A popular way to back up all the data from the different computers in a home is to use a network-attached storage (NAS) device, but early adopters used to complain at the noises the machines made. Leaving a NAS running sometimes sound like you had a rodent in your home trying to bite its way free, especially in quiet hours at night.
But testers say there is now so much choice out there that you don't need to accept annoying whines, ticks and scrabbling sounds.
Also, look for models that have standby modes where the device will consume less power - 2 to 6 watts in idle, recommends German computer magazine Computerbild after testing 10 models. But it notes that not every device comes with this option.
Shoppers can check the packaging for how much noise a drive generates. Any device that generates more than 0.5 sones when not active could prove too much for most owners in the long term.
The magazine found wide variation in the amount of noise generated by the tested models. Some made noise even when in standby mode. Others only became audible once they started reading or writing operations.
In general, drives that were sold as a complete unit were quieter than drives that users must insert into their own housings.
The device scoring the highest points in the test was the Western Digital My Cloud Mirror (about 300 euros/385 dollars), with a built-in drive. Second and third place went to the Buffalo Linkstation 220 (about 260 euros) and the Lenovo Iomega IX2 (about 190 euros).
Among NAS housings (where users then insert their own drives), the top point-getter was the D-Link DNS-327L (about 120 euros), coming ahead of the Synology DS214e (about 135 euros) and the Shuttle Omninas KD22 (about 155 euros).
If a network drive has the sole copies of certain files, computer users should perform regular backups for these to another device.
Some of the models tested lacked the "recycling bin," an option to restore files if you accidentally delete them.