External hard drives

[Makanyane]

Can anyone offer advice on type of external hard drives to buy?

Have two computers on LAN both of which are running out of space - so am considering either one large 500GB ish (possibly network connecting type) or two smaller external drives.

Am looking for a quiet and reliable drive primarily - speed isn't too much of an issue as it will be largely for back up. Has anyone much experience of these (especially models available via UK suppliers)?

[Lemur]

If you're looking for an external HD, all you need to worry about is capacity (how many GB) and interface (USB 2 is good, Firewire is better, assuming your pcs either already have a FW port, or a spare PCI slot for a FW card).

If you're looking for a networked dumping ground -- a shared disk both PCs can access simultaneously -- you're moving into the world of network attached storage (NAS). Much more fun.

Here's a relatively recent roundup of consumer-grade NAS devices. NAS is fun for the whole family. And here's a good article about one of the better NAS solutions.

I'm not being ironic -- NAS is serious fun.