Customer Reviews

Seagate M-250 Mirra 250 GB Personal Server

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Mirra is designed to be a simple, consumer-friendly solution to automated backup of designated folders and files. It is NOT a corporate-sized server installation costing thousands of dollars and needing its own climate-controlled closet and a degree in computer science to set up. You follow the directions, install the software and plug it in to your router. It works.

There is a disappointing lack of good software supporting simple automated backups of important data, and that is very surprising given the plethora of USB/Firewire portable hard drives and the wildfire spread of digital cameras over recent years. Most software solutions seem to prefer creating a complete backup of your entire system, all the programs and folders and even the operating system. That, however, winds up being many GB's of data and is typically either compressed, encrypted or both. Like Jane and Joe Consumer, I just wanted something that would back up my latest photos and documents, preferably right after I saved each one, and allow easy access to those backups. And Mirra does that. Simple. I don't have to think about it. It works.

In our home we have two wireless laptops and one wired tower, a couple portable USB hard drives, and everything linked by a wireless router/WAP combo. They all speak to each other fairly well (although router setup is something I'd rather not do more than once in a blue moon!) and the Mirra watches over all of them, safely copying, safely storing, quietly doing exactly what it's supposed to. It works.

The online access feature, allowing you to both download or upload files away from home, or even share with friends or coworkers, is nice, but be aware it is limited to the speed and dependability of your home Internet service provider. My DSL makes for a slightly disappointing experience some days, but otherwise, the Mirra end of the process lives up to expectations very well. Also note, Internet Explorer is recommended for access - Firefox has difficulties dealing with file or folder names that contain spaces. Other than that little caveat, it works.

At about 2 bucks a Gig (as of the time of this review), it's more expensive than most portable hard drives. But you're also getting the network-compatible software solution, friendly responsive support service (yes, I needed help, and got it quickly!), and peace of mind. Note every paragraph above ends in these words - IT WORKS - and for me these days, that's worth gold. Big shiny gold star stickers, smiley faces and happy kittens. Because - let's face it - spending every Friday evening manually copying your favorite files to CD's, DVD's or ZIP's is a drag, and I'd far rather be spending that time with friends, family or a good shoot'em-up on my (-insert favorite game platform here-).

I was very unsure when I made my purchase of a Mirra backup unit. I wasn't sure it was what I needed - I didn't think the box gave me enough information - and there wasn't an abundance of feedback online yet.

I got the unit home, plugged it in right away, did the usual software download and install routing. Everything is on track and moving as expected.

The the application pops open and I'm introduced to the Mirra 'agent' or 'client' interface. This is the program that resides on your computer and talks to the Mirra server and coordinated the backup of your data.

Frankly, I was appalled at the software. It seemed ugly, hard to use, and had no access to advanced features for power users.

Then, in my mind, things got even worse. I had originally intended to back-up complete copies of the hard drives on each of my computers - basically keeping a mirrored copy of the drives that I could step back using 'version control' to get a ocmpletely crashed out PC recovered. As it turns out, the is DEFINITELY NOT THE DEVICE FOR FULL DRIVE BACKUPS.

However upset I was, like any gadget geek, I continued on and set-up each computer to backup all of the user specific data.

It turns out, that I wasn't able to do what I originally intended, nor was there cool stuff for me to play around with, adjust and mess with it. Believe it or not, this turns out to be a blessing.

Since purchasing and installing the unit a little less than a year ago, it has already come in handy to say the least. The basic interface and the basic functionality of this unit are actually its best features. It is easy to use - so a novice can set it up in no time at all AND most importantly, there isn't anything that a stupid power user like me can do to screw up the integrity of its reliable backups and unbelievable versioning.

The web interface and sharing of files is a great feature and a great idea in concept. Unfortunately and I don't know why, but Seagate (which I think acquired this company) has been 'upgrading' or 'improving' or 'tweaking' the website that provides Mirra access for almost the entire year that I've had this thing. Fortunately, I never got hooked on it. Since I never relied on it, I haven't been upset that it works like crap, however I can really see a regular use for it.

Also, you'll notice if you purchase this product, that what you are really doing is purchasing a complete computer, in a computer chasis, with Seagate drives and USB and a monitor hookup and sound hookup and etc, etc, etc. They are cleverly packaging a software only product as an appliance, by preloading it onto a PC for you and disabling all of the other toublemaking things that you could do to that machine. Again, I'm looking at this as a good thing, because I'm sure that I would have messed it up by now and therefore been unable to help my wife retrieve some 'urgent' or 'important' file.

I say go for it. Power user or novice, this product it off to a great start. Not perfect, actually not even close, but it's close enough for me and has been a great cost effective and reliable backup solution for me.

I'm sure over time this product and others will mature and grow and therefore allow us power users to break it.

Now that you've spent so much time reading my review and understand what exactly you are purchasing, I think you'll be satisfied - it's all about expectations. Now you know.

I have owned and used a Mirra server for almost two years. The product has worked great as a backup server for my home computers. My wife LOVES that it is really easy to recover deleted or lost files in a flash. And the manner in which the drive constantly monitors for changes and updates (rather then periodic backups) is really good. We never notice it working in the background, and all of our files are always backed up (in real time) in their most recent version. The only thing that is left to be desired with this product is the remote access. The price for the product is a bit higher per GB than other units, and the lure of remote Internet access made up the differnce. But the remote access has never worked as expected. So if you want a product that you can set up and then sit back and never think about again, this is your product.

Promoted as a Mac device...NOT! No support for Leopard. The support runs out before the warranty. Time Machine backup beats this thing. Horrible experience!

I have had two of these units. The first one died a month after the warranty and was cheaper to buy a new one at reduced cost. The second one lasted 6 months and died. Not real reliable for a back-up server!
I recommend you find something else.

Great as an incremental backup appliance for key files on each PC in a SOHO setting, like a church. Keep your full backup strategy going, though as noted in other reviews. I prefer the older, integrated product over the custom "book" with power brick. If the Mirra service goes away, and our organization turns to another incremental backup and file sharing strategy, I'll turn the little server into a FreeNAS device as some people have done.

Note: the Mirra Internet sharing service is now running well any time of day or night I've tried it. However, it seems this product is in limbo. So what will happen to the Mirra Internet sharing service? Just don't depend on this aspect of the product. Good buys on eBay, but wouldn't buy at list from any vendor.

Also, this version can be a bit noisy when the backup process gets busy. Better to put it somewhere the noise doesn't bother you, like in a computer cabinet. If sitting beside a desk it is a bit annoying. Go for the newer packaging for a quieter box, but one that is less flexible for reuse.

I was a relatively happy owner of this product until last month. Seagate sent out a new release of the software which was supposed to enhance remote access and downloading of files, including the ability to download a shared folder's contents as a zipfile. They were obviously woefully unprepared for the demand this would place on their network infrastructure, because remote access has since been rendered completely unusable, and all we've gotten from Seagate is vague promises of network upgrades to alleviate the problem.

This was obviously a poorly planned upgrade launch which has resulted in frustration for what I must assume are thousands of users, given the apparent burden placed on their network. That a company as large and wealthy as Seagate is apparently unable or unwilling to make faster progress on resolving this issue is ridiculous. This was not an inexpensive purchase, and one of its key adverstised features is now all but unusable, and there's no clear indication of when this will be fixed.

Interesting. I'm not so sure why I would want to limit myself with a single drive solution that is nothing more than a fancy PC. In my case, I need more storage capacity that is easily expandable. At CES, I saw these guys with the Yellow Machine that integrated 1TB RAID-5 storage + 8-port LAN switch + router + firewall + parental controls + backup. All for $1595. I can't wait to get my hands on one!