Seagate Business Storage 4-Bay NAS review: A low-cost workhorse

Editors' note, March 20, 2013: Seagate informed us that it will release a firmware update in a matter of weeks to resolve performance-related issues mentioned in this review. The server will be re-evaluated once the firmware is available.

6.7

Seagate Business Storage 4-Bay NAS

The Good

The <b>Seagate Business Storage 4-Bay NAS</b> is a low-cost and reliable storage product for both small businesses and consumers. Its integrated Universal Storage Module slot is a useful extra.

The Bad

The Seagate Business Storage 4-Bay NAS is slow in writing and offers very few features; its USM slot's performance could be better, too.

The Bottom Line

Given its relatively low price, the Seagate Business Storage 4-Bay NAS is worth the investment.

Seagate's four-bay Business Storage 4-Bay NAS server is the replacement for the company's previous BlackArmor NAS 440. Despite the name, it's a simple network storage device that both consumers and business users can benefit from. In fact it has fewer business-related features than other advanced yet consumer-friendly servers I've reviewed, such as the Synology DS412+ or the QNAP TS-469 Pro, and it's also slower.

The new server from Seagate comes in a much lower price range, however, starting at just $400 (compared with $650 or more for the other two). On top of that it includes a powerful backup application, and has a Universal Storage Module (USM) slot that can be used with Seagate Backup Plus portable drives to offer a quick offsite backup system.

If you're looking for a workhorse network-based storage server to use primarily for local backups and data sharing, the Seagate Business Storage NAS is a cost-effective choice. Those wanting to get more out of a NAS server should pay more for one of these alternatives.