Amazon.com: Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 - 2 TB (2 x 1TB) Network Attached Storage 34481: Electronics

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3.1 out of 5 stars (118 customer reviews)

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65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apple Time Capsule Killer, Awsome NAS solution, December 11, 2009

S. Kakulla - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 1 TB (2 x 500GB) Network Attached Storage 34749 (Personal Computers)

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

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48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Product, Please Read, December 26, 2009

Terra Schneider "Shrek" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 - 2 TB (2 x 1TB) Network Attached Storage 34481 (Personal Computers)

I have been working with computers for about 20 years. This product does everything at a GREAT price. People who have problems aren't as technical as they may think they are or seem. Believe me, most reviews don't mean squat, but this is good stuff...

Iomega has been, in the past, not so desireable for mass storage because of the ZipDrive. Ya, many of you bought into the whole MEGA floppy era, but hey, what else did you have? Then NAS came around, but very expensive, this is a solution that is priced right (with Hard drives) and has all the nesseccary tools. The interface is HTML, but unless your network is a joke, it's NOT slow like others have mentioned. I setup my whole system from a wireless connectiion from my laptop after hard wiring the storage unit into my router. Here are a couple of key items to note.

1. Iomega uses ther own hard disks. 5400RPM, but I would of liked 7200RPM. I think 5400RPM was used to reduce heat in the small form factor and overall cost.
2. If you need to copy large amounts of data within or to the storage disk from USB use the Iomega "Copy Jobs", it will save you a LOT of time and won't depend on your computer.
3. Iomega thought that everyone that purchased this unit would be an idiot, so you may have to swap some file around after you copy them or back them up becuase many "Default" locations have been set in there interface. (Like the "QuikTransfer" folder for all your "One Touch" backups)
4. "One Touch" backup for cameras and USB drives works great but you need to setup the "Copy Jobs" accordingly.
5. You do NOT need to load the Iomega software on each computer you have to see the drive.
6. I've found that the web certificate for the interface is a little nutty if you don't use the Iomega software but other than that no issues. (I only have one out of four computers that accually have the software loaded.)
7. Streaming HD video is a nice addition to my XBOX 360.

Hope this helps your decision..

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62 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars All that is advertised but not quite as you expect it. Also A Heating issue After the First Week.-, December 25, 2009

Sterling Jimenez "stejimenez" (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 - 2 TB (2 x 1TB) Network Attached Storage 34481 (Personal Computers)

Well let me start by saying this... it does everything it promises; but there is not a single thing you can say it does perfect ( good concept, bad execution). Every option its too limited. It lacks functionality on everything it is supposed to do, and Support sucks. Still a long way to go to compete with Drobo, it lacks a lot of development.

Prior to purchasing this NAS I had an old Inspiron 6000 with XP as a "Home Server". It served files, Itunes, media, and along with 2GB memory and 2TB external Firewire disk I had speed and backup space. the only thing missing was Time Machine Support. I bought this Iomega to save on power, and because it was "So easy to use and convenient" according to all biased reviews I read.

Functionality:

A) Setup: Yes, it is easy to set up, But, the setup assistant doesn't work on a wireless network. your machine has to be wired to the router in order to recognize the storecenter. Also this web interface is awful, sometimes you get a timeout or page not found (verified in forums with other users). Also to update the firmware you have to manually download it form Iomega site because the function that is supposed to check for and update always says "The device software is up to date" even thou there was a mandatory update on the site. Also, you can enable and disable most of the functions but there are no options in almost any of the functions so you have to use them "as they are configured by Iomega".

B) Backup: it does a fair job with the backups, but there is no option to limit the amount of space used by Time Machine. You can set a quota to every folder on the device but not to the time machine folder. And if you have 3 Macs and manage a lot of pictures and movies Time Machine Backups fill all the disk space in no time so you don't have space for the other files.

c) Torrents: it does download torrents, but, you have little control over the process. you can only add .torrents files from the custom Web interface (there is monitored folder for autoloading .torrents like all torrents managers), You cannot use Magnet links or any other form of links (except a direct internet link to the .torrent). You cannot Pause or Stop torrents if it is not done ONE BY ONE; everything has to be done One by One, not a good thing if you leech or serve a lot of torrents. The interface fails to delete completed torrents, and there is a known torrent delete bug (admitted in the Iomega forums by developers) that can render your NAS useless. No way to configure how many torrents are active at a time, so all torrets are active always, this means a lot of waiting time if you have a lot of torrents and you are waiting for the first one on line.

d) UPnP Server: It does scan all the disk for movies and media and makes the available in the net, You just have to enable the option and thats it. I dont know what UPnP version this Nas uses, but most of the times if you are watching a movie on the Xbox and a mac starts a time machine backup, movie just freezes and sometimes terminate without a reason. This does not happens to my old inspiron when watching a movie and carboncopy initiated a backup. Also if you use XBMC it does not handle the srt files for subtitles. Streaming its very slow, compared to other UPnP devices on the same network and using the same equipment. Fast Forward its unbearable. Good concept bad execution.

e) Itunes Server: It does serve (share) your itunes library over the Lan, but, even thou the manual instruct you to option-copy all the itunes folder to the music folder in the NAS, you don't get the Customs Playlist nor the default Itunes playlists. There are no Playlist at all. Everyhing appears on a big library on shared with your storage name (some basic distinction like Music and Movies and thats all). Again good concept bad execution.

f) Printers: havent used this feature.

g) File Server: It has a very nice configuration of local users and groups permissions. There is a bug that if you use another thing (like windows explorer or mac finder) except the web interface al file sizes reads 1MB, So you can only see file sizes of web interface. It does a great job in mounting the time machine disk and dismounting it even when you change the Nas ip, this is transparent to the OS and the user. SMB and Windows Share ARE SLOW... very Slow (tested on 2 windows machines and one Original Xbox using XBMC). Apple AFP is FAST very fast.

h) Iomega Storecenter Software: I havent used it in windows but its ok on the mac. The only thing is that every time you close the Safari Window it opens you have to click File>Open>Device and place your login information. Also It runs an script when the user logs on that tries to connect to all shares on the NAS... great concept if you are always at your house or where the device is, bad if you have to leave the location; you get a gazilion errors and disconnect warnings. Also if for some reason you put the computer to sleep and/or disconnect any of the shares accidentally on finder, running the script does not work. you have to logout and login. also if you hit help osX request your administrator password for some odd reason.

I) Speed, Temperature and Energy efficiency : This thing is slow, by default it has Raid mirror and write cache enabled but knowledge base says that if you have "Performance Problems" you should turn off "Write Caching" witch I did with no luck. I have turned off almost every non essential service and still sometimes this moves like a turtle. This thing is supposed to have 10/100/1000 card but i was unable to transfer 5GB in less than 20 Minutes (Have seen a lot of speed transfer reports on Iomega support Forum). The Nas is very hot so i wouldn't leave it somewhere without ventilation (have read reports of 400f temperatures on the forum). It is energy efficient, it consumes mere 60watt.

After covering almost all the features you can see what I meant at the beginning, this think its great in concept, but the execution its poor. Also support its very limited, the Knowledge base its small. In the forum every post its revised or redacted by Iomega Staff (supposedly "taking care of their Image" after some enraged customer spoke their minds) and I'm still waiting on a mail I sent a week ago asking for some "Feature clarification".

For me, I will jut use this thing for Time Machine although it would have been cheaper to just buy a 1Tb Time Capsule. All other services are better served with my old trusty XP Inspiron 6000.

******* UPDATE ********

After a week of use the unit started shutting down for heating issues. Contacted customer support and they instructed me to disassemble the unit myself and check that the FAN INSIDE the unit was not obstructed. After that told me to wait for a Level III representative call. I'm still waiting for the call. It seems that this heating issue is a very common issue on new units: [...]

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Note: these comments apply to the current "cloud" version:

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