Network attached storage is great for backing up your computers and streaming media around the house, but buying a box and then stuffing it with hard drives can get expensive. The Seagate Central (much like the better-known WD My Cloud) exists somewhere in the middle. The drive is built into the case just like an external hard drive, but you can still access all of its contents over your local network, or even the wider internet.
Once you have your files onboard, you can stream them to various boxes around your house via DLNA, or download mobile apps to view and manage them from your phones and tablets. Reviews seem to indicate that it's a lot slower than a "real" NAS, and it only has one drive, so it won't be redundant, but you can't beat the simplicity.
The 3TB flavor of the Seagate Central is only $80 today, which would be a good price for any 3TB external drive, let alone one with built-in networking. [Seagate Central 3TB Network-Attached Hard Drive, $80]
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