The LaCie 2big not only looks good, but also won the hardware side of our roundup.

We hate to be design snobs, but the LaCie 2big Network’s silver case looks right at home next to the rest of our Mac hardware. More importantly, the device’s performance as a file server and backup drive make it fit just as perfectly into our network.

The 2big Network appeared as a shared device in the Finder before we even ran the setup application, which was fortunate, since the version provided on the CD crashed every time we tried to run it in Leopard. A quick visit to LaCie’s website provided a more recent version of the app, which immediately took us to the setup page within Safari.

Unlike the Synology DS107+, the 2big Network focuses on file sharing and backup. As a result, setup is straightforward. Using the administration page, you can divide the device’s storage space into as many shared folders as you like, and create user accounts to control access to each folder. The 2big Network supports AFP, SMB, and FTP for transferring files to and from the device, making it a good fit for either Mac networks or mixed networks.

The 1TB device that we tested ships with two 500GB hard drives in the enclosure. By default, the drives are configured as a single 1TB RAID, but you also have the option of setting one drive to mirror the other. Mirroring the drives reduces the available storage by half, but it also provides an instantaneous backup should one drive fail, an essential feature for a mission-critical file server. Either way, both drives are easily replaceable and upgradable. The enclosure can also access external hard drives connected to its two USB ports.

Our biggest complaint was fan noise, which is a recurring problem with enclosures. The noise fades into the background when the drive is idle but becomes hard to ignore during file transfers.

The bottom line. The LaCie 2big Network provided the best combination of performance and ease-of-use.

COMPANY: LaCie

CONTACT: www.lacie.com

PRICE: $429.99 (1TB), 639.99 (1.5TB), 959.99 (2TB)

REQUIREMENTS: G4 or later CPU, Mac OS 9 or later, 512MB RAM

Instant setup. Accepts two hot-swappable drives. Configurable RAID can combine drives for maximum storage or mirror one for instant backup.

Noisy.