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Introduction
| At a Glance | |
|---|---|
| Product | Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d (34563) |
| Summary | Marvell Kirkwood-based four drive RAID 5 / 10 NAS with very flexible network backup and iSCSI targets |
| Pros | • Can back up to and from CIFS/SMB shares and rsync target • iSCSI target support • VMware and XenServer certified for NFS and iSCSI • Supports Apple Time Machine |
| Cons | • Not as fast as other Kirkwood-based NASes • Some funkyness when browsing for network backup shares • No eSATA port • Drives not hot-swappable |
Iomega is on a mission to remake its StorCenter NASes into better combatants in today's bare-knuckled NAS competitive arena. If the StorCenter ix4-200d is any indication, it's going to be a fairer fight than it has been.
Our last look at an Iomega StorCenter NAS was the ix2, which Jim Buzbee found to be a pretty good value, even though it didn't have chart-topping performance or the biggest feature set in town. The ix2 did, however, have EMC's new Linux-based LifeLine OS, which brought a nicely-redesigned management interface and new features that made it a big improvement over its predecessor, the now-defunct StorCenter Network Hard Drive.
The ix4 also runs LifeLine and so shares the ix2's features. But it also brings a few new tricks of its own, including the ability to perform immediate or scheduled backups to and from attached drives, rsync servers and SMB/CIFS network shares. Yep, you read that correctly. This means that NETGEAR's ReadyNASes are no longer the only NASes that can do the backup to/from network share trick.
Figure 1 shows the front of the ix4, with all callouts explained in the larger image. The front panel LCD display is a nice touch and rotates between showing the date and time, IP address and volume Free / Used.
Figure 1: ix4-200d Front Panel
Figure 2 shows the rear panel, where You can see two USB 2.0 ports (for a total of three), power connector, dual gigabit Ethernet ports with support for 4000 and 9000 Byte jumbo frames, failover and 802.3ad aggregation, and a nice, quiet fan. Unfortunately, there is no eSATA port to attach external drives for speedier storage expansion or attached backup.
Figure 2: ix4-200d Back Panel
While the ix4 was running it drew a fairly low 35 Watts, and was surpringly quiet for a four-drive NAS. When the programmable drive spindown kicked in (5, 15, 30, 45, 1hr, 6 hr), power dropped to 13 W.
As with the ix2, a configuration wizard walks you through the basic configuration steps of setting the password time zone, network parameters, etc. during the first login or when invoked from the Settings > Device Setup tab. Note that although it's undocumented, the admin interface is also available via secure HTTPS. But it won't auto-forward you to HTTPS if you connect via HTTP.
Setup software is provided for both Window and Apple users and Linux users are directed to the web interface for their setup. If you have simple requirements, the Wizard does everything you need and the device can be used with a couple of default shares, "backup" and "public". But if you want to configure further, there are plenty of options. Figure 3 shows the main configuration screen which is accessed through a secure HTTPS connection.
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User reviews
View all user reviewsAverage user rating from: 7 user(s)
Good one to buy
If one needs plenty of storage and does not like to have many external hard drives then this is the server I would recommend. This perfectly fits the bill and requirement. Scheduling backup is pretty easy and copying files takes place in an acceptable speed. Can upload photos and files using Bluetooth dongle is possible. LED screen gives the information about the status. It has manageable capacity by setting the maximum limits to the folders. According to me it's the best for day to day home storage or small business storage.
Total junk. If you want to lose your data, time and money - this is the way to go
We had this unit for 6 month, worked OK until one day said HDD #3 failed. We restart the unit and everything came up OK, then few hours later the whole unit failed, system saying 4 new hard drives been detected w preexisting data and if we want to integrate those in it will erase all data (our data) called tech support been told they can send me new unit but in regards to data recovery have to call 3rd party. Well, we did called , estimated $4k + w no guarantees. When we talked to Iomega support again and try to explain this stupid people on the other end that the whole purpose of RAID 5 is data protection we been told they don’t guarantee anything.
Failed Out of Box
I purchased this box for a customer because of the price and feature set. When I booted the drive up the first message that popped up was "Drive 1 is missing". I tried swapping the drive to a different location but got the same error. Tried reseating the drive multiple times, still no luck. Additionally, I received a second error that the drive could not obtain an IP address from the network. Finally got frustrated enough that I just sent the drive back.
One other sidenote, prior to purchasing this drive I had purchased another smaller Iomega drive. Do not remember the model. When I connected it to the network I could not connect to it with the software that it came with. It also had a problem with DHCP on the network. Just to test my network, I took a brand new machine and connected it to the network. It obtained an IP address with no problem so I new the problem was the drive itself.
Two thumbs down for IOMEGA. Still have not purchased a new drive yet. I hope to find a better manufacture.
07/01/2010
KH
working like a charm in mixed environment
It works perfectly with both windows (xp, vista, 2008, 7) and mac (PPC).
almost silent, feature-full (media server included, iscsi target certified with vmware!, RSA security, torrent download, users+quotas, etc)
it DOES support jumbo frames (4k, 9k)
Iomega just released a new firmware with normal bug fixes as it should be with every nas on the market (beware of those which aren't updated - they're not perfect)
EMC now owns Iomega and it is a great brand in storage
BTW they just release source code of all software.
dual gigabit with balancing/linking of links
what can i say... a happy user!
Extremely Disappointed in Iomega - DO NOT BUY
Purchased unit in early December. Out of the box it had a failed hard drive. It took until January for Iomega to replace the drive. Their excuse ... suppliers ... vacation ... etc.
Just had the 2nd hard drive failure (disk 3), it came back with a message that 3 new drives were found and a rebuild is required. Lost all the data.
The purchase of this product has been a costly mistake. DO NOT BUY!
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