I have bought the readynas102... I understand that full capability for sharing etc is achieved by hooking it up to my router... but can I connect it directly to my computer via the cat cable or usb? If so are there any particular concerns or considerations I should be aware of? Are there additional configuration steps? Thank you.
You can't connect it via USB (that is only for peripherals, not other PCs).
If you know what you are doing you can use a direct connect from the NAS to the PC. You'd need to set an appropriate static address on the PC for the connection, and you'd only be able to access the NAS by its IP address. Services that require internet access wouldn't be available (including time sync, firmware updates, antivirus updates, and many add-ons (transmission, etc).
The easiest (and best) setup is to connect it to your router.
