Introduction
At a Glance | |
---|---|
Product | Trendnet 2-Bay SATA I/II Network Storage Enclosure (TS-S402) |
Summary | |
Pros | • Compact • Gigabit Ethernet • Multimedia server • Integrated Bittorrent client • Relatively inexpensive |
Cons | • Noisy • No client backup software • Can't back up to external or networked drives • No power save features |
The
Like most NASes, physical setup consisted of not much more than connecting the Ethernet and power cables and plugging in drives. The front of the product has a
Drive mount on no-frills brackets; just two bent-metal pieces that screw onto the drive sides. You manually plug the SATA data and power cables into the drive and need to work the cables a bit in order to close the front door. For the purposes of this review, I was supplied with a unit
As seen in the photo above, the front panel contains a row of status LEDs, a "USB backup button" and a USB 2.0 port. The back of the unit, shown in Figure 1, has another USB port, power button,
Figure 1: TS-S402 Back Panel
As you can see in the photo, the fan vent is fairly large, which usually means quiet operation. But unfortunately, the S402 makes a bit more noise than I like to hear in these types of boxes. For
Figure 2: TS-S402 Detection failure
The installation documentation was a bit weak in this area. But after a couple of false starts, reboots and directly connecting to the NAS, the setup software finally located the S402 and brought up an attractive interface as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: TS-S402 Setup Utility
Most of the configuration buttons in this interface spawn a web browser to connect to the device where the real setup is done. So if you're a Apple or Linux user like me, you can turn back to your preferred operating system for the remaining configuration.