Hardware

I got the 500 GB external hard drive shipped to me this weekend. It is the Western Digital 500GB My Book Essential 2.0 - USB 2.0 External Hard Drive WDH1U5000N as described at Amazon.

With the tons of artwork, videos and other data I am creating, I have started to grow a bit paranoid with loss of that data. And that was the drive for this investment.

I don't think I will be using the auto sync feature because I would want some control over what goes and what does not into that drive. I basically needed a large chunk of storage where I can put copies of my works from my laptop. Now, all that remains is to organize my data, and back it up.

After looking around for a wireless router, I got myself a Netgear Wireless-G Router.

It was a breeze setting up the network. As simple as, disconnecting the modem from my laptop, connecting it to the Netgear router, and that to my laptop, and running the setup wizard that came along with the product. After that, it let me setup the WiFi network too. I set it up with some security, and verified it with my iPod Touch. The whole process took me around 20 minutes, but most of the wait time was for my ISP to assign the dynamic IP to my modem after I had switched it off and then switched on. 

The router, other than having capability to setup a WiFi network, has 4 points for having wired connections. It seems to be good enough for home use. I don't think it can be used for large networks in corporate settings. That would call for larger capacity routers.

Since my roomie vacated, I have been staying in an apartment with no WiFi. It is not really required as I usually work on my laptop with the wired connection to the modem, it would be convinient to have a WiFi so that I can work wireless around the house. And I would like to have WiFi connectivity for my iPod Touch.

Hence, I am now thinking of getting either a Netgear or Linksys Wireless G Router.