Cubeternet NAS Network Attached Storage Enclosure for Multiple Drives or Printer Sharing + Bit Torrent

by Cubeternet

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 1.8 inches ; 8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B001S08YT0
• Item model number: 650BT
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 8, 2009

Product Description

This item comes with a USB HOST port which allows you to share multiple drives through network, in addition to the drive installed inside the enclosure. The USB HOST port takes multiple USB drives including external hard drives (either SATA or IDE/PATA), flash memory drives or with card readers, etc.). Files can be instantly shared by network via the built-in SMB Server and FTP Server. The USB HOST also supports TCP/IP Printer Server service for sharing one printer through network. The item also supports Bit Torrent downloading. So you may leave the downloading jobs to this device without bothering your computer resources.

* One RJ45 Ethernet port and one USB 2.0 Type B port; One USB HOST Type A port for sharing one printer (MFC excluded) or multiple USB storage devices via a powered USB Hub
* Data Transfer rate: Ethernet up to 100Mbps, USB 2.0 up to 480 Mbps
* Built in large cooling fan for better heat dissipation
* Chipset: CAVIUM NETWORKS STR8132
* Supports Bit Torrent download
* Support DDNS to ease the sharing through internet
* Flexible configuration as static IP, DHCP client, or DHCP server
* Built-in FTP server, SMB/SAMBA server
* Enclosure compatible with 3.5-inch SATA I(150Mbps)/SATA II(300Mbps) and 48-bit addressing files, up to 2+ TB
* Support multiple partitions with different file systems including EXT3, FAT32 or NTFS, FAT16, etc.
* Intuitive web-based Management Software WEBGUI
* LED indicators for power and action
* Upgradeable firmware
* Automatic power saving mode
* System requirements: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista/Win7, Mac OS X 10.3+, Linux
* Supports all major browsers including Safari, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Netscape
* Dimension: 202(L) x 127(W) x 46(H)mm

Package Includes
* NAS Caddy with Base Stand
* User's Manual
* Cat 5 Cable
* USB Data Cable
* Internal SATA Power and Data Cables
* Power Adapter and Power Cable

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good and bad news, plus note for OS X users, July 17, 2009

By 

Jose Elias (Santiago, Dominican Republic) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cubeternet NAS Network Attached Storage Enclosure for Multiple Drives or Printer Sharing + Bit Torrent (Electronics)

I have this unit on my network connected with a 1.5TB drive (see warning below) to both a couple of Windows XP machines and a couple of Mac OS X (Leopard) machines. The NAS share is recognized correctly under both operating systems, and I have been able to read and write from both.

However, as a print server I can only get it to work on Windows (which is very nice btw since I can now print over WiFi, since I have this NAS box connected to my WiFi router). From OS X it simply doesn't work (and the manual that comes with it only gives instructions for Windows printing, so maybe OS X is simply not supported). This is a pain because now if I want to print from OS X I need to manually disconnect the printer from the NAS and connect it to my MacBook directly. I'm getting around it by printing from windows-within-OSX using Parallels Desktop, but there are things for which I simply need to print from OS X (i.e.: special files which Windows or windows programs cannot understand to open and print).

One note of caution: If you're planning on using a drive larger than 1TB, do NOT use the web interface to format the drive, as it can only format drives up to 1TB. If you have this problem, the solution is to connect the NAS via USB to your windows machine and format the drive there first.

Another thing is that for Windows users it's easy to find the NAS web interface, as it mounts itself with a local DNS name so all you have to do is go to http://NAS on your browser. For OS X however you need to know the IP address.

There are at least 2 ways I can think that you can find the NAS IP address:

1. Open the command (DOS) box in windows and type this (this is assuming that from windows you setup the nas box name as "nas"):

ping nas

That will return a set of numbers like for example 192.168.0.222, in which case open up your mac browser and go to the address http://192.168.0.222

2. Login to your local router or WiFi box and somewhere in the settings you should see the IP addresses of all connected devices.

One final thing is that the manual makes absolutely no mention of how to install the drive (not even a simple diagram), so non-tech users could be very confused. Here are some tips:

1. Unscrew the 4 bottom screws (weird enough, the drive actually sits at the bottom of the unit, not on top), and open the case to reveal the interior. Inside you will find a base which you can use to stand the unit sideways once you're all done.

2. Unscrew the side screws and slide out the black side panels.

3. Insert the drive and connect the 2 cables that came with the NAS box to the only 2 places inside the drive where they fit.

4. Use the little screws that probably came with your hard drive to attach the drive inside the box by screwing the sides.

5. Close everything.

TIP: Do not screw the drive and close everything until you test the USB and netowork (LAN) connection first. Once you make sure all is fine, put all the crews back on.

HELP: If anyone can figure out the official website for this product from where I can download firmware updates, please reply to this review so I get an email alerting me. My (little) hope is that a newer firmware update will allow OS X printing...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Functional Network Storage, April 28, 2011

By 

Dry (Rocklin, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cubeternet NAS Network Attached Storage Enclosure for Multiple Drives or Printer Sharing + Bit Torrent (Electronics)

Pros
* I bought this 2 years ago, it has been running non stop.
* I plugged it in to the network, set it up 1 time, and all systems (windows) have been able to map a drive to it with no software or settings change.

Cons
* It seems to operate in half-duplex mode, i can copy a file to it, copy a file from it, but trying to open a file on it or launching an install from it, will not work. It errors saying lost connection to file.
* The speed is very slow, and strangely if I copy a file from a USB drive connected to a computer thru the network to the drive it is 10 times slower than if I copy it to the desktop then the drive.

Opinion
I would not buy it again, it has been functional as a file server, which is all I want. however it is too slow. Also being a single drive, I have to worry about loosing the data.

Action
I am now getting the ReadyNAS duo

NETGEAR ReadyNAS Duo 2-Bay (Diskless) Desktop Network Attached Storage RND2000

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Product - Poor Documentation, April 30, 2009

By 

Chris - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cubeternet NAS Network Attached Storage Enclosure for Multiple Drives or Printer Sharing + Bit Torrent (Electronics)

Low review because of poor documentation.

Pros:
Reads and writes to NTFS and FAT32. Supports multiple partitions. The large cooling fan is very quiet. FAT32 formating and single partition can be done via unit configureation panel. This is good because windows no longer supports FAT32 fromating for large drives.
Cons:
Has 2 lights, power and network activity, no disk activity light. VERY VERY VERY poor documentation. Security settings for NTFS is root level only. Havent been able to find support site to check for firmware updates if updates exist (control panel does allow firmware updates). Can't use both usb and network link at the same time. Partitions and NTFS formating must be done externally (via usb connection).

Details:
I am using a 1.5TB drive. Because of poor documentation, especially using NTFS and multiple partitions, I spent several hours experimenting to understand the limitations. I haven't used the printserver feature of bittorent, nor am i using the ftp. I have setup 3 ntfs partitions (due to root level security). It appears to set up a small 4th partition for bittorent which i haven't been able to remove (can disable but not remove). Control panel does have an area for firware updates, but i haven't been able to find any firmware posting on the web. The fan is so silent that i can hear the drive clicks more.

Summary:
Nice unit for the price. Its quiet and does support NTFS along with multiple partitions. Very poor documentation. Unable to locate any possible firmware updates. Low review stars due to poor Documentation.