Dane-Elec my-Ditto Home Network Server, MD-H15001E23S (White)

• Rapid, peer-to-peer connection
• The freedom to access a home network through a small, lightweight USB key
• No-third party remote access fees
• Files are under lock and key with my Ditto's authenticated, password protected USB keys

I bought this device to replace a desktop machine that I did not want to leave on all the time because of the power it tended to draw. I was also interested in the RAID capabilities, given I had recently had some drive issues with my desktop. It was difficult to find ahead of time how much power this draws.

If you are going to use the RAID mirroring, do it right out of the box (says so in the manual). The user interface is ok, and I did not have any problem with setup. The desktop application (which is not needed for general use) was a bit doggy, but I don't use it much. The desktop UI provides for backup capabilities which I might explore at some point.

I am using the device primary with network shares and like the fact that you can create multiple users, each with their own shares.

The device draws about 17 watts when idling.

It is not a quiet as I hoped, the power supply fan runs all the time. I am going to have to move the device to another location because my office is quiet other than that.

Overall, I am happy with the device, and have only dinged it one star for the power supply noise. It seems to me that they should have been able to use passive cooling, so there would only be the noise from the disks running (like other USB drives I have).

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March 2011,

I purchased the 4TB unit in Feb. and have used it for about a month.

The product probably should get 5 stars because it's easy to setup and use as described. I'm using Raid1 (2TB mirrored) and counting on the server being a primary backup for our home computers and a remote access for our family away from home. The internal drives are Hitachi which were manufactured in 2009, so half the Hitachi warranty was over when received. My Ditto only has a 1 yr warranty which I consider short.

myDitto is currently working fine and my son's family is using it from MKE as well.

There are some short comings which caused me to give this 4* instead of 5*

1. The unit is shipped with only a quick start guide and you need to download the user manual from the website. […] And the manual is the only place to explain administrative functions. It is also incomplete.

2. Technical support is very weak. The support website is non-functional as I waited 3 days for no response to questions. You will be able to get a slow email response to questions to the contact support url above. There is no support phone number or address, but I obtained this:

DANE-ELEC USA

15770 Laguna Canyon Road, #100

Irvine, California 92618 USA

Phone: (877) 428 2363 (from inside the US) | Phone: +1 949 450 2970

techsupport@dane-memory.com

3. Do not use the Master Key on your first use of myDitto with an Id other than "admin". I did and the unit created a user account which it paired with the Master Key invalidating its use for administrative functions. After several weeks support finally emailed that I needed to create a new Master Key on a virgin USB flash drive. These keys get paired with an ID and cannot changed to a new ID (I didn't try reformatting a key).

4. Admin functions are limited. e.g. you can't limit space usage by users.

5. I've had some Raid errors which I did get fixed using the Raid Fix button in advanced services. But I couldn't get the button to appear once and emails didn't resolve until I cold booted the server. The unit has been solid for over a week.

6. I'm using XP SP3 and can only do a Windows backup to the Public folders. I'd rather do it my private ID folder, but don't have a solution for this yet.

In spite of all this, I like the myDitto unit. It is a good value at Amazon's price. But I don't have 100% confidence in it yet. Only time will tell.

Chicago

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For the past few years I have been using an HP Mediavault NAS for home use. It has been nothing but trouble pretty much from day one so when I had the opportunity to tryout this Ditto I was very excited. All in all the Ditto has not disappointed.

It it much faster than my old Mediavault and at a whopping 1TB holds quite a bit more as well.

Setup was a breeze though the instruction guide included is useless. A quick visit to Ditto's website provided me with the full instruction manual which was very helpful. I copied my files from my HP to the Ditto and now use it to back up all my home computers. The thing is very fast for home use!

I thought the USB keys are a nice touch. I was able to test out this feature and thought it worked well. I can now access my home files easily when away from home. It is very secure as well.

All in all, very happy with this unit. It is a nice compact size that won't take up a lot of room.

The one "negative" I find is that it is quite loud especially when the hard drive is whirling away, but that is more an annoyance than anything else.

UPDATE 6/13/2011 wish I could give it six stars! I recently purchased an iphone and found that I can download a "MyDitto" app to the phone which allows me to access data on the Ditto from anywhere through my phone! Wow! I can now view pictures, stream music, all from anywhere right to my phone. This is quite a great little home NAS!

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Bought this a week back to set up a central data repository for my home... and there are Macbook, iPad, android, windows 7 and XP. Lot of photos, movies, mp3s and other files.

Set up:

Easy. I use in Raid-1 mode. The other options are Raid-0 and JBOD Just a Bunch Of Drives ). Hooked the network cable, it found the IP, and ready to go.

Created two accounts. Sharing is easy across user accounts.

Initial data load :

Annoying ! when myDitto client software works, it is fine. But if the myDitto client crashes, it does not remember the list you created for transfer. and now you go and find out what is not backed up and create another list. To keep you in pain, it will ask you to confirm every time it finds a duplicate. No 'skip all' option. What a pain! But once done, things seems to be ok. Client Program helps you to mount myDitto as a drive in your Mac and Windows machines.

IPAD / Android : I can access data from both iPAD & Android. Very easy to configure. You can access even out side your home network. No streaming support for videos. So forget about watching movies unless you are ready to download the complete movie to your iOS or Android device.

Mac / Window 7 / XP : Works well.

Streaming : No streaming support for video. This is another teaser. You can see the video file, but wont be able to play it unless you download as a local copy. So forget watching blueRay or HD movies.

Looks : Above average. Not Jennifer Lopez.

Sound : Some where between smooth Jazz and rock. not horrible.

Overall : Hmm... not perfect. Biggest annoyance is that the client program crashes during the initial, large data load...leaving you search for words those are not in bible. You will search for same words when you come across lack of video streaming support. Otherwise, good product.

Overall, this is a very nice NAS. Its ability to serve files with only a password through the my-Ditto app is a handy feature. I also like the remote access using the USB key, although there is a potential security issue.

I quickly set up the server and copied a bunch of music files over. This NAS seems a bit slower than my NETGEAR ReadyNAS Duo even using the same hard disks (Hitachi 1TB). It might just be my impression since I am so used to the ReadyNAS. I later decided to install another 1TB HDD and configured the my-Ditto as RAID 1. This wiped out all the data unfortunately. I did expect it to do that. Still it took a long time to format the disks and configure for RAID operation. Once operational, copying files is still sluggish and it takes time for mirrored images to appear.

A feature of the ReadyNAS I often use is the automatic download from the front USB port. The my-Ditto has a USB copy button but it is only for the rear USB port and is not automatic. I question why they placed the rear USB port so close to the power switch. It would be easy to accidentally switch the unit off when blindly plugging in the USB stick. When testing, both NAS took roughly the same amount of time to copy the contents. The my-Ditto does beep to indicate copy start and stop.

Both the my-Ditto and ReadyNAS show up on the network and are visible other computers and devices (e.g. TV, DVD player, TiVo).