- Fast 7,200 RPM, 8MB cache hard drive
- 10/100 Base-T Ethernet Connection
- Allows RAID 1 mirroring for real time data backup when a drive is added to a USB port
- Dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) client for automatic assignment of TCP/IP addresses
- Includes two hot swappable USB 2.0 host ports for printers and additional USB external drives
Technical Details
Product Details
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Product Description
From the Manufacturer
The WD Dual-option external USB hard drive provides automatic or on-demand backup for a PC or Macintosh. It's preformatted and ready to go. Instantly increase storage capacity to save or easily back up valuable data, music, photos, and movies. With the dual-option backup, you can choose how and when to back up your data, automatically or on-the-spot.
The USB 2.0 interface allows for high-speed connection for maximum throughput. The front-mounted power button is equipped with WD’s exclusive Safe Shutdown™ feature and ensures all data has been safely transferred before shutting down the drive. The Western Digital external USB hard drive includes Dantz Retrospect® Express backup software and it’s reformatted; simply plug it in and go. Designed for near-silent operation with WD’s whisper-quiet hard drive, you’ll get a fast, easy connection to PC or Macintosh® computers. The drive conveniently stands vertically or horizontally, and it’s stackable.
Product Description
Now it’s easy to centralize and share pictures, video, music, files and even printers in your home or office with WD’s NetCenter™ network hard drive. Connect with both Macintosh and PC computers in three simple steps. Backup files from any computer on the network and connect another external drive for even more storage. NetCenter is perfect for sharing those precious family photos at home or customer or patient files in a small office. For security, you can create private, password-protected folders. Set up a connected drive to act as a mirror to back up data in real time for added data protection. Save, share, backup, it’s easy with WD’s NetCenter.
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful external storage device, with room for expansion,
By
This review is from: Western Digital WDXE2500JBN 250 GB Net Center (Personal Computers)
Between my wife and I, we've got six computers. Three PCs and three Macs, two of which are G4 laptops using 802.11g. Keeping a centralized "vault" of MP3s and JPEGs gets to be a real pain in the keister.
This dedicated Network Attached Storage (NAS) device makes it super easy. I was trying to decide whether or not to resurrect an old Athlon 1900XP to act as a dedicated file server (using Red Hat or what not), bringing our net total of operational machines to 7. I decided that spending 317 bucks on a 250GB NAS device was worth it. Five minutes after coming home with the product, I had it up and running. Ten minutes after that, I had all six computers set-up to use the NAS. We filled this drive up pretty quick. Between our music library, numerous pictures of our daughter, iMovies, backed-up school papers, and Photoshop files, we ran out of space real fast. Which is where the "room for expansion" thing kicks in. You can chain more Western Digital drives to this device (WD calls it "claiming"). Using either a dedicated external USB 2.0 drive or the "dual-option back-up" drives with USB 2.0/Firewire 400, you can add more drives to the network. We purchased one of the dual option 250GB WD drives and added it to the network in less time that it took to add the initial NAS device. Very very handy. I do NOT know, however, if this feature works with other manufacturers like Maxtor, ClubMac, or what have you. I suspect it might, expecially since wired/wireless routers have had the option to add USB 2.0 storage to a network for a little over a year now. Western Digital advertises this device as a print server as well, but MAKE SURE you check the compatibility list on their website before taking the plunge. Multi-function printers (print, copy, scan, fax) might work, but only the print function will be supported. Many higher-end photo printers (such as our HP Photosmart 7550) are NOT supported. Our Samsung ML-1650 (a USB laser printer) isn't supported either. You may be able to find a general multi-purpose driver to work with your printer, but don't expect to get technical support from WD if you do. If you have an Ethernet or workgroup printer, obviously, you aren't going to use the print server function, either. If you do have a printer that works, set-up is extremely easy, especially on Mac OS X. The Printer Setup utility immediately recognizes the WD NetCenter as a print server. Don't expect miracles from this product. Its not very quick. Copying large amounts of files to it will bog down your network, especially if doing it wirelessly (802.11B, G or N). If the drive is being written to AND read from at the same time, you'll really tax the NAS...not unlike any P-ATA or S-ATA internal drive. I'm disappointed that WD only offers this product with 10/100bT instead of 10/100/1000, since our house is wired for gigabit. Still, at this price, I'm not THAT disappointed. The drive is super quiet, easy to use, doesn't require fans to keep cool and, as far as I know, does NOT utilize proprietary protocols to connect to Macs and PCs. Oh...and it does play nice with Macs and PCs both. Server shares, passwords and general setup are all done through a web browser, much setting up a broadband routers. You don't access the drive by typing in an IP address, but rather through WD's software, which brings up the browser for you. You can access the device through IE, Firefox, Mozilla or Safari. I've tried them all without issue. Accessing the drive CAN be a bit wonky. If you have just powered up the device or your Mac/PC, you'll have to give it a minute or so before you start mounting or accessing shared folders. This frustrated me at first until I realized that the WD had to announce its presence to the rest of the network. I docked it a star for not having 1000bT and its limited print server functionality. I'm not saying you'll find better functionality elsewhere, but 5 stars to me means "phenomenal product". Overall, this product is "just excellent".
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Slow For Us!!!,
By Mad Dog "maddog6969" (TimbuckThree, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Western Digital WDXE2500JBN 250 GB Net Center (Personal Computers)
We use this as a server on our home network. One reviewer said that a 50GB copy would take 3 to 4 hours... No way!!! Maybe his network has bandwidth issues, dunno, but I do large file transfers with ours all the time, including across our wireless and I see on the order of 1 to 10 GB per minute, depending on the traffic our router is experiencing.
Setup is trivial and the drive has been very reliable over the last year. We use it constantly and I think it is a decent value. Within a year, these devices will probably be under $200. I look forward to picking up a 1TB model.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Does not support RAID 1 mirroring,
This review is from: Western Digital WDXE2500JBN 250 GB Net Center (Personal Computers)
Despite the "Tech Specs" of Amazon, the WD NetCenter does not support RAID 1 (mirroring) configuration. According to a Western Digital representative in their forums, "RAID functionality was tested with this device but was not implemented on the final product due to lack of interest from our beta testers. This feature may be implemented on future enterprise based external products, but will not be implemented on the NetCenter hard drive."
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