Customer Reviews

Maxtor Central Axis Business Edition 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) Desktop Network Attached Storage Server STM320005CDA00G-RK

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

let me start off the review by talking about the physical aspect of this nas. it is pretty dang big and heavy, which is not a bad thing. it projects, the i'm here to make business attitude, yet elegant in its brushed black metal casing. When i first got it i noticed the fan and was immediately a little disappointed. anytime external drives have fans they are loud and annoying. fortunately this wasn't the case. the fan when on was fairly quiet and turns off after a while.

moving on to the actual usage of the nas. its easy enough to hit it using a browser to access the menu and set it up to the way you like. from there you can map it as a network drive without any issues. i haven't tried it's media server capabilities so i can't comment on that. the primary reason i'm using this drive is as a backup. unfortunately it seems like i am locked into using the maxtor software to set up my backup folders. i wanted to use deltacopy but i don't think that possible, maybe i just need to do some more research. the maxtor software is a little slow but it serves its purpose. i was able to pick the folders i want backed up and the schedule to do it on. it's an incremental backup like r-sync i believe so after the first initial backup it should only pick up the changes. one of the neat things about this drive is that it is set up as a mirror. so it actually backs up itself on the second tb. sure you're losing 1tb of storage but that's peace of mind. if that's not your cup of tea you can also use the full 2tb as storage. it's very simple to switch, but it will destroy all saved data.

overall i'm pleased with the nas. lots of storage, easy to install and use, and decent backup software not much more to ask after that.

For anyone who does not have a raided system and are concerned about their data, this is the product to buy! My computer does have a raid setup, but I stopped trusting it since it hasn't functioned as it was suppose to. My wife is always concerned about her photos and always has me copy it to multiple places just in case if a hard drive dies. Now, all I have to do is copy it to one drive and it gets mirrored on this NAS. Perfect! For those who don't want to mirror the data, you can always break the raid and make this a 2TB external hard drive. Highly recommended by the wife and I!!!

While you may want to purchase this device in order to back up two or three computer connected to your home network, don't confuse this product with an actual server. While this device can back up multiple computers, it is driven by software that is extremely slow, arcane, and that loses touch with the network computers when the least little network or computer glitch appears. Lose network access? Lose your back-up access. Windows issue? Lose your back-up access. Even when the Maxtor is working correctly, there is a delay during use that's similar to using a REALLY old processor. You'll find yourself clicking "enter" multiple times, thinking that Maxtor did not get your request.

I LOVE the idea of having a bullet-proof remote back-up in one place for all my media, family photos, business files, music, etceteras. This product is unfortunately a swing and a miss. A $300 miss. Try any number of the the available (cheap) remote hard drives and the Macrium Reflect Disc Imaging system.

i bought this so i could plug my other maxtor usb storage devices into it.. it does not read or recognize my other maxtor storage. be sure to have your decoder ring ready when you set this up because the instuctions dont seem to be complete. i was able to setup most of the functions on windows xp but customizing folders and settings was awkard and sometimes unsucessful.. i suspect the stiffness of the setup is due to a linux based menu. the setup and administration is S-L-O-W. maxtor should be ashamed of this product. i would not have bought this if i had seen the operation prior to purchase... i believed the hype on the box....i would advise you to read the reviews of the 1 TB maxtor here on amazon which will have a longer user history of the same setup and operating software. i also sense there can be a high failure rate due to the hardware containment or drive type. i have had this for several days but plan to offer it for sale on an online auction site because it did not meet my expectations of quality operation that maxtor is known for.

The server works excellent. We set it up to to use one drive for file storage and backup on the other drive.