The 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array from Buffalo is a full-featured network storage device, perfect for use in home and small business networks. The array features a Gigabit Ethernet interface and can be configured as a RAID 0 or 1 -- allowing you to tune it for higher performance, or to use mirroring for data protection. It is powered by a 1.6GHz CPU that is capable of delivering sustained network data throughput of 72MB/sec.
The drive is compatible with Mac and Windows client systems alike. You'll be able to access data when you're away from home via Buffalo's free WebAccess service. It works in any web browser, and there is an app available for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users. NovaBACKUP Professional software for Windows is included, and Mac users will be able to use the drive for backup via OS X's integrated Time Machine application. The LinkStation Pro Duo also supports BitTorrent downloads and DLNA/UPnP AV media streaming.
| Performance | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 2TB (2x1TB) |
| Interface |
1x 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45) 1x USB 2.0 (A) |
| Drive Speed | Not Specified by Manufacturer |
| Buffer | Not Specified by Manufacturer |
| Average Seek Time | Not Specified by Manufacturer |
| Sustained Data Transfer Rate | 72MB/sec |
| System Requirements |
Operating System: Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32/64-bit), 7 (32/64-bit); Windows Server 2003, 2003 R2, 2008, 2008 R2; Mac OS X 10.3.9, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7 Ethernet network Note: Only basic hard drive functionality is supported when using Mac OS X |
| General | |
|---|---|
| Mounting | Desktop |
| Power Requirements |
AC: 100-240VAC, 50/60Hz Consumption: 26W (Average), 48W (Maximum), 0.7W (Standby) |
| Environmental Requirements | None |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 8.1 x 5.1 x 3.4" (20.6 x 13 x 8.6cm) |
| Weight | 5.1 lb (2.3kg) |
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviewsPros
Cons
Best Uses
Most Liked Positive Review
Great Value
With all of the HD Video and Photos we store, and a home network with PS3, this NAS represents the best current value when all features are considered. Having web access now, and ...Read complete review
With all of the HD Video and Photos we store, and a home network with PS3, this NAS represents the best current value when all features are considered. Having web access now, and a better backup solution is really worth the investment.
Although this unit is Raid capable, home users might want to consider using the two drives in normal mode to keep it simple with less chance of disk errors. I put the critical stuff on both drives, and run normal files for multiple uses.
It does all it says it does for me so far. It took a hit in courier traffic; one corner of the box was rounded, which is dicey with hard drives, but the Linkstation Pro Duo V series is a totally happening unit in our house, and I'm a confirmed geek whose wife wants him off the computer.Why is that?
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
Great Product - if it works
This is my first Network Attached Server that I've ever purchased. I moved all my music, pictures and movies from several computers into one central location. Now all of these files are accessible to...Read complete review
This is my first Network Attached Server that I've ever purchased. I moved all my music, pictures and movies from several computers into one central location. Now all of these files are accessible to all computers in my house. Provides a useful backup capability for my important files. Unfortunately, the server started dropping off my network and became unavailable. I checked with the manufacturer and learned that I have a hardware issue. Thank God B&H will take it back. I have requested an exchange - so I'm hoping that the new one works. Buffalo came highly recommended by the B&H Sales person in their superstore. My rating will go much lower - should the new unit fail to work.
REVIEWS
Reviewed by 10 customers
Sort by
Displaying reviews 1-10
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
I bought this unit to replace a Linux system that was handling file serving for a small Windows workgroup, along with running email, web, and database functions.I've used another Linkstation at home, so I was comfortable and somewhat familiar with the setup tools for this one. It came shipped with the drives in a striped configuration, so the full 2TB was available. Since I wanted to run the drives as mirrored for redundancy, it took a little tweaking to get configured for mirroring.There was also some troubleshooting necessary to get the drive to mount on a couple of Windows XP boxes, since the Linkstation password protects shares. Those issues are why I didn't give this a full 5 star rating. If your network was just Windows 7 and up and/or OS X clients, and you wanted to use the drives striped, it would probably be fine out of the box for you.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
I use this as a RAID 1 backup for my photo studio and it seems to work great so far. The unit is small and quiet and easy to hookup but if you want to do more than the easy setup you will need to call the support line to use the more enhanced functions unless you are pretty familiar with networking. The support line was very helpful and patient every time I called, easy to understand and not too long on hold.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
"Drive Crash & Unit Failure". I only had this system for 6 months. Drive #1 failed. Drive #2 was stuck inside the machine. It looked like it came from the manufacturer stuck as there was a metal sleeve piece which was bent preventing the drive from being removed. I had to have the data that day and took the unit apart to get the drive out. Buffalo offered to replace my drives but not the unit. DO NOT BUY!
Also:
Web system runs too slow to use.
Difficult to set up.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
Network-dwelling dual 1 TB hard drives, Copies entire image of PC and Mac computers allowing complete restoration following fatal crash. Allows web-based remote access for additional backups up to 5 machines with initial license. May be used to host remote access to electronic holdings, host website, etc. An amazing machine well-priced and supported
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
We use this product to store all our media so that it can be shared throughout the house. The Sonos systems uses it for the music and the DVDs and TVs use it for games and movies. Everything can access it without a problem with no speed problems noted. The product is a good size and operates very quietly. Set-up was a little difficult because the instructions were not very clear, nor did it give recommendations on how things should be set-up. [...] Overall, a great product to store data and perfect if you want to have a back-up of all that data without adding a secondary hard drive. Utilizing the two drives in a mirror configuration will keep you from losing any data. It has worked very well for us and we have been using it for around a month now.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
I decided to go with the Linkstation because the Linkstation LS-CHL I have had for a couple of years has worked so well. Being linux based is a big plus. I was able to open up a shell to access additional functionality (e.g. cron, symbolic links).
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
This is my second attempt at trying the Buffalo LinkStation Network Attached Server. I needed to return my first LinkStation and hoped that the second would work. Unfortunately, the exact same hardware issue occurred with the second unit. The unit becomes unavailable after a period of time and freezes up. It doesn't even shut down when turned off. The unit must be unplugged to enable a reboot. Even when you do this - it only remains available for a brief period of time. [...]
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
This is my first Network Attached Server that I've ever purchased. I moved all my music, pictures and movies from several computers into one central location. Now all of these files are accessible to all computers in my house. Provides a useful backup capability for my important files. Unfortunately, the server started dropping off my network and became unavailable. I checked with the manufacturer and learned that I have a hardware issue. Thank God B&H will take it back. I have requested an exchange - so I'm hoping that the new one works. Buffalo came highly recommended by the B&H Sales person in their superstore. My rating will go much lower - should the new unit fail to work.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
This Media Server Rocks, is everything you need to share yours Photos, Videos, Music and Movies in all your devices, Like : PC, PS3, Ipad, Iphone, Ipod touch and others
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
With all of the HD Video and Photos we store, and a home network with PS3, this NAS represents the best current value when all features are considered. Having web access now, and a better backup solution is really worth the investment.
Although this unit is Raid capable, home users might want to consider using the two drives in normal mode to keep it simple with less chance of disk errors. I put the critical stuff on both drives, and run normal files for multiple uses.
It does all it says it does for me so far. It took a hit in courier traffic; one corner of the box was rounded, which is dicey with hard drives, but the Linkstation Pro Duo V series is a totally happening unit in our house, and I'm a confirmed geek whose wife wants him off the computer.Why is that?
Displaying reviews 1-10
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviewsPros
Cons
Best Uses
Most Liked Positive Review
Great Value
With all of the HD Video and Photos we store, and a home network with PS3, this NAS represents the best current value when all features are considered. Having web access now, and ...Read complete review
With all of the HD Video and Photos we store, and a home network with PS3, this NAS represents the best current value when all features are considered. Having web access now, and a better backup solution is really worth the investment.
Although this unit is Raid capable, home users might want to consider using the two drives in normal mode to keep it simple with less chance of disk errors. I put the critical stuff on both drives, and run normal files for multiple uses.
It does all it says it does for me so far. It took a hit in courier traffic; one corner of the box was rounded, which is dicey with hard drives, but the Linkstation Pro Duo V series is a totally happening unit in our house, and I'm a confirmed geek whose wife wants him off the computer.Why is that?
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
Great Product - if it works
This is my first Network Attached Server that I've ever purchased. I moved all my music, pictures and movies from several computers into one central location. Now all of these files are accessible to...Read complete review
This is my first Network Attached Server that I've ever purchased. I moved all my music, pictures and movies from several computers into one central location. Now all of these files are accessible to all computers in my house. Provides a useful backup capability for my important files. Unfortunately, the server started dropping off my network and became unavailable. I checked with the manufacturer and learned that I have a hardware issue. Thank God B&H will take it back. I have requested an exchange - so I'm hoping that the new one works. Buffalo came highly recommended by the B&H Sales person in their superstore. My rating will go much lower - should the new unit fail to work.
REVIEWS
Reviewed by 10 customers
Sort by
Displaying reviews 1-10
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
I bought this unit to replace a Linux system that was handling file serving for a small Windows workgroup, along with running email, web, and database functions.I've used another Linkstation at home, so I was comfortable and somewhat familiar with the setup tools for this one. It came shipped with the drives in a striped configuration, so the full 2TB was available. Since I wanted to run the drives as mirrored for redundancy, it took a little tweaking to get configured for mirroring.There was also some troubleshooting necessary to get the drive to mount on a couple of Windows XP boxes, since the Linkstation password protects shares. Those issues are why I didn't give this a full 5 star rating. If your network was just Windows 7 and up and/or OS X clients, and you wanted to use the drives striped, it would probably be fine out of the box for you.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
I use this as a RAID 1 backup for my photo studio and it seems to work great so far. The unit is small and quiet and easy to hookup but if you want to do more than the easy setup you will need to call the support line to use the more enhanced functions unless you are pretty familiar with networking. The support line was very helpful and patient every time I called, easy to understand and not too long on hold.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
"Drive Crash & Unit Failure". I only had this system for 6 months. Drive #1 failed. Drive #2 was stuck inside the machine. It looked like it came from the manufacturer stuck as there was a metal sleeve piece which was bent preventing the drive from being removed. I had to have the data that day and took the unit apart to get the drive out. Buffalo offered to replace my drives but not the unit. DO NOT BUY!
Also:
Web system runs too slow to use.
Difficult to set up.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
Network-dwelling dual 1 TB hard drives, Copies entire image of PC and Mac computers allowing complete restoration following fatal crash. Allows web-based remote access for additional backups up to 5 machines with initial license. May be used to host remote access to electronic holdings, host website, etc. An amazing machine well-priced and supported
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
We use this product to store all our media so that it can be shared throughout the house. The Sonos systems uses it for the music and the DVDs and TVs use it for games and movies. Everything can access it without a problem with no speed problems noted. The product is a good size and operates very quietly. Set-up was a little difficult because the instructions were not very clear, nor did it give recommendations on how things should be set-up. [...] Overall, a great product to store data and perfect if you want to have a back-up of all that data without adding a secondary hard drive. Utilizing the two drives in a mirror configuration will keep you from losing any data. It has worked very well for us and we have been using it for around a month now.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
I decided to go with the Linkstation because the Linkstation LS-CHL I have had for a couple of years has worked so well. Being linux based is a big plus. I was able to open up a shell to access additional functionality (e.g. cron, symbolic links).
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
This is my second attempt at trying the Buffalo LinkStation Network Attached Server. I needed to return my first LinkStation and hoped that the second would work. Unfortunately, the exact same hardware issue occurred with the second unit. The unit becomes unavailable after a period of time and freezes up. It doesn't even shut down when turned off. The unit must be unplugged to enable a reboot. Even when you do this - it only remains available for a brief period of time. [...]
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
This is my first Network Attached Server that I've ever purchased. I moved all my music, pictures and movies from several computers into one central location. Now all of these files are accessible to all computers in my house. Provides a useful backup capability for my important files. Unfortunately, the server started dropping off my network and became unavailable. I checked with the manufacturer and learned that I have a hardware issue. Thank God B&H will take it back. I have requested an exchange - so I'm hoping that the new one works. Buffalo came highly recommended by the B&H Sales person in their superstore. My rating will go much lower - should the new unit fail to work.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
This Media Server Rocks, is everything you need to share yours Photos, Videos, Music and Movies in all your devices, Like : PC, PS3, Ipad, Iphone, Ipod touch and others
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Buffalo 2TB LinkStation Pro Duo LS-WVL/R1 Network Hard Drive Array:
With all of the HD Video and Photos we store, and a home network with PS3, this NAS represents the best current value when all features are considered. Having web access now, and a better backup solution is really worth the investment.
Although this unit is Raid capable, home users might want to consider using the two drives in normal mode to keep it simple with less chance of disk errors. I put the critical stuff on both drives, and run normal files for multiple uses.
It does all it says it does for me so far. It took a hit in courier traffic; one corner of the box was rounded, which is dicey with hard drives, but the Linkstation Pro Duo V series is a totally happening unit in our house, and I'm a confirmed geek whose wife wants him off the computer.Why is that?
Displaying reviews 1-10