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Buffalo DriveSation Duo 2TB USB 3.0 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £168
inc VAT

It’s very fast and supports RAID for data protection, but a NAS would be a better alternative for anyone with more than one computer.

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Dual-bay NAS devices are fairly common, but far fewer direct attached storage units have room for multiple hard disks. The DriveStation Duo lacks many of the advanced features typically found in NAS units, but costs roughly the same; its main attraction is its blistering file transfer speeds. Before we activated RAID, performance over USB3 was respectable when transferring large files, managing 123.7MB/s write and 154.9MB/s read speeds. Small files were slightly slower, but 78MB/s write and 87.5MB/s read speeds are still quick. Importantly, performance was nearly identical when we enabled RAID 1, so there’s little reason not to use it to protect your data. Although the DriveStation Duo can’t match the extreme speeds we’ve seen from external Solid State disks or Apple’s new Thunderbolt interface, few of the non-SSD enclosures we’ve seen are as fast.

Buffalo DriveSation Duo 2TB USB 3.0 rear

The DriveStation is reasonably compact and won’t take up a lot of room on a desk. However, noise could be an problem; because two hard disks create more heat than one, Buffalo has added an 80mm cooling fan to keep temperatures under control. When idle it isn’t particularly loud, but as the hard disks spin up it becomes more distracting. The drive’s AutoPower feature shuts down the unit automatically when the connected PC is switched off, saving power and keeping the noise down.

The DriveStation falls somewhere between a NAS device and an external hard disk; it lacks many of the advanced features typically found on NAS units and you can’t hide it under the stairs, but it has the benefits of RAID security and faster file transfers. It’s pretty expensive, but if you’re after a super-fast disk with data redundancy the DriveStation Duo could give you some peace of mind.

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Basic Specifications

Rating ***

Storage

Hard disk Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C
Capacity 1TB+1TB
Formatted capacity 931GB+931GB
Price per gigabyte £0.08
Disk size 3.5in
Interface USB3
Power connector external
Spindle speed 7,200rpm
Cache 32MB
Seek time 8.5ms
Weight 2.0kg
Size 127x86x204mm
Power consumption idle 11W
Power consumption active 16W

Buying Information

Backup software included Buffalo Backup
Price £168
Warranty one year RTB
Supplier http://www.lambda-tek.com
Details www.buffalo-technology.com

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