When it comes to features, the TS-119 can safely claim to have all its bases covered. At first glance it may be a humble NAS drive, but beneath the surface lurks plenty of power. It's driven by a 1.2GHz CPU and 512MB of RAM, and its HTML front-end allows you to access a stunning list of features.
There's plenty for home-media buffs: it's UPnP and iTunes-compatible, and has a built-in TwonkyMedia server. It also has a straightforward media player, allowing you to browse thumbnails of your pictures and play media files.
The TS-119 boasts a download client that can manage FTP, HTTP or BitTorrent downloads, and includes a scheduler that should prove useful for those on limited broadband connections. There's a power-on scheduler, which allows you to set up the TS-119 to run at certain times of the day. You also get a web server, complete with a preinstalled version of Joomla. The TS-119 can function as a MySQL server, or can be made to work as an FTP server, and can be set up as an iSCSI target for faster performance.
The back of the TS-119 is home to two USB ports and an eSATA port, and can act as a hub to another storage device or as a print server.
We tested the TS-119 with a 500GB Seagate Barracuda (generally, it's supplied diskless), and in standard NAS mode speeds were average. But switch to iSCSI and it's more impressive: a speed of 38MB/sec when copying 3GB of large files, and 43MB/sec reading them back, rival those of the fastest NAS drive we've tested - the Synology ds209+.
Unfortunately, while devices such as the Linksys Media Hub NMH405 (PC Authority, June 2009) are easy for first-timers, the TS-119 is less intuitive. Technical terms and cryptic icons litter the front end.
If all you're looking for is storage for your media, the TS-119 is expensive, particularly as the Linksys Media Hub comes with a spare drive bay, the potential for a RAID array, and an easier-to-use media system. But if you want everything including the kitchen sink, plus speed to burn, this drive is great value for money.
