Introduction

Over the past few months I've been trying out a number of inexpensive Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices. Most of these devices are priced under $300, and are designed for home or small-office use. The typical NAS I've reviewed is built as a Linux-based device with 32 MB of RAM, 10/100 Ethernet, a relatively low-end processor and a simple model for managing user and group accounts.

After evaluating these units, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at a higher-end device to see how it would stack up against its lower-priced competitors. Fortunately, Iomega was happy to send along its StorCenter Pro 200d 320GB with Built-in REV for me to explore.

Iomega is marketing its 200d product family as a small-business NAS. In contrast with the more consumer-focused, Linux-based products I've looked at, the 200d runs an unlimited client version of Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003. It is also built with workstation-class hardware, including a 2GHz Pentium 4 Celeron processor, up to 512MB of RAM, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, support for video, keyboard, and mouse, and serial interface for an external UPS.

The 200d is also quite a bit bigger than the units I've been testing. Whereas typical consumer NAS units are the size of a large book or a narrow toaster, the 200d is about the size of a large cinder-block. The price of the 200d is also on the high end. Depending on the options selected, the 200d is priced from $1400 for an entry-level 320GB model without REV drive and print server to $3200 for a 750GB model with print serving capability.