Understood. What I didn't like about Pogoplug was that, even on my local LAN, the only way I could map to it was by using the driver. In my opinion, a NAS should operate like a file server, i.e. you can access its drives by mapping to an IP address and a drive letter. A NAS that only permits access via a browser interface or with a driver is of little use to me on my LAN, particularly when I access it remotely via VPN. Tonido offers the same kind of access, but its free and, through standardized Open Source software permits mapping (and automatic connect at boot-up of the remote machine) if, in fact, that's what you want to do.

My NAS is thin client with 3 TB of Raid 5. Because it's actually a "mini" file server, I can easily map drives, both on the LAN and via WAN using VPN. Additionally, it runs an FTP server, so I can get to my files that way as well. Finally, it's running the Tonido server software, which simplifies my writing partner's access to our project and gives me an "access technique of last resort," either through Net Drive (for mapped access) or a browser interface if I'm a third-party machine at which I can't create a VPN connection or that doesn't have an FTP client (though those are available in limited form in most browsers). I even have an UltraVNC server running on the thin client that permits file transfer via VNC.

In short, there are a lot of ways to set up a NAS to maximize accessibility, both locally and remotely. I wouldn't rely on something like Pogoplug as a primary means unless remote access wasn't all that important and I really didn't need what was, for all intents and purposes, an effective file server on my local LAN.

My experience exactly. I will continue to go with your expertise. ^

Too often "it just works out of the box" is forgotten.

I have a Netgear ReadyNAS Duo, and access it remotely both for file access and for FTP remote backup for a small server.

Yes you can do all these things.

However - it's a steep learning curve and only FT tragics would persist with it!