When it comes to providing storage for multiple computers on a network in an office or home, the easiest way to do that is with a network storage device. These devices connect directly to a network and offer external storage for any computer on the network.

Iomega has announced a pair of new network storage devices in different capacities called the StorCenter Pro ix4-100. The ix4-100 comes in either 2TB or 4TB capacity and both versions use four internal hard drives that are hot swappable.

Cisco has introduced it’s Wireless Home Audio line and three new dual-drive NAS’ during CES 2009. The Wireless Home Audio system uses Ethernet, 802.11n, and DLNA to stream audio over multiple zones throughout your home.

Some of the new products are the Conductor DMC350 Wireless-N Digital Music Center, Director DMC250 Wireless-N Music Player with Integrated Amplifier, Player DMP100 Wireless-N Music Extender, Stereo Speaker Kit DSPK50, DMWR1000 Wireless-N Touchscreen Remote, iPod docking station and the DMRIR500 IR Remote. The price starts at $300 and goes up from there.

Buffalo Technology has unveiled a hybrid device which marries an “external USB drive and a network attached storage solution.” It is called the DriveStation FlexNet and it will be available around $150 for the 500GB (HD-CE500LU2), $170 for the 640GB (HD-CE640LU2) and $260 for the 1TB (HD-CE1.0TLU2) storage models.

Buffalo says the FlexNet lets one toggle between USB 2.0 and NAS via a single button. It features a 10/100 Ethernet interface and makes use of Buffalo’s USB technology to offer up to “20 percent” faster transfer rates over standard USB drives.

Niveus Media is rolling out a new storage device for custom home theater installers based upon the Microsoft Windows Home Server platform. It is called the Niveus Storage Server – Cargo Edition.

The Cargo is scalable to hold up to 16TB of data in one server, with the ability to add more to a home network as necessary. It is housed in a custom-designed, 3U rack-mountable chassis, measuring 18.5″ in depth, marking what Niveus says is “the most compact storage server in the custom electronics industry.”

LaCie’s got itself a new designer external hard drive today which is networked for NAS duty. It is called Network Space and you’ll find this drive offering 500GB or 1TB of storage when it becomes available next month.

The LaCie Network Space, which starts pricing around $150, is the latest design for the company by Neil Poulton. It has a black mirror-polished finish, fanless operation and blue LED strip. LaCie says it is usable right from the box by just plugging into an Ethernet port.

D-Link is targeting small and mid-sized businesses seeking a network area storage solution which is relatively easy to use and stores lots of data. Its offering to this segement is the new D-Link 4-Bay Network Storage Enclosure (DNS-343), priced at around $520.

The D-Link 4-Bay Network Storage Enclosure (DNS-343) is designed “to accommodate up to four SATA drives that can be inserted without any tools or attaching cables.” It can, according to D-Link, “operate in a variety of drive configurations including Standard, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, and 5.”

Think about your home entertainment library for a moment. How many GBs of storage do you need for all of your digital media? Don’t have enough and need a few TB for your content? Intest seems to have a new 15 Terabyte NAS solution, called the Intest TeraRAID XV-NAS.

The Intest TeraRAID XV-NAS, priced at around $15,000 for the 15TB solution or $11,000 for 7TB, exists to host every illegally copied or downloaded movie and song track you’ve ever added to your collection. This monster of a NAS device includes 15 hot swappable bays in a RAID 6 configuration. The server is pre-loaded with Seagate hard drives designed for multi-streaming video applications.

Maxtor is betting your home network is bursting at the seams with data needing back up support and is therefore unveiling a new home NAS solution. It is called the Maxtor Central Axis and you’ll find it pricing at around $330.

The Maxtor Central Axis offers you a generous 1TB of NAS storage to fill with your travel photos and MP3s. The drive allows for each computer in the home to be automatically backed up and files can be accessed and stored from both Mac OS X and Windows operated PCs.

The folks over at Buffalo Technology want to put a massive amount of storage in the palm of your hand – 1TB to be specific. The computer equipment manufacturer is accomplishing this task through the release of its LinkStation Mini (LS-WS1.0TGL/R1), priced at around $700.

The Buffalo LinkStation Mini delivers 1TB of storage to you via its dual drive design. It can be configured for either RAID 0 or RAID 1, depending upon your data needs, and sports an auto-sensing Ethernet port so it can act as a network attached storage device. The drives themselves are 5,400 RPM, 2.5-inch notebook drives.

A company by the name of Ripfactory which offers professional CD ripping services is adding a new piece of hardware to its product line. It is called the Ripserver and it will cost you somewhat above $1,400 for a 1 TB model.

The Ripserver from Ripfactory is a network area storage device with a built-in CD ripping solution. One inserts a CD into its slimline slot and lets the Ripserver do the rest. It automatically copies the CD’s music, ejects it and makes the music available on one’s network for listening or transfer to a digital music player.