In October 2005, I bought my Infrant Technologies (acquired by Netgear in May 2007) ReadyNAS 600 for $1760. (Yeah, I know, prices always go down. Now, in Fall 2008, you can get a 4x500GB ReadyNAS box for $1300 with more memory and a faster processor at newegg.com.) My ReadyNAS box has many nice features:

• Fast. I can read/write to it at about 50-65 Mbps over gigabit ethernet.
• Large Storage Capacity. 4x400GB drives in RAID4 stores 1.2TB data with 400GB parity.
• Robustness. Can recover from the failure of any one of the four IDE PATA hard drives.
• Built on Linux. Stable, popular. Linux support base lessens risk of lack of future lack of support, e.g., as with proprietary software.
• Bells and whistles. Can act as network printer server. Can send email about important events such as excessive temperature, hard drive failure, etc.

The huge storage capacity and RAID robustness of a NAS appliance allows me convenient, flexible, peace-of-mind storage, organization, and consolidation of many things. I store all my software, including CD and DVD images that I am able to logically mount with software like Alcohol 120%. As another example, all my audio, including MP3 music and audio books, are accessible through any iTunes client via the built-in Apple iTunes Server support. I can browse for and play any song from anywhere within the house network.