Setting Up & Features

The NetCenter acquires its initial IP address via DHCP. So as long as you have a router or other network device that acts as a DHCP server, getting it running is just a matter of plugging in the power and network cable and hitting the power button. Installation software is provided for both Window and Macintosh systems and the configuration process is very similar for both systems.

Figure 2 shows the initial screen of the configuration process from my Macbook in which the NetCenter is located on the LAN. The status warning on this page indicates that the device is in its initial state and has not been updated with a custom users, passwords, etc.

Figure 2: Configuration setup

The "Connect to Server" button is used to mount a network share from the device using the default configuration. If this is all you need, mount the share and you're done. If you want more custom features, the "Configure" button spawns off a web browser for advanced settings. Figure 3 shows the initial configuration page viewed from a web browser.

Figure 3: Main Configuration Menu

The "System Summary" is an overview screen that allows viewing of various status values such as disk capacity and current usage, printer status, firmware version, etc. The "General Setup" option allows basic setup of the box with options for changing administration username and password, the IP address, workgroup name, device name and time. I would have liked to see an option here for specifying a NTP server, so that the time could be maintained automatically, but the only option was to manually set the time (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Setting the time

The "File Sharing" option is designed to allow the creation of new shares besides the default pre-defined share. Figure 5 shows the basic setup screen where shares can be created, deleted, or renamed. For security, the share can be protected with a username/password combination.

Figure 5: Share Creation