Acer Aspire easyStore AH342-U2T2H Home Server (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)QUICK SUMMARY: Acer's AH340/AH341/AH342 servers, when configured correctly, provide home users and small offices a powerful solution for automated backups, restores, remote access and media server capability. However, configuring this server can be challenging, and Acer makes little effort to help its customers. Microsoft's Windows Home Server is a terrific -- and stable! -- operating system. Add a 2nd hard drive, too, and you've got redundant data storage. Cautiously recommended.
*** SPECIAL NOTE as of December 31, 2010: If you're in the market for a Windows Home Server, you should know about a few announcements that occurred in November, 2010. One, Hewlett-Packard is getting out of the Windows Home Server market. They won't be making HP Mediasmart home servers any more. HP sold the most number of Windows Home Servers, and people are speculating whether this move will effectively kill the Windows Home Server market. Two, Microsoft announced that they are removing Drive Extender from the next version of Windows Home Server (Version 2, code named Vail, which will be released in 2011; Drive Extender technology is included with WHS Version 1, which runs these Acer servers). Drive Extender is a critical piece of technology that allows you to easily add more hard drives to your server, have a single pool of storage for all your data, and it provides for data redundancy (so if one hard drive crashes, your data is kept on a 2nd hard drive, provided you've added at least one more hard drive to your server). Microsoft will provide full support to this version of WHS until January, 2013, and then it will not be supported any longer - no bug fixes or security enhancements.
*** SPECIAL NOTE as of February 6, 2010: McAfee Antivirus automatically updated their software to Version 5, which totally screwed up my server! STAY AWAY from McAfee!! If you buy this server, immediately use Remote Desktop to open the server's Control Panel, choose Add or Remove Programs, and uninstall McAfee from your server! McAfee cannot be trusted! Read the end of this review to learn more.
What follows is my review of the Acer Aspire AH340-UA230N Home Server, based upon my personal experience with it since purchasing one in late June 2009. For 2010, Acer has refreshed their Windows Home Server lineup using faster RAM and the Intel Atom D410 and D510 CPUs which have a slight bump in processor speed and, for the D510, more L2 cache. Other than this, the AH341 and AH342 servers are *exactly* the same as the older AH340 server.
****** ACER HOME SERVER PRODUCT CONFIGURATION CHART ******
Acer Aspire easyStore AH340-U2T1H Windows® Home Server, Intel® Atom(tm) Processor 230 (512KB L2 cache, 1.60GHz, 533MHz FSB), 2GB (2/0) DDR2 667 SDRAM, 256MB flash ROM, 2TB SATA hard drive, Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950, gigabit LAN
Acer Aspire AH340-UA230N Windows® Home Server, Intel® Atom(tm) Processor 230 (512KB L2 cache, 1.60GHz, 533MHz FSB), 2GB (2/0) DDR2 667 SDRAM, 256MB flash ROM, 1TB SATA hard drive, Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950, gigabit LAN
Acer Aspire easyStore AH341-U1T2H Windows® Home Server, Intel® Atom(tm) Processor D410 (512KB L2 cache, 1.66GHz), 2GB (2) DDR2 800 SDRAM, 256MB flash ROM, 1TB SATA hard drive, gigabit LAN
AH342-U2T2H Windows® Home Server (that's the one you're viewing right now), Intel® Atom(tm) Processor D510 (1MB L2 cache, 1.66GHz), 2GB (2) DDR2 800 SDRAM, 256MB flash ROM, 2TB SATA hard drive, gigabit LAN
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If you read this very long review, you'll learn quite a bit about this Acer server and the Windows Home Server operating system. You'll also read about some minor issues I've run into, and how to workaround those issues. I've owned this server for six months now, and it's been a good experience overall. If you buy this Acer server, you're not going to get much help from Acer. So for any problems, your own technical know-how and the Internet community are your best sources of help.
In short, I bought this Acer server and successfully installed it on my home network. In very large part, it's doing what it's supposed to be doing, that is, it automatically backs up my four-computer home network, and it gives me remote access to my data, too. Thus far, I have only one small, re-occurring issue which I'll share in a moment.
The out-of-box experience is pretty good, but don't expect much by way of documentation. You'll need to look elsewhere to understand all the ins-and-outs of using Windows Home Server (WHS). Although the "Quick Start" booklet seems very thick, it's actually got the instructions in about five or six languages, and so when you read the English section (if you read English), you'll only see how to set-up the server with a little narrative and black-and-white screenshots that are difficult to read. Fortunately, the setup is pretty easy, and they do include a larger poster with just the absolute essentials (which is what I used), and the poster was good enough. In short, plug-in the ethernet cable from the server to your wireless router, and you're in business. The server is heavier than I expected, and *quieter* than I expected (much less noisy than my desktop computer).
Then, you install a CD in one of your available networked computers to install the Server Console on the installed-from computer, and to begin configuring your new server. One things stands out in my mind here...the instructions say turn-on your server and wait until the blue LED light is glowing steady. Trouble is, there are about seven or eight lights glowing at this point (one light for each of the four disk drive bays, a power-on light, a network light, an "information" light, and possibly a disk activity light), and some of the lights glow purple, not blue. Suffice it to say that you should wait a few minutes just to make sure everything is settled before you start server configuring.
The server configuration went pretty well, I thought. Do a Google search for "Acer Windows Home Server Review" and you'll find a website where someone has very helpfully documented the entire install process using color screenshots of each step. The installed server console program (running on one of your networked computers) is not resizeable and won't maximize, which is annoying. You can use Remote Desktop Connection to actually login to your new server (if you're not familiar with Remote Desktop Connection, it lets you connect to another computer from the computer you're using).
In a very short time, my old, quirky Gateway desktop computer (circa 2003, XP Pro, 2Ghz CPU, 512MB RAM, 80GB HD) was recognized by the new Acer server, and I was creating user accounts on the server that match my desktop computer (you should use a password on your user accounts, and be sure to specify the same password on the server as what you use for the desktop/laptop account).
At this point, I had my first problem -- the Gateway's connection to the server would get lost inexplicably during the first attempt at a manual backup. Long story short, I completely reinstalled Windows XP Pro SP-3 on the Gateway desktop, reinstalled the Windows Home Server Console, and was able to begin getting successful backups until I got to the point where I restored all my digital media files (using Acronis and an external hard drive -- not using the new Acer server) and then tried a WHS backup, which fails inexplicably. Could be my aging and quirky Gateway hardware, but it's a fresh install of XP and the error messaging is vague and unhelpful.
Notably, my three laptops (running XP Media Edition w/1GB RAM, Vista Ultimate w/2GB, and Windows 7 Ultimate w/4GB of RAM) backed up their contents perfectly -- no troubles at all, even backing up a very large VMWare virtual hard drive (which is a single, physical, 20GB file on my Vista laptop).
Very cool feature: This Acer will wake-up either a sleeping or hibernating computer to do the backup in the middle of the night! So, don't turn-off your computers, just put them in sleep/hibernate mode so they don't use much power, but will still get backed-up. (Note: WHS does *not* use Wake On LAN technology, which doesn't work reliably in all environments - the WHS technical strategy for waking sleeping/hibernating computers works much better than WOL). The WHS backups are incremental, so you can return to any previous point in time during a restore -- you aren't limited just to what was done last night. This is handy if you want to restore your computer to the way it worked one month ago, when it was working reliably (you'd probably do a 2nd restore, then, to load all your most recent data following the system restore).
To get remote access to work correctly, you need to modify your ISP's modem setups (your ISP's modem most likely has a built-in router, too). Choose "Bridged over Ethernet" protocol in the modem setups, and then configure your wireless router that's attached to the modem so it is a PPPoE connection (you'll need your ISP's account name and password for the router configuration). Once I got through this headache, I was able to gain remote access to my server -- very cool feature!! (BTW, don't count on any technical help by AT&T/Bellsouth - you won't get any that's helpful to you). You may also have trouble if your ISP blocks certain ports, like ports 80 and 443. One Amazon customer reported that Verizon blocks those two ports...Read more›

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The Acer Aspire easyStore Home Server brings your digital home together with an easy and reliable way to store, share and access files, photos, music and videos anytime and anywhere. Enjoy a centralized digital library of all your files from multiple PCs in one location where it is protected, organized and easy to access. The perfect solution for households and home-based businesses that have more than one personal computer or want a simple backup solution with anywhere access.

Centralized Home Server

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HP EX485 MediaSmart Home Server Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)UPDATED at Bottom on 05/05/2009
Hi All,
I have been using different types of NAS solutions, including a Drobo, for a while now and wanted to give the Windows Home Server solution a shot for my home. I am an IT person by trait. I know that it is fairly easy to build a small home server but I had heard so much about the HP interface that I wanted to give this a shot. Unfortunately I did not buy from AMAZON and had to use a third party to get the item....but that's neither here or there. My review is about the product itself.
The box includes the server, the rescue cd, the restore cd, and a cd for both mac/pc workstations. Remove the item from the box, plug in the power and a ethernet cord to your router/switch and you are ready to roll. The first setup of the client software MUST be done on a PC so that you can set the server up. Very easy and very well made software that will guide you through the entire process.
(A Side Note - HP Recommends that you use a router that has UPNP on it so that the remote capabilities of this server can be used without issues. A list of some routers is below. I was unfortunately using Apple Airport Extreme Base Stations but had a handy dandy D-Link DIR-655 at home...which I switched to immediately and permanently so I can use this server. Product Link for DIR-655: D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router
Once the setup process is concluded (5-10 minutes) you are able to start using the server at once and create user accounts, media syncing, iTunes servers, etc. Very Very simplistic approach. One of the reasons I give it a 5/5. One feature that I want to mention, which puts this device over the others, is that it has a built in plug-in that allows me to use an Amazon s3 account to backup the entire server...normally you would have to use a 3rd party software (jungle disk, which i own) to do this but having it built into the server and having the server manage the backup to the cloud is amazing.
MAC Specific: I wanted to see how this server would work on a MAC and what the ramifications would be of using time machine over the network without having to buy Apple's time capsule. Again, very easy. I installed the software on my macbook pro. It has a section where you define the amount of space you want to use on the server for your time machine backup...10-20-30-40-etc gb.... Set the space, it creates the area on the server, hit the start button, go to time machine preferences and use this new hard drive which shows up in the list as HP Mediasmart Server and VOILA....you are time machining away at gigabit speeds. Did I mention the ethernet on this is Gigabit.
Dynamic DNS: We all have some sort of broadband if we consider devices like this and most of us do not opt to pay the exorbitant costs for static ip addresses....instead we just use DHCP from Cable or DSL. Those addresses change..maybe not often..but they do change. One of the features of WHS is to allow you remote access from where ever you may be...and or for a family member to get in and take a look at some files you have stored for them...pictures, music, etc... The server has a built in feature to allow you to use two or three services....TZO (if I remember correctly is one that is included free for one year--allows custom domain names), Microsoft offers a free domain if you have a FREE Microsoft Live ID. I opted for the free service as it allows me to use a simple name like tarun . homeserver . com. You simply pick a name for your server (tarun) and it goes and checks if it is available...if it is you are all set. This is when a UPNP router comes into play so that media smart can set the router up to allow incoming connections to the proper ports for the server....VOILA...works like a charm. I can get to the server from work and upload files, download, etc....very very nice and very easy.
I can get in to much broader detail about the setup but then that would defeat the purpose of this review. I think I have already typed to my hearts content. I really love this device...it is worth its price. I am sure we can all build it cheaper and smaller...but hey...for me I don't want to tinker with hardware since it is time consuming and I would much rather hang out with the kids.
This is a great device which, backed by HP, will only get better with time.
5/5
ps. If you have any questions...please feel free to comment and I will answer them as best as I can.
Quick Note 02-28-2009: If you are a PC user then the WHS agent will pull all of your music and pictures to the server and make them available...this includes iTunes music and playlists. If you are a MAC user...u are out of luck for automation...but you can copy your entire iTunes music folder over to the WHS Manually. WHS will make the iTunes library and playlists available to all network users. I moved my iTunes from my mac to the WHS and then simply told iTunes the new location...so if I add new music, podcasts, etc...I dont have to sync directories...iTunes will just add them to the WHS Music Folder...which is mounted on the mac as a volume. Hope that helps a bit.
ps.. Firefly is what WHS/HP use for iTunes....something which I believe can be installed on a drobo with droboshare.
UPDATE 03-06-09 - If you are a opendns user then there may be some issues in regard to pinging and browsing to your whs using the connector on pc's. There is a simple fix...add an exception at [...] for your server. Example: server.local where server is your server name and .local is your home. I did it today and my pc was able to find the server without issue. Some routers may not experience this problem...but I had it with both the apple airport extreme and the d-link. A simple fix....
UPDATE 03-10-09 - Compatible Routers:
The Good:
* D-Link DGL-4100 GamerLounge Broadband Gigabit
* D-Link DGL-4300 GamerLounge Broadband Gigabit
* D-Link DIR-655 Wireless Xtreme N Gigabit
* D-Link EBR-2310 Ethernet Broadband
* D-Link WBR-1310 Wireless-G
* Linksys WRT150N Wireless N Broadband
* Linksys WRT54G3G-ST Wireless G for Mobile Broadband
* Linksys WRT54GC Compact Wireless-G Broadband
* Netgear WPN824NA RangeMax Wireless Router
* Trendnet TEW-631BRP Wireless N Draft
The BAD:
* Linksys WRT330N Wireless-N Gigabit Gaming
* Microsoft MN-500 Broadband Networking Wireless Base
* Apple Airport Extreme Base Station
* Linksys WRT55AG Wireless 4 Port
* Qwest Actiontec m1000DSL
* US Robotics USR8001 DSL/Cable with Print Server
Quick Update 03/13/2009 - Friday the 13th:
1. The server is backing up to Amazon S3 perfectly almost every day and I have not had one issue yet.
2. A FUN Project to try is to download the ps3 media server which is freeware that can be installed on WHS to automatically stream your music, videos, pictures, etc on to your PS3...if you have one. I will post a link in the comments section.
3. Last but not least for today - If you want to remove that annoying reminder to install Mcafee.....you can check the ignore button but that item remains in the list forever.... How to remove it? There is a share from the mediasmart called SOFTWARE which houses certain files. One of the files is a rather large file....larger then 50mb if I am not wrong....I wish I could remember the name. That is the McAfee add-in installer...once it is removed from the software share and the server is restarted..u will never see it mentioned again and dont have to worry about checking off ignore.
I know this review is getting LONG...but I want anyone that owns and or is considering buying one of these units to have as much information as possible. Its not easy to drop $600 these days and end up with something you may never use. I sincerely hope my review helps you make the right decision.
Quick NOTE: 03/24/09 - Microsoft has released powerpack two for WHS. I have also configured, manually, my new dual band Apple Airport Extreme to work with WHS. You simply need to forward 3 ports to your WHS box from within the Airport Utility Software. I believe somone has posted a link in the comments section also.....
Update 03/26/09 - This was pointed out to me in the comments section as I was unaware. You are able to completely image a Windows PC and recover it via a CD that is provided by HP. The initial backup takes a while depending on how much space you are using but once its done you feel better knowing your machine can be fully recovered if the hard drive dies, etc..
Update 05/05/09 - (happy cinco de Mayo) - I just wanted to chime in and let everyone know that a new version of the WHS software is available from HP. Make sure you update your units so that they have the latest and greatest. The new features allow for automatic video conversion for any videos you drop in designated folders. Also, HP has a iPhone and iPod touch software which connects to the server to allow for music streaming and photo viewing. AWESOME features that keep making this an AWESOME addition to anyone's home network.

Click Here to see more reviews about: HP EX485 MediaSmart Home Server

Automatically back up and protect your digital memories, centralize your media and content for sharing with friends and family, and enjoy your digital media while at home or away with the HP EX485 MediaSmart Home Server. Based on the Microsoft Windows Home Server platform, this sleek, quiet server is ideal if you have multiple PCs on a home network, or want the flexibility to enjoy your digital experiences from anywhere over the Internet. And it's easy to set up--just plug it in, connect it to your wireless router (sold separately), and load the software onto your PCs and Macs.
Centralize your iTunes music libraries on the MediaSmart Server for playback to any networked Mac or PC running iTunes. The HP Media Collector conveniently schedules the MediaSmart Server to copy and centralize digital files and libraries from networked PCs. The pre-installed HP Photo Publisher software enables you to easily upload photos to Facebook, Flickr, Picasa Web Albums and Snapfish. and the MediaSmart Server provides peace of mind with effortless backups of your Windows-based PCs via the Windows Home Server backup feature and Macs running Leopard using Apple Time Machine software.
The EX485 MediaSmart comes with 750 GB of storage right out of the box and four drive bays that allow you to add optional off-the-shelf SATA I or II hard drives--up to a maximum capacity of 9 TB (terabytes). Additionally, the MediaSmart includes four USB 2.0 ports and one eSATA port for connecting an attached external hard drive, and it provides capabilities for offsite backup via automatic upload to Amazon's S3 service.
The sleek, streamlined micro-tower design is perfect for use in the home office or the living room, with perforated steel exterior panels that provide cool, quiet operation. A Sleep Mode conserves energy and saves you money in more ways than one. The built-in sleep mode consumes only 1W of power, and the server can take on many of your PC's responsibilities, enabling you to turn off your individual computers to further save energy and money.
Software Features
Operating System: Powered by Windows Home Server, a new software solution from Microsoft for storing, accessing, sharing and automatically protecting digital files.
HP Control Center: The HP MediaSmart software that sits on top of the Windows Home Server software making access to tasks easier. Users with administrative access privileges can access the Windows Home Server Console from the HP Control Center.
Windows Home Server Console: Software accessed from the HP Control Center to manage your HP MediaSmart Server. Software includes setting up shared folders, assigning user access privileges and customizing backups.
File Sharing and Storage: Effortlessly centralize your files and access them from any PC and or Mac on your home network.
PC Hard Drive Disk Backup: Once the HP MediaSmart Server software is installed on a home PC, the Windows Home Server backup software automatically starts backing up the PCs hard disk drive image every night. You can customize the number and frequency of backups kept.
Mac Backup: Back up your Macs to the MediaSmart Server using Apple's Time Machine software.
Shared Folder Duplication: Designate folders that will be copied automatically onto multiple hard drives for an additional layer of redundant protection. Folder duplication replaces traditional RAID-style redundancy.
Individual File Restore: If you accidentally delete a file on your PC, you can browse versions of the PC hard drive backup image on the HP MediaSmart Server to find the file and copy it to your PC.
PC Hard Drive Disk Restore: In the event of a PC hard drive failure, the included HP PC Restore disc is all you need to restore a hard drive image from the HP MediaSmart Server. Theres no need to locate your original operating system disc.
HP Media Collector: Conveniently schedules the server to copy and centralize your Windows PC media files and libraries (including iTunes and playlists).
Remote Access: Upon installation, you can set up a personal web address to be used for remote access and by visitors. Using your personal web address, you can remotely access shared folders and files on the HP MediaSmart Server from any Internet-connected computer.
In-Home and Remote Media Streaming: Extend your digital media experiences by conveniently streaming photos, music and videos to your TVs, through gaming consoles such as Xbox 360 or PlayStation3, and computer's within your home. Remotely stream music and photos from your server to any Internet-connected computer for access while you are away.
HP Photo Publisher: Easily publish your photos to Snapfish, Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa Web Albums using an Internet-connected computer.
HP Photo Viewer: Quickly share photos and albums stored on the Server with friends and family.
Server for iTunes: Centralize your iTunes music libraries and playlists on the server for playback to any PC or Mac running iTunes on your home network.
Easy Storage Expansion: Add an internal or external hard drive to the HP MediaSmart Server, indicate that you want to add the disk in the Windows Home Server Console, and the HP MediaSmart Server storage grows. No need to power down the unit or manage drive letters for multiple hard drives.
Server Anti-Virus Protection: Server side anti-virus trial offer from McAfee for increased protection of your HP MediaSmart Server. Run quick scans of specific folders or deep scans across your entire home server.
Server Backup: Protect your digital memories from fire/flood/natural disaster... backup your server shared folders to an external hard disk drive, and/or an online backup to Amazon S3.
Server Recovery: The included Server Recovery Disc can be used to recover all data and restore folders or, to reset the server in case the server operating system disk becomes corrupt.
Additional Software Add-Ins: Extend the functionality of your server through available software add-ins to enable expanded functionality, server personalization and/or entertainment.
Users: Up to 10 user accounts can access the HP MediaSmart Server. In addition, a predefined Guest account can be enabled.

PC Operating System Support
Automatic backup of computers running Microsoft Windows Vista (32 & 64 bit), XP Home (SP2), XP Professional (SP2), Media Center Edition 2004 (SP2) or later, and Macs running ApplesTime Machine.
File sharing for computers running Microsoft Windows Vista (32 & 64 bit), XP Home (SP2) or XP Professional (SP2), Media Center Edition 2004 (SP2) or later, Mac OS X, or Linux.
Remote access to computers running Microsoft Windows XP Professional (SP2), Media Center Edition 2005 (SP2), or Vista Ultimate.

Hardware Specifications
Internal Hard Drive(s): One 750 GB drive (SATA, 7200 RPM)
Internal Expansion: Four hard drive bays (additional off the shelf SATA I or II hard drives can be added; no tools required)
External Expansion: Four USB 2.0 ports (1 front, 3 back); one eSATA port (back)
Processor: Intel Celeron 2.0 GHZ 64-bit Processor
Memory: 2 GB of DDR2 DRAM (800 MHz)
Network Support: 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) RJ45 Ethernet; supports both wired and wireless PCs (via a wireless router).
Power: Internal universal power supply
Dimensions: 5.5 x 9.8 x 9.2 inches (WxHxD)

What's in the Box HP EX485 MediaSmart Home Server, power cable, Ethernet cable (RJ45), PC restore disc, server recovery disc, software installation disc, printed documentation. The MediaSmart Server is backed by a one-year limited warranty and dedicated software technical support both online and by phone.

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Cisco-Linksys 1 TB Media Hub with LCD Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Everything you read about the features and setup of the LinkSys by Cisco NMH410 MediaHub is true: it is very easy to set up and to configure other computers and it does offer a browser-based way to access your media.
The problem is that most of it doesn't work. The lion's share of the software is broken, buggy, or simply incapable of doing what it is supposed to be doing. A quick glance at the support forums will confirm this, and unfortunately it appears to be endemic for many of the models of MediaHub, not just the NMH410. The problems that you will encounter are:
1) The Media Hub Online tool will not "see" all of your files. They will be physically visible when you use a computer to browse folders, but they will not properly share or index, even if they meet the stringent requirements (no long names, no special characters in the names, must be in one of the supported file formats, etc.).
2) The Hub will continually rebuild its index of your files. In other words, "now you see some files, now you don't". It regularly "forgets" what's on the hub and starts over, one by one, re-reading every file. You have no control over when it does this.
3) The Media Hub will not respond when it is busy. I can play an album that I manually launched from the folder, but if I try to open the File Browser, look at Configuration, or even just click a bit too fast browsing the media, the MediaHub Online will throw me "MediaHub is Disconnected or not Responding" errors and stop taking any commands. I have to randomly try again and hope to get lucky and get in.
4) The website for Remote Sharing (in other words, logging in to your device through the Internet from another location) regularly has Server Timeouts. You never know when it will let you in or when you will just get a dead white page.
5) Some features reboot the hub without warning. You choose the option, it says, "Resetting the MediaHub" and the next thing you know, the browser interface fails, the hub loses all of its indexes, and it starts all over again crawling through your files and not responding to your clicks.
It's very distressing to see aggressive releases of software and firmware updates, whose release notes claim to have solved these problems...only to find that all the "fixed in this version" problems are still there. If these issues really were considered fixed by the company, then Linksys/Cisco's problems are much larger--they may need to consider a recall. Thus far, the only features that truly work are the ability to view files and folders on a computer and the optional computer backup program (which should only be used for files and not as a full system backup).
It should tell you a lot that there are actually two pieces of software embedded in this hub: the Linksys by Cisco software, and a third party tool called "Twonky Media Server". Twonky is better, but still not what this product promises above. Both have really bizarre problems that should never have made it to the sales floor.
I'm reaching the point of complete surrender. I managed to get indirectly engaged with the hardware/software development team and have offered them access to my hub to try whatever it takes to solve the problem.
As of October 19, 2009, my unit was used for the Beta and the new Firmware was released. If you own an NMH and are having the above problems, you should give it a try. Unfortunately for me, the best I have seen with this new firmware is that the fixes are spotty: almost seems to mostly-work one day, then it's back to completely acting up the next. The cruel part is that one day I'll discover an amazing new feature or two that I'd never seen before...and the next day it's gone again. Content appears and disappears, and the system is always rebuilding itself. I have spent many, many hours on and off support calls struggling with this device and I'm sorry I bought it. It's November 19th, 2009, and my NMH410 Media Hub is now back in the original packaging waiting to go out the door back to LinkSys. I've lost over 4 months trying to get this to work and I can't recommend it to anyone.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cisco-Linksys 1 TB Media Hub with LCD

Enjoy your digital music, photos, and videos throughout your home! The Linksys Media Hub stores your favorite media files, and lets you view and listen to them on any PC, laptop, or TV in the house, or through the Internet anywhere in the world! The pre-installed hard drive holds thousands of photos or songs, or hundreds of hours of DVD quality video, and the empty second drive bay and two USB ports let you add even more storage as your collection grows.The Media Hub presents your music, photo, and video collections in an attractive "catalog view" from most web browsers. There are no confusing network addresses to remember; give your Media Hub a personalized "name" (i.e., "Smith-Media"), and just type it into your browser to view the catalog. Use the same name to log in to your Media Hub from a web browser anywhere, and get the same easy-to-use access to your media.

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Western Digital My Book Home Edition 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Pros:
Triple interface with USB 2.0, eSATA, and FireWire 400 ports
Two FireWire 400 ports to support daisy-chaining devices
Relatively quiet, passively cooled design (i.e. no fans)
Automatically powers on/off with your machine, spins down when inactive
3-year warranty, vs. 1-year for the Western Digital 500GB My Book Essential 2.0
Cons:
No boot support for PowerPC-based Macs
Mac software not yet compatible with OS 10.5 (i.e. capacity gauge and power button do not presently work)
*Fixed - see my update, posted as a comment on this review, for details.*
Power button on rear rather than front
Summary:
I bought this drive primarily as a backup drive to be used with the built-in Time Machine backup program in Mac OS 10.5. Providing the pending ButtonManager software update works, I will have no reservations in recommending it for similar usage. Even without the capacity gauge and power button, I am relatively happy with the drive. You should be aware that this drive IS NOT BOOTABLE from PowerPC-based Macs (see WD Support Answer ID 1715), so if you were planning to do that, you need to look elsewhere. It is bootable from Intel-based Macs, though.
In Depth:
As a basic drive, it worked right out of the box. Macintosh installers for "WD Anywhere Backup" and a "ButtonManager" program that enables the capacity gauge and power button are included on the drive, along with documentation in PDF format. I'm using Time Machine and had no interest in the included backup software, so I can't speak to its quality. Installing the ButtonManager seemed to go smoothly. The installer even asks if you want to reformat the disk, and opens Disk Utility if you opt to do so. (See notes on formatting below.)
Upon rebooting, I was initially pleasantly surprised to find no extra processes running related to the ButtonManager... until I discovered that was only because it wasn't working. No capacity gauge, and the power button on the back does nothing. It turns out that the software is currently incompatible with OS 10.5, although on their website Western Digital has promised a fix by the end of January 2008 (WD Support Answer ID 1716). A company representative assured me that this was still the case at MacWorld 2008.
Apparently WD used a StartupItem, which were deprecated in 10.4 in favor of launchd - and no longer work at all in 10.5. Considering that this drive didn't become available until September of 2007 and that StartupItems have been officially deprecated since April 2005, the commitment to Mac compatibility could be stronger. If you are using 10.5, there is no reason to install the ButtonManager at present and the representative I spoke with at MacWorld actually suggested removing it if you did install it.
I don't mind the missing capacity gauge gimmick, but the power button is a bit annoying. After unmounting the drive, it goes into standby mode, but (short of unplugging the power) there is no way to turn it off completely. The only way to remount the drive is to unplug the power and then plug it back in. Being able to just press a button would be much more convenient. Hopefully, the updated software will resolve this issue.
The problem is somewhat mitigated by the drive's automatic power management features. The drive turns off when your computer shuts down or sleeps, and turns back on when your computer does. In addition, the drive spins down and goes into standby mode when it's inactive. Western Digital seems to have intended the drive to remain connected and "on" most of the time, which is reflected in the awkward placement of the (currently non-functional) power button on the back of the drive. For the most part this works, and is actually quite convenient, but there are still times, especially with a laptop, when actually being able to turn the drive off is important.
The somewhat unusual on-end vertical drive mounting results in a relatively small footprint for the case, although its volume is comparable to, if not greater than, that of most other cases. The drive has no fan and is pretty quiet normally, although I found its peak noise (when spinning up and during heavy use) to be slightly more than my other drives.
In my tests transferring a 5 GB folder, the drive averaged 16.42 MB/s write and 20.17 MB/s read using FireWire, and 10.56 MB/s write and 14.12 MB/s read using USB 2.0, making the FireWire interface worthwhile. The inclusion of dual FireWire ports with the ability to daisy-chain another device is also a big plus, especially on a laptop with a single FireWire port. Performance of a daisy-chained drive didn't suffer in my testing and, since the FireWire bus is self-powered, it works even when the My Book is unplugged from power. While I didn't have the ability to test it, the inclusion of eSATA should allow for high performance. Unfortunately, the documentation indicates that the drive's automatic power management features only work with the USB and FireWire interfaces. Also, while 4 foot long FireWire (6-pin to 6-pin) and USB (Type A to Mini) cables are included, eSATA cables have to be purchased separately. If your Mac has FireWire 800 - and performance is an issue, you may want to look into the similar Western Digital 500 GB My Book Studio Edition.
How to format the drive:
If you intend to use the drive with both Macs and PCs regularly, leaving the drive formatted as FAT32 is the best choice. However, if you plan on using the drive exclusively with Macs it should be formatted as HFS+, and this format is required to use Time Machine. Unfortunately, the included PDF documentation doesn't explain how to format the drive, and instead refers you to an online document (WD Support Answer ID 287) which is decent, but a bit out of date. While the WD Support article suggests partitioning the drive using an Apple Partition Map, this is no longer the best choice. If you have an Intel-based Mac, using the GUID Partition Table is a better choice as it allows you to boot from the drive. Since the My Book Home doesn't support booting from a PowerPC machine, there really isn't any reason to use APM unless you use Macs with an OS prior to 10.4.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Western Digital My Book Home Edition 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive

Preserve your precious memories with this ideal combination of elegant, reliable storage and automatic backup features. Your baby's first step, your wedding in Bali, all your important milestones...all captured in digital photos and video. What could be more important? Store them safely and keep them backed up on My Book Home Edition external hard drives.

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Iomega StorCenter 4 TB ix2-200 Network Storage Cloud Edition 35430 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this just a few weeks ago, but am happy to share very positive first impressions. The compact unit is generally cool and quiet, except for the usual SCSI chatter when active. Setup was just as simple as they said it would be, although there is a bit of a learning curve with the new feature set. One mistake I made was to underestimate the volume I needed to back up files from three computers (and three external USB drives) in the house; as a result I got midway through the process before deciding that I really needed to forego the RAID 1 redundancy and just use the whole 2TB as JBOD. Unfortunately, this meant starting all over -- so estimate your storage FIRST and avoid my mistake. I did have one technical issue in the middle of the reformatting, but online and on-phone tech support from Iomega was excellent and got me back on track in short order.
And now everything is just so much simpler! New music and media downloads are instantly accessible to all devices in the house. The backups are scheduled and perform automatically, plus you can configure for each copy job whether you want to trigger it off the front button on the device. This is a great feature, because any time during the day that I want to make an ad hoc backup, all I do is just touch one button and the rest is automatic.
Best of all, now I have my own personal cloud, completely within my control, but without a lot of administrative hassle. I may get a second unit to store at a secondary location to replicate storage -- if you have a lot of sensitive content, this is a great solution. But for now, I am happy to take advantage of my free Amazon Cloud storage, which materialized around the same time. So I actually have a hybrid cloud setup. And to be clear: I am not any technical wiz with this stuff, it's just designed to be really easy.
The only disappointment at all is learning that my current router may not support the bridging required to enable the remote access; but with the cloud configuration I really have all the access I need anyway, and I already use GoToMy PC to get all the remote access I need.
Bottom line: this product has solved every problem and delivered every functionality that I needed it to do, and has taken me to the next level with my own cloud at the same time, all for just a little more than a standard network attached storage solution. I give it all five stars.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Iomega StorCenter 4 TB ix2-200 Network Storage Cloud Edition 35430

The Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 Network Storage, Cloud Edition offers content sharing with advanced security, and is ideal for small and remote offices, workgroups or home networks. Based on enterprise-class EMC storage technology, the StorCenter ix2-200 provides easy file sharing, iSCSI block access, and multiple RAID configurations for optimized data protection. The Iomega Personal Cloud offers unparalleled simplicity and versatility for data sharing and protection. Business users will appreciate the robust data protection features such as UPS support, print serving, folder quotas, rsync device-to-device replication, and user replaceable drives for business continuity and disaster recovery. The easy-to-use interface provides no-hassle management. Active Directory support and remote access round out the comprehensive business features. The StorCenter ix2-200 supports up to five Axis IP security cameras for basic video surveillance. Home users benefit from the advanced media features such as the DLNA certified UPnP AV Media Server, PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol), torrent download compatibility, and Bluetooth upload. Award-winning backup software is included, and RSA BSAFE encryption ensures protected installs and upgrades. Supports PC, Mac and Linux clients and is VMware certified for NFS and iSCSI.

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Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 - 2 TB Network Attached Storage 34481 (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have been waiting for this for a long time. This NAS works period!. It works with Apple Time machine. It works with Ubuntu 9.10 (SimpleBackup) and it works with windowsXP (Windows Backup Program).
I wanted a RAID1 NAS storage. RAID standard dictates how hard disks are used. In RAID1 both the hard discs contain the same data. So if one fries the other one will save your day till you replace the broken one with a new disk. I wanted Iomega to act as the backup repository for all my systems which include a macbook (Leopard), ubuntu Linux (9.10) and WindowsXP Pro.
Pros
----
+ For 200+ bucks this offers you RAID1. Which is lot better than over prized Apple Time capsule which has only one hard disk.
+ Works seamlessly with Apple Time machine software
+ Supports FTP Server, UPNP (for media streaming) and SMTP (to send you an emails about diagnostics errors etc)
+ Supports Good Security. Remember once you connect any device to network you should enable user accounts passwords etc.
+ Very Very simple configuration.
+ You can connect external USB storage devices and they are available to all users in your home network. Makes regular usb printers network printers how cool is that ?
+ Very reliable. So far I have transferred 100 Gigs of data over the network and not even once did the network connection drop.
+ Compact and easy to service (in case the hard disk fries).
Cons
None so far
Help Instructions
For Apple Users
Once you install the supplied software the provided TimeMachine folder on the drive is visible to your time machine software as a backup drive. Configuration just involves opening up your time machine preferences and pointing to the NAS timemachine folder. Done! its that simple. I have tried creating a backup and restoring from it and it worked seamlessly.
For Ubuntu
I used the macbook to configure the NAS. Open the admin page in your browser and go to Settings->NetworkServices and Enable NFS. Once you do this the drive will turn on SMB protocol automatically (something that linux and unix worlds love). Now you can either create an additional folder on the drive (like i did or use the existing Backup Folder). Once you decided which folder to use, click on the small "Configure" Spanner icon next to it. This would open up the configuration page. Give a proper name and click next. In this page the software would ask you if you want NFS enabled for the folder. Check the box and give a name. For instance UbuntuBackup. Click ok. Now start your ubuntu computer-> places->Network and the explorer would show you the UbuntuBackup. To let Simple backup store backups here open the System->Administration->SimpleBackup Config-> in destination folder check the second option (SSH or FTP) and enter the following smb://EnterUserName@IOMEGANASNAME/UbuntuBackup (note you have to use username and password only if you have enabled security as i did. Your are done. Do a test backup and restore
Windows
Map the NAS as a drive (assigning a drive letter) and make the backup program use the mapped drive as the destination

Click Here to see more reviews about: Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 - 2 TB Network Attached Storage 34481 (Black)

The Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 Network Storage offers content sharing with advanced security, and is ideal for small and remote offices, workgroups or home networks. Based on enterprise-class EMC storage technology, the StorCenter ix2-200 provides easy file sharing, iSCSI block access, and multiple RAID configurations for optimized data protection. Business users will appreciate the robust data protection features such as UPS support, print serving, folder quotas, rsync device-to-device replication, and user replaceable drives for business continuity and disaster recovery. The easy-to-use interface provides no-hassle management. Active Directory support and remote access round out the comprehensive business features. The StorCenter ix2-200 supports up to five Axis IP security cameras for basic video surveillance. Home users benefit from the advanced media features such as DLNA certified UPnP AV Media Server, PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol), torrent download compatibility, Bluetooth upload, and Cooliris slide show plug-in. Award-winning EMC Retrospect Express backup software and RSA BSAFE encryption for protected installs and upgrades. Supports PC, Mac, and Linux clients and is VMware certified for NFS and iSCSI. Available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities.

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Apple Time Capsule MB765LL/A 1TB Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've owned the Apple Time Capsule 1TB model for several months now.
Pros:
1. Very large 1TB hard drive
2. Very fast WiFi connections
3. Easily sets up with your network (what Mac product doesn't?)
4. Much faster on my DSL network than the DSL wireless router I had previously connected
Cons:
1. Extremely SLOW data transfer. I'm not exaggerating when I say it took 15hrs to backup a wired connection with about 250gb of data to transfer...... wireless backup of that amount of data wasn't even reasonable, it was going to be several days.
2. I had wanted to use it for my iTunes library. To share my library on several devices when my Macbook was not available. Turns out the transfer speed is too slow for this purpose and I had to scratch that idea.
3. At times, it's been too slow to even use for Time Machine. The problem lies with the hard drive it seems since the wireless connection is extremely fast. Maybe there is some issue with the way the Time Capsule communicates with it's hard drive? I don't know, I only know it's painfully slow.
lf this can only be used as a wireless network hub and painfully slow backups, then there are better options out there. If Apple can somehow get this thing to work as advertised, then it might be worth a look. The way it is now... NOT RECOMMENDED!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Apple Time Capsule MB765LL/A 1TB

Wireless hard drive that works seamlessly with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard. It's also a full-featured 802.11n Wi-Fi base station Time Capsule works with Mac computers, PCs, iPhone, iPod touch, Apple TV, and virtually all 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless devices all at the same time Protect yourself with the built-in firewall and industry-standard encryption technologies including WPA/WPA2 and 128-bit WEP System Requirements - For Time Machine backup -Mac with Mac OS X Leopard / For setup and administration -Mac computer with Mac OS X v.10.4 or later, CD drive, and Ethernet or wireless networking capability; PC with Windows XP (SP2) or Windows Vista, CD drive, and Ethernet or wireless networking capability / For wireless client access -Mac with AirPort or AirPort Extreme wireless capability; PC with 802.11a/b/g/n / For shared hard drive -Mac with Mac OS X v10.4.8 or later; PC with Windows XP (SP2) or Windows Vista; Bonjour

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D-Link DSM-G600 Wireless G Network Storage Enclosure Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you don't mind wired speeds of 5.8-6 Megabytes / Second or Wireless 54g speeds of 1.5 Megabytes / Second then this is the device for you. D-link should not market this as Gigabit, it's just not true. I have a gigabit network infrastructure and from computer to computer or computer to other gigabit storage devices I get real-world speeds of 20-22 Megabytes per second transfer rates, BUT going from the same computer using the same network, the transfer speed to the DSM-G600 is 5.8 Megabytes per second. This is awful if you plan on doing anything useful with this device.
I thought I got a bad one, so I even took it back to get a new one and I get the same speed. I verified this with a friend who has the same model, same 6MB/Sec speed. I spoke w/ D-link level 3 support and they told me today that 6MB/Sec is what they have seen with this device and that if a firmware upgrade was available; it would only marginally improve this. There are reports on the internet of speeds between 20-25MB/Sec, so something is going on and D-Link needs to address this issue. BTW, I have Hardware Rev B1, Firmware 1.00
Other than that, the idea for this product is great and the price is right, just don't expect gigabit performance, heck it doesn't even reach 100 megabit speeds. What a shame.
The choice is yours.
11/22/2006 - I thought I owed everyone an update on this box. Since Jan I've been messing w/ this thing just trying to get it to work as advertised. I have tried all 3 Rev. B firmware: 1.00, 1.01, 1.02 (just released) and unfortunately 1.01 and 1.02 are worse than 1.00 - you will experience the web-gui pages only loading ½ way before the box reboots on you. So, now I'm stuck because I can't edit my wireless settings because the box won't stay alive long enough to edit anything. As usual, I will have to downgrade to 1.00 for it to be somewhat functional, although that kills uploading any file > 2gb. I really gave d-link a try on this one, but I would advise people to just stay away from this thing and wait for something better from some other company who offers true support and more frequent and accurate firmware updates or check out freenas, google "freenas" and build your own NAS box for free (minus the hardware) or if you are stuck w/ this google "fun_plug" to at least make this thing somewhat useful. Too many cons on this one:
1.Poor Tech Support
2.Lack of quality, tested firmware
3.Very long delays between firmware revisions
4.NOT GB speeds, way too slow for anything useful except word documents, etc.
5.Wireless has issues with WPA w/ TKIP and sometimes WEP (depending on what firmware you are running)
6.Hard drive doesn't spin down, so you waste energy and hard drive life
7.Very noisy, the fan is so loud you have to keep far away
8.Power button doesn't work right, they tried to fix it in firmware 1.02..
9.List goes on..


Click Here to see more reviews about: D-Link DSM-G600 Wireless G Network Storage Enclosure

Share files and digital media with everyone on the home or office networkAttach up to 2 USB 2.0/1.1 drives for additional storageGigabit Ethernet portAccess point functionality - creates an 802.11g wireless networkBuilt-in FTP serverProtect important files by making regular backupsIncludes detachable antenna power adapter Cat-5 UTP Ethernet cable and software

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HP EX490 1TB Mediasmart Home Server (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm technically inclined, but not an engineer. I have some experience with this topic... I first built my own server with spare parts and run it at my home. I am reviewing this because I bought it for my parents and installed it.
Preface - as of 2010, I've seen a lot of heartache about Mac Compatibility. Please, do some research before purchasing this product for a Mac to see if this will fit your needs. There is a TON of outside forum support about this. Otherwise my original review still stands:
Part 1: The software, and what HP brings to the party:
Windows Home Server is actually a program (based on Windows Server 2003 with enhancements, optimized and pre-configured), and is easy to use in a home. And it is good, all by itself. HP's contributions by adding on its own 'add-ins' make the software better.
As a sample of what this means for you, an example: If you are recording tv shows on in Windows 7 media center you can offload your shows here, and still stream them giving you instant access anytime over your home network from a windows 7 PC. The new update to the software also makes it so you can set windows 7 up to offload your recordings from your Windows 7 pc to the server automatically so you don't tie up your computer's storage space. If you want to take a look at what that kind of pc setup might look like, just search listmania for "Win 7 HTPC build"; I'm the first search hit.
So what does HP bring to this? If you have media files that you want to convert for viewing on a mobile device, HP bundled an add-in transcoding software on this so you can offload that work to server's CPU and not tie up your computer while you'd rather be surfing or playing games or whatever else you do to make things better (Note: HP's transcoding will NOT remove DRM). There are a lot more add-ins they bundle with this, but it's exhaustive and there isn't the space.
Bottom line, there are plenty of 'WHS' solutions. But my take is that HP has put a lot behind making this a great software bundle, and I have to say I'm impressed with the bonus they bring. Emphasis on the word Bonus, because they are 'nice to have-s' not designed for the people who consider them 'must-have-s'. The core functionality of streaming video, storing shares and back-up is what this is designed for. Part deux: What's so great about the hardware.
The pictures make it look big. But it is small - about the size of a small bread box turned on end. I was surprised when I unboxed it. It's also easy to add hard drives. It comes with one, but you'll get hooked and want to add one. Just take out a tray, pop in a recent generation "SATA II" drive and replace the tray in the server and it self configures. I recommend buying one straight away anyway because then you can turn on 'file duplication'. That means the server at your specific direction will keep duplicate copies of folders you select on two separate hard drives in the server as insurance against mechanical failure.
You can also back up the system drive, which I'm learning how to do, and you need an external USB drive to do that.
Energy-wise It pulls about 4 to 6 watts under normal operation. Yet another reason to buy this if you are power conscious. Don't let that figure fool you. There's plenty of hardware oomph for most people's needs.
Part Three - Documentation.
There is a lot of documentation! Just not in the box that comes with the server. WHS started out of a user community/company initiative that blossomed into a server software product that now you are seeing hardware being made for. So, if you aren't sure if this is for you - please take a look online about what other uses this is for and what alternatives are out there.
Summary:
Good build, solid software, continuous integration to Windows backed by a very committed enthusiast community that makes it so you don't have to think 'what if my hard drive crashes/computer shorts out/child vandalizes my computer?
It's automated and low/no maintenance. For a commited user: a 'no-brainer'. For someone who needs to purchase tech support from a computer vendor, I suggest that a home server is not likely a good fit for you. You are probably better off with an online backup service for your needs.
I like this one because it has extra drive bays. There are configurations that just use one hard drive, but I would pass on that.
If you are buying an add on drive, a Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 3.5 Inch, 32 MB Cache, 7200 RPM SATA II WD1001FALS should work just fine. Update - 7/9/10 WHS (the program, not the HP MediaSmart server) does random things when stuff starts failing, meaning if you ever get random restarts, can't find drives or things like that, it's not the software it's just not that robust to tell you when something is broken. On my HOMEMADE server, I had a stick of ram go bad and it gave me random errors until I figured it out. (But that's no different than any standard computer, just thought it was good to update about how its going)
Also, MSFT is working on a new version of WHS software called "Vail" that is in beta right now. It should handle errors like dying hard drives a bit more cleanly than what some folks are experiencing now...For those of you who are adventurous, I've put a listmania list together for you on how to build your own. http://www.amazon.com/lm/R1NJKRJG6H78L6/ref=cm_lm_pthnk_view?ie=UTF8&lm_bb=

Click Here to see more reviews about: HP EX490 1TB Mediasmart Home Server (Black)

The HP EX490 Media Smart Server is the all-in-one solution to manage your media: a home server that can automatically backup and protect your digital memories, centralize your media and content for sharing with family and friends, and enable you to enjoy your digital media while at home or away.Network-based backup of PCs using Windows Home Server as well as Macs using Apple's Time Machine.Media streaming of photos, music and videos to PCs, the entertainment center and remote devices including the iPhone.What's in the box: HP EX490 (1TB plus 3 unused expansion bays) MediaSmart Server,Power cord, Ethernet cable, Software installation disc , PC restore disc, Server recovery disc and Setup Poster and HP support guides.One year limited warranty and our dedicated software technical support available from date of purchase both online and by phone.

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Cisco-Linksys Network Storage System with 2 Bays (NAS200) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The others have said it as well as I can. I agree with almost everything written (except the brief 2 line review that says it stinks). But here is my pro/con/comment report:
Pros: Very easy to setup. Very easy to install SATA drives (no cables, just slide in like a hot-swappable scsi drive). NO CLIENT SOFTWARE needed to map drives (just connect to \\nas200\sharename). Web based configuration so no software needed to manage. Option to power down hard drives after 10/20 minutes of inactivity, then another option to power down internal fan 10/20 minutes AFTER hard drives power down (to allow case to cool, I guess. This option makes the unit completely silent when not in use (this wasn't mentioned in other reviews). Inserting a USB hard drive (even one previously formatted as NTFS) results in instant detection, AND instant default share created (\\nas200\disk_1_1 for USB1). (to remove the usb external drive while the NAS is running press the small eject button next to the appropriate USB port. If you pull the cable or shut down the external drive, the NAS needs to be reset to see ALL shares). RAID1 option for protecting that precious data (it recommends configuring as individual drives, but no way would I do that. Why wouldn't you select RAID1 if available? Protect those precious family pictures, guys!). Small footprint, stacks with other linksys gear (routers, switches, APs, etc). Option to automatically shutdown every day or a given day of week at a set time. As nice as that is, the fact that the drives and then fan shutdown after inactivity makes it quiet and power saving anyway. Smaller and quieter and easier than using a separate computer (if you were considering making a Linux file "server" out of that spare tower case you had lying around). You don't need client software to map drives, however, the included client software, if you choose to install it, is very helpful and makes mapping drives very easy (adds a system tray icon to quickly map/unmap drives). Also, the software lets you attach the external USB drives from the NAS as if they were local USB drives (which I thought was very cool).
Cons: somewhat slow. I did 6GB in 30 minutes, so figure over an hour for 10-12GB of data over the 100Mb network. I think people are expecting too much from FastEthernet. Especially if you are using wireless! Here are the numbers: 100Megabits per second = 12.5megabytes per second = 750megabytes/minute = 45,000megabytes/minute = 44(real)Gigabytes/minute (assume 40 because FastEthernet really only gets around 90Mb/s in real world). So this unit is running around 25Mb instead of 100. But I wouldn't throw it out because of that. Also, if you are on wireless, well then your network is only really going around 12Mb/s at its best (over 802.11g) real world numbers. To display the list of files in an explorer window sometimes takes 10-20 seconds (but sometimes the files pop right up in a few seconds). When you have gigabit file sharing at work, the NAS is excruciatingly slow. No support for usb printer (the SLUG unit that linksys sells, basically this device with only 2 external USB drive support, has an active community writing Linux firmware that adds all kinds of features, including print server and firewall. I wonder if anyone is working on open source firmware for the nas200?). I digress. More cons: no provision to backup internal drives to external drives (another item on my Linux wishlist). For some reason, I thought that was mentioned on the spec sheet. If you pull an external drive, all shares disappear and you have to power cycle the unit. Takes almost 2 minutes to boot up. No option to power down external USB drives after inactivity, so even when the nas200 fan and internal drives shutdown, the external drives are still humming along. Not as feature rich as making a Linux file server out of that spare computer case you have lying around ;-).
Conclusion: I like the unit. I think it's really 3.5 stars. Its a little slow, but quiet and small, and it holds as much as you put in (I got two 320GB SATA drives, $80 each). If the USB ports could be print servers, that would be one less device in my linksys "stack". If the box could automatically backup internal drives to the external USB, that would be a little more peace of mind. I use it as my picture, document, and MP3 primary storage. The raid1 protects my data, and I use external USB drives to backup (but it's combersome because I simply map drive letters to both the internal drives and the external drives, then copy from one to the other. It would be nice if that feature was built-in). Its nice to have a unified file storage system at home, where I have 4 laptops and a desktop (for gaming :-), and to do it for about $300. Considering the small outlay, its worth getting to fool around with. If in the end, the speed is too slow for your home/SOHO network...you are only out $140 (and you can put the SATA drives in your beefy gaming rig).

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cisco-Linksys Network Storage System with 2 Bays (NAS200)

Now you can quickly and easily add storage space onto your network with the Linksys Network Storage System. This stand-alone network appliance features two available SATA hard drive bays so you can attach as much storage as you need now, and add more later as your storage needs grow. For even more expandability, there are two USB ports that let you connect readily available USB 2.0 hard drives for even more storage space -- or plug in a USB flash disk for a convenient way of accessing your portable data files.

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Seagate BlackArmor NAS 220 2-Bay 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) Network Attached Storage ST320005LSA10G-RK Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I feel like I'm in a good place to review this item because I own both the Seagate 220 and also the Western Digital MyBook World Edition, and they are competitors. Both are inexpensive network attached storage appropriate for a home office or for home use. For both machines the only feature I use is reading and writing to the hard drive through windows sharing (from either a windows computer or a linux computer). For that reason I will not comment too much on some of the features like automatic backups, media sharing, etc. For the most part on machines of this level those features are gimmicks. They don't work very well and they degrade overall performance of the NAS, as you will be able to read from other people's reviews. When I want to play media from my NAS, I just mount the drive through windows sharing and play what I want. When I want to back up my computer, I copy stuff myself. For the reason I have a generally more favourable view of both of these machines than other people.
Anyway, on with the review. First I will mention two issues I had to overcome before this NAS was reasonably functional for me.
1. This is the big issue I had to fix: This Seagate NAS does not work well with just any gigabit switch. I originally had it plugged in to a TP-Link switch. I could write to the NAS at full speed, but when I wanted to read from it, the speed was horrible. Maybe 1/20th the speed at which I could write to the NAS. After spending a good deal of time researching the issue online I found out the NAS doesn't play well with some routers and switches. Notably it does not work with D-Link switches. Well, I will add TP-Link to the list it doesn't work with. If I plugged the NAS directly into my Linksys router, the problem went away, but that's only a 100-megabit connection. The funny thing is that the traffic still had to go through the TP-Link switch. In other words, the device this is directly plugged into matters, the rest of the network really doesn't. Anyway I tried various solutions (changing the frame size and so forth). They don't work. The only solution was to buy a netgear switch. If your network has a TP-Link or D-Link switch or router that you'd like to plug this into, budget for a netgear gigabit switch. They aren't real expensive, but I was very annoyed at this problem.
2. This is a small issue, and partly windows' fault: If you create a shortcut to this shared drive in windows and then play a movie from the NAS, it will disconnect 20 minutes into the movie. I originally thought this had to do with the NAS going into sleep mode, but I disabled that feature and it didn't change anything. I didn't notice the problem when playing from my linux machine, and the WD NAS doesn't do this. Anyway, the solution is to actually map the drive in "My Computer" instead of just using a shortcut to get to it. You'd think there would be no difference between those two, but the former works and the latter disconnects after 20 minutes.
Having overcome those two problems, the NAS now functions very nicely for me. The main thing I use this NAS for is to play movies that I have ripped from my DVD collection. They play perfectly on any computer in the house and I can even play two movies on two different computers. Actually I'm not sure how many movies I can play at a time. Nor have I tried playing any HD movies yet, so I can't comment on that, but the speed over my gigabit network seems more than adequate for that.
A couple of comparisons with the Western Digital:
1. This machine is significantly faster than the Western Digital. When I upload to this machine from my Linux box I sustain about 18 or 19 megabytes per second. On the Western Digital I get about 11. This may not sound like a big difference here, but when copying a large file or backing up a whole computer, it makes a very noticeable difference. I don't pay a lot of attention to my download copy speed, but it is above 30 MB per second, whereas I get more like 19 from the Western Digital. I am running this in a RAID 0 configuration. However, I also did a speed test using JBOD and the speeds were exactly the same, so the gain is not really from the RAID (the WD I use has only one HD in it, so there's no RAID option).
2. The Seagate is significantly louder than the Western Digital. It's not loud compared to most hardware, but you can hear the drives spinning if you get close and listen, and when they start up or go to sleep you can hear a click that is pretty noticeable. Sometimes it clicks when no one is using it and you would think it would just be sleeping peacefully. At first I thought this was a hardware problem but it turns out that my NAS is fine. It's just louder than expected. Of course, WD sets the bar high for silence. It is almost impossible to tell if the WD machine is on or doing anything if you ignore the lights on the front (or disable them, as I have).
3. The Seagate is much larger physically. It's not big on an absolute scale, and I don't keep it on my desktop, so it's not a problem, but it's much larger than the WD. The WD is just a hair larger than the actual drive inside it. The Seagate looks like a UPS or something. Anyway I think it looks nice, but one should be aware that it's not as minimalist as some others.
4. The Seagate doesn't try to accommodate tweaks from expert users as much, and it has a much smaller and less active user base. Both machines run Linux under the hood, so if there's a problem with them an experienced user could get in and change things up. On the Western Digital you can enable ssh access through the web interface. And there are bunches of tutorials online about how to fix the technical glitches this comes with and even install new hardware on it. Personally I went in and disabled their media playing software and the software that runs an apple network. Apparently on the WD these things run even though you disabled them and they mess the machine up. Anyway, there is no ssh option on the seagate, so in principle you can't go in and change things. There aren't really help pages for experts. However, recently a user did figure out a way to enable ssh. He wrote an update to the firmware. I used it and it works great, but I can see how some users may not feel comfortable upgrading their firmware in order to get ssh access. Anyway after ssh'ing in, I found that there is one windows bug that the NAS wasn't dealing with well. That is, windows clients delete the last character of the share when they are reading and it causes a bunch of errors to the log, though it still seems to work ok. The workaround is to create another share on the NAS that is not visible, called "Publi", which refers to the same directory. So I'm glad to be ssh'ing in now. Still, for tweaking, it's a better bet to go with the WD. It's been vetted by more linux people.
Anyway, this drive works very well for me. It's my larger and higher performance network attached storage and it is quite reliable for me. When I purchased it, this was cheaper than the equivalent capacity in WD (I use the 4 TB version). In part I believe I'm happy with it because I don't try and use the features that get touted in ads. I just use it as network attached storage. That's true of both drives, and it's what I recommend. The forums for both these machines are full of people ranting about how their device doesn't do what they want and that no one at the company seems to care about them---that's why I say just use it as a remote hard drive. Based on my perusal of the forums, Seagate seems to support their NAS customers less (at least on the forums), though neither company is real great in that respect.
I love both of my network storage devices and I use them both all the time. This seagate is a great buy. When I bought it, at least, it was the cheapest NAS available with this capacity and it turns out to be a very good performer. It's really nice to be able to back things up or store all my large files in one place and be able to access them from any computer in my house. If I were to buy a third NAS, it would probably be another Seagate, just because it's cheaper and faster than the competition.
But make sure you plug it into a NETGEAR device, not a TP-Link or D-Link. I'm not sure about other brands.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Seagate BlackArmor NAS 220 2-Bay 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) Network Attached Storage ST320005LSA10G-RK

Seagate BlackArmor 2 TB NAS 220 Network Attached Storage Server

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Iomega Home Media 1 TB Network Attached Storage 34337 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been using the 1TB media drive for about a month and a half now and have had a very positive experience. I set it up on an XP machine and had little problem connecting to it from my Vista laptop and XP netbook without installing any software. The only feature I haven't used is the USB print server (my printer is located in my office and the hard drive is connected in the living room next to the router and haven't wanted to move either one so they could be physically connected).
My PS3 automatically found the device on the network, and I use the PS3 to watch TV shows stored on the hard drive on my HDTV. This works great. I can't edit files using the PS3, but I can play AVI and MP3 files (I sometimes play music through my stereo system this way as well as TV shows). Formats like .mkv files won't play this way, but that's a function of the PS3 rather than a limitation of the hard drive.
I'm not using the backup software that comes with it; I manually load files to the device from any of my computers. I store my business files, writing, music, etc. on the drive and thus can, for instance, sit outside with my netbook while still accessing all my files (which is handy since the netbook has very little local storage). All my files are in one place and it doesn't matter which computer I'm using.
Uploading files is not much, if any, faster than a USB 2.0 drive in my experience, but download speeds seem very snappy and even very high resolution video files play back over the network with no delay.
For me, this HD solved a lot of problems. I highly recommend it if you have multiple PCs in your house and a collection of media or data files that you want to share, especially if you have a supported device like a PS3 connected to your TV. If you only have one PC and don't want to play media on your TV, you're better off with a 1 TB USB drive since that will be cheaper.Pros
* Decent transfer performance over my network (via both wired and wireless connections)
* Can connect to it via PS3 or Xbox 360 to view/listen to media files
* Pretty painless setup
* Takes up very little space
* Works exactly as advertised and I'm in no danger of filling up the huge 1 TB drive
Cons
* Drive is a little noisy
* Whether it's a factor of my router or the net drive, sometimes my netbook (wireless) and PS3 (wired) lose connection temporarily. I think this is something happening on my network rather than the drive though.
* If I rename a file on the drive using my PC while a file is playing back on my PS3, there is a hiccup on playback: I lose sound for a second, then sound resumes but video playback lags for a few seconds before resuming. Audio and video remain synced when this happens, though.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Iomega Home Media 1 TB Network Attached Storage 34337

Enjoy your digital life! Easily share and access photos, videos and music between your home computers with the Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive. This device provides easy-to-use, yet powerful, network storage for the home user and the three step setup is a breeze, even if you've never used a network drive before. Save all your digital files to one central location and share them between computers on your network. Then play back your pictures, videos and music from digital media adapters such as game consoles, digital picture frames or networked TVs. Built-in iTunes support automatically feeds music into iTunes for easy playback. Easily share one printer over the network. Control which family members have access to certain folders. Plus, secure your memories and backup automatically with award winning EMC Retrospect software (PC/Mac) and for extra protection backup online with MozyHome Online Backup service with 2GB free.


A Great Way to Network Multiple Computers in Your Home Easily share and access photos, videos and music between your home computers with the Iomega ® Home Media Network Hard Drive, Gigabit Ethernet/USB 2.0. This device provides easy-to-use, powerful network storage for the home user, allowing you to save all your digital files to one central location and share them between computers on your network.



Easy to Use, Secure, Fast and Powerful With a three step set-up, sharing your files has never been easier. The Home Media Network Hard Drive uses a Gigabit Ethernet connection for fast performance. And with EMC Retrospect HD software, your critical data is secure.







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Western Digital My Book World Edition II - 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) Network Attached Storage Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Let me start off by saying, I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit and only know of how the device works on my setup. The NAS itself is quite nice. It's quiet, energy efficient and very simple to install. You just plug in a network cable and power, and wait until the light stops moving. Then browse to the admin web page and presto you got 3.8TB (RAID0) or 1.8TB(RAID1) to fill up.
Windows 7 instantly saw this thing as a network resource and I was able to browse to it. I didn't know what IP it had taken from my DHCP server, but the index.html file that I saw on the drive redirected me to it without a problem. Overall a nice little NAS that serves up music, movies and stores backups for my whole household.
I use the included Media Center and my wife uses XBMC on her WinXP laptop for movies, and we share a common library for music via iTunes. We can both be accessing different songs and/or movies without a single issue or skip...very nice!
Now the problem...IT IS SLOOOOOOOOW!
Forget what WD says about a 10/100/1000 connection because it just isn't going to happen. Everything I've read on every forum I can find says it's due to the weak processor that WD chose to use to run the Linux OS driving the whole thing. I get 11MB/s max, and that is using TerraCopy and not the even slower included windows explorer copy function. Moving my 130GB music collection (yes, all legal!) took hours. I manage that collection with iTunes and I've made the mistake of trying to update the ID3 tags on an entire genre of music...sloooooooow.
Summary: Don't expect the speed of an external USB or FireWire drive...it just isn't going to happen, but it will serve up music and movies at the same time without missing a beat. The only thing to clear your schedule for is making large data transfers or updates. I recommend getting your music and movies the way you want them locally, and then moving them to this NAS.

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Western Digital presents the WD My Book World II 2TB Network Hard Drive Storage Device - WDG2NC20000N, a superior STORAGE product. Designed for home users, creative professionals, workgroups, and anyone looking for shared storage, WD's My Book World Edition II offers a surprisingly simple and secure way to access and share your data, presentations, and photos at home, in the office and anywhere in the world, even when your local computer is turned off. The dualdrive network storage system combines 2.0 TB of storage, versatile RAID capability, backup software, user-serviceability, and remote access software to make it the most versatile and powerful remote access storage system in its class

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Apple Time Capsule MB277LL/A (AirPort Extreme Plus 1 TB Storage) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased the 1 TB Time Capsule to replace my Linksys Router and an external Lacie 500 GB HDD. Setup took about 2 minutes - and I was up and running. It was extremely simple - insert the disk into a drive, install version 5.3 of the AirPort Utility, answer a few questions, and you are up and running - easy as pie.
That said, I have a warning for power users who want more security than a disk password - IE; you use user accounts for file sharing, etc. Instead of following the 'easy' path, you will want to use 'manual setup'. If you initially use the 'easy' setup and want to go back and change from a disk password for security to account security, you will lose any data you have transferred to the disk - that is correct, you will lose any data you have transferred to your disk - for me that was a 7 hour, 350 GB transfer - lesson learned.
I backup two computers via time machine on the Time Capsule - a Mac Mini, and a MacBook Air. They both averaged 25 GB on the first time machine backup, which took about 2.5 hours each via Ethernet - which is another point - you will want to use Ethernet instead of WiFi for your first backup - as the Time Capsule will truncate the transfer rate to allow others to keep using the AirPort.
That said, I am using the 802.11n (5Ghz) setting on the time capsule - and when I am surfing or downloading files via the internet on my MacBook Air, I honestly can't tell the difference between that and a direct Ethernet connection - when connected to the internet via cable Modem. It is absolutely incredible. To give you an example of the 802.11n transfer rate - I am sharing a single library stored on the Time Capsule for both my iTunes and iPhoto programs between the two computers - it used to take 45 to 60 seconds for the iPhoto library to come up when accessing via 802.11g (Linksys) on the MacBook Air - accessing the iPhoto library now via the 802.11n connection on the MacBook Air takes 5 seconds or less.
As you can guess from the previous statement, in addition to backup - I am also using the Time Capsule as an External HDD - I have about 350 GB of music and 100 GB of video stored on it. And so far so good!
Overall I am extremely pleased with this product and would recommend it to anyone!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Apple Time Capsule MB277LL/A (AirPort Extreme Plus 1 TB Storage)

Introducing Time Capsule. Automatic wireless backup for your Mac. Time Capsule is a revolutionary backup device that works wirelessly with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard. It automatically backs up everything, so you no longer have to worry about losing your digital life. Time Capsule is also a full-featured 802.11n Wi-Fi base station. Every computer in your house can work off a wireless network at blazing speeds. And they can back up wirelessly to the same Time Capsule.

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Apple Time Capsule MB276LL/A (AirPort Extreme Plus 500 GB Storage) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been using Time Machine since I upgraded to Leopard. While Time Machine is great for backing up my iMac, its a pain to have to hook up my Mac Book Pro and new Mac Book Air to an external hard drive. The Time Capsule is great for that. So long as my laptop is open and running, a backup can happen.
Make sure you remember to do your first backup using ethernet. Otherwise it is going to be slow. Apple does not want to bog down your network with backups, so when you are backing up wirelessly, it will intentionally throttle the connection sped.
This device also functions as a wireless router. I was able to remove my previous Air Port Extreme from the network. The large size is nice because you are able to share one large drive and backup several smaller computers. My iMac and laptop all backup just fine.
The device does run a little hot. The Best Way to Backup a Mac Laptop

Click Here to see more reviews about: Apple Time Capsule MB276LL/A (AirPort Extreme Plus 500 GB Storage)

Introducing Time Capsule. Automatic wireless backup for your Mac. Time Capsule is a revolutionary backup device that works wirelessly with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard. It automatically backs up everything, so you no longer have to worry about losing your digital life. Time Capsule is also a full-featured 802.11n Wi-Fi base station. Every computer in your house can work off a wireless network at blazing speeds. And they can back up wirelessly to the same Time Capsule.

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Data Robotics Drobo FS 5 TB Bundle DS2A2-10EARS-5 - Includes One Drobo S and Five 1 TB WD Caviar Green Hard Drive (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)A fantastic NAS solution - setup was simple, configuration straight forward and it works great with all the systems I have (Mac, Windows, Linux). I'm using it to store my digital library and make it easily available to everyone in the house. I highly recommend this for anyone who needs lots of on-line storage.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Data Robotics Drobo FS 5 TB Bundle DS2A2-10EARS-5 - Includes One Drobo S and Five 1 TB WD Caviar Green Hard Drive (Black)

The revolutionary Drobo FS was designed with one purpose in mind: to deliver the best file sharing experience ever. From the moment you plug it in and see it instantly appear on your desktop, you'll know there's nothing like it. The all-in-one Drobo FS is perfect for any connected home, home office, or small office environment that needs a simple, safe device for sharing and backing up files over the network. Like all Drobo storage products, Drobo FS provides redundant data protection without the complexities of RAID. Just plug in your Drobo FS and your data protection is all set up with no configuration required. We call this BeyondRAID technology. You'll call it peace of mind. Use the free DroboCopy utility to create backups for every machine on your network, or use your favorite backup software.

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