Seagate BlackArmor NAS 440 NAS Device
Summary & Conclusions
The 440 is a speedy NAS device with a bevy of features that could well serve the needs of many small businesses. These features include dual Ethernet ports with fail-over support, tool-less drive mounts, support for multiple RAID modes with drive hot-swapping, and volume-level encryption. Perhaps unique among NAS devices is the 440's ability to have up to four logical volumes capable of sharing storage space on all four hard drives while still using any of the available RAID modes--which could provide some small business owners the means to keep their business and personal files completely separate, while still stored on the same device.
The 440 also ships with a very robust backup application that includes bare-metal restores and comes with a 10 user license--upgradable to up top 50 users; there is no Mac backup support however. Remote access to the device is supported via FTP and with the free Seagate Global Access service--both of which can be convenient ways to make file uploads and downloads available to clients. And with a total of four USB 2.0 ports, additional storage space can easily be added to the device--or utilized for server backups.
The 440 is relatively expensive, however, with a price tag of nearly $1,200. This price is comparable to other similarly-configured small-business-class NAS devices; but home users on the other hand, can find plenty of significantly less-expensive NAS options--albeit likely lacking some of the advanced features, such as RAID support and volume encryption. Home users are also likely to be put off by the documentation, which tends to skimp on details for some of the device's advanced capabilities. And while the 440 includes some media streaming options in the form of DLNA and iTunes servers, other NAS devices offer greater options--we also found fault with how the 440's Drag&Sort media consolidation feature is implemented. Lastly, home users will appreciate the device's file download utility, but some might lament the lack of BitTorrent support, which numerous other NAS devices include.
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