Can any large external drive be hooked up as a network drive?

Do you want to have to attach this drive to a computer in order to be able to access it? Or, do you want to just plug this drive into your router, where ANY computer in your house can access it, without having to turn on one SPECIFIC computer to do so?

The difference between an external hard drive, and a NAS, is that a NAS is a stand-alone device that does not need to be connected directly to a computer in order to be shared. You just plug it into your network, access it from a computer, set it up, and it is ready.

Now, if you purchase that 1tb drive (and I highly recommend that you get a Western Digital Caviar Black 1tb drive http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?drivei... and a separate USB external enclosure), there is no issue with plugging it into your computer, right clicking on it in My Computer, and Sharing it. It will work just peachy as a network drive... just remember... that computer that is sharing it, has to be on whenever you want to access the drive.

So.. specifically, THIS drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

The 5 year warranty, the 64mb cache, the SATA 6.0Gb/s speed, the fact that it is a WD drive... those are all reasons why you should get that one... and really just build yourself an external drive. Sure.... if you were to just purchase a WD external drive off the shelf, it would be great, but it wouldn't have a Caviar Black drive within it. It would have a Caviar Blue, or Caviar Green drive within it. Their Green line are Eco friendly, low power.... their Blue line drives are their standard drives... the Black line drives are top of their line, max performance drives.

... but I digress...

... and here are two SATA II enclosures... neither of which is that expensive http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Sub... really any SATA enclosure will do however.

So... for less than $150, you can have a PHENOMENAL 1TB external hard drive with a 5 year warranty....

OOH, I almost forgot. If you DO want an actual NAS.. buy the drive I pointed out, and buy THIS Network enclosure.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

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You need a Network drive, or a PC to connect the external drive to, which acts as a server.

There are lots of Network drives available, some are around the same price as an external hard drive anyway.

Do a search for NAS storage (you could also buy a NAS enclosure and put a cheap drive into it).

NAS = Network Attached Storage

Yes. You can connect it to your PC via the USB cable, then in Windows Explorer right click the drive, then share it, and it will be available on the network, as long as that computer is running.

"yes" ...

any "logical drive" can be used in a "logical drive" role.

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