size doesn't matter, or so the old adage goes. Yet obviously it does matter -- or else we wouldn't have both towering desktop PCs and petite portable netbooks. But how about something like a network-attached storage (NAS) device, which is basically a box that sits on a shelf or a desk and never travels, never moves -- does size matter there?

Buffalo Technology thinks so. It recently introduced its tiny LinkStation Mini, which is 1.6 by 3.2 by 5.3 inches and weighs in at a hair over 1 pound, easily meeting Buffalo's boast that it can put 1TB of storage in the palm of your hand. (It can also fit nicely on an overcrowded shelf.)

The dual-drive NAS box (two 250GB or two 500GB 2.5-in. drives in RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration) has a 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN port so it can attach to a speedy router. Because Buffalo uses 2.5-in. 5400rpm drives, the unit is fanless -- but that also means you can't replace the existing drives with faster 7200rpm versions that would generate more heat. The drive sips lightly at your wall outlet to the tune of just 10 watts.

Managing the LinkStation Mini means installing the included Buffalo NAS Navigator software. It's a painless installation -- a prompted series of options guide you through the process. When it's done, the Mini is added to your desktop and migrated into your network lineup.


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