I'm in the hunt for that ultimate device which does all the following i.e. my requirements :
1. Storage
2. Expansion slots in form of additional USB/eSata/Firewire ports
3. Ethernet port
4. Built-In Wifi (optional)
5. Media Server/DLNA capability
6. Built-In BitTorrent client with Scheduling feature
7. Remote Access (over the internet - to act like the WD personal Cloud storage)
8. Should be as silent as possible - approx 50db max.
9. Should automatically spin down and enter into Low Power/Eco mode when device is not active
10. FTP server
11. I don't want to run a PC/Mini-PC etc for this purpose, the idea is for a box to meet all the above but have very small power requirement
I've looked into Buffalo LinkStation and also Synology Diskstation products which two came close to my requirement list but did not tick off all the items.
If the storage is your primary usage, nothing beats NASes. If DLNA server / transcoding is your first, you can't beat Windows PC for flexibility. It does not have to be monster super ATX case, though. I would separate the "storage" and "DLNA" tasks between NAS and silent NUC.