- Iomega corporation 34788 6TB STORCENTER IX2-200 2 X 3TB
This StorCenter is an interesting device for those looking to enter the world of NAS, but certainly will disappoint advanced users: some features simply don't work as expected.
From the physical point of view, the StorCenter ix2 is quite compact, and resembles a small surge protector fits in any corner. Not the quietest: the coling fan breaks the office's silence, and the internal disks also clacks when accessed not much to bother. What really worries me is the temperature it operates: always above 55°C, too hot to handle. With all this heat, my data would be safe?
Throughput is a strong point: operating in Gigabit Ethernet, I was able to read/write data at 21MB/s rate, similar to those obtained using a local disk. However, speed relies on a Gigabit network: you may need to change router, network cards and cables to escape the 100Mbps Fast Ethernet limit, today's standard in most home and office.
In software, StorCenter has its main weakness: first of all, firmware sits on its internal discs. It takes time to load, and any failure of the disks makes it unusable. Same logic applies to a possible capacity expansion: if you want to replace the original disks with larger capacity ones, say your StorCenter goodbye unless if you transport the firmware from original disk to the new ones, using one of those cryptic and endless tutorials available on the Internet.
The StorCenter offers a huge list of interesting features, but all of them are poorly implemented, frustrating most demanding users. Some promises that StorCenter ix2-200 don't deliver:
DLNA Media server: after successfully setting media folders, its scan was done incompletely. The music and photos don't appear on items list, there's no log of problems encountered during the scanning process. Couldn't see any photos or music on DLNA devices nor on the computer or television;
SNMP monitoring: the StorCenter's SNMPv3 implementation is NOT documented there are no details of monitorable variables and events, and Iomega software doesn't allow to monitor device status via SNMP. In other words, SNMPv3 is a feature that Iomega says thatexist, but no one not even the product support knows how to use it;
UPS monitoring: StorCenter has UPS USB monitoring, and ok, it works. The problem is that other network devices are not warned when the UPS is about to shut down. StorCenter takes possession of the UPS signal, and don't propagate it to the network. It may even be possible to obtain this information via StorCenter's SNMP, but how cam I do this? There's no SNMP documentation!
Torrent and P2P networks: this is an almost unusable feature. You can't see the percentage of completed downloads, you can't get the list of connected peers, there's no DHT support, there's no secure Torrent connections (preventing Torrent detection by ISPs), there's no way to prioritize downloads, there's no way to inhibit some unwanted file downloads... In short, if you expect a simple and powerful interface like uTorrent on StorCenter firmware, forget about it.
Remote Access Tools: StorCenter's web interface is heavy and loads slowly manage it using 3G connections requires patience. The file management tool is inexplicably poor: there's only a view/explore tool available, where you can just download and upload files, delete files and create folders you can't perform basic tasks such as renaming files and folders or moving/copying files between folders.
Management Tools: it's hard to believe that you can't defragment volumes, check the discs health after accidental or unscheduled shutdowns, manage how many and which users are currently connected, where they come from (if they are local or remote connections), its active network connections, the read/write activity per task or user (the discs spin, spin and you don't know who is doing what), among others. You are blind all the time.
Copy Jobs: if you have a NTFS-compressed USB drive and want to copy data from it using firmware copyjob feature, be assured that your target files will be corrupted: the StorCenter doesn't make decompression during copy, and data recorded in its internal storage will be unusable. When the source data comes from compressed NTFS discs, copy them always from a Windows computer file sharing, and never, ever, by using the copyjob.
Well, there are many more serious flaws in the StorCenter's software to tell, but I think they're only suitable for more advanced users. If you want a NAS device to backup your files, easy to use and fast read/write speeds, buy it, worth the price. But if you, like me, want to go deeper into NAS world and need good, efficient and complete firmware solution, spend a little more and find a more bulky equipment.
Buy Iomega Storcenter IX2-200 NAS 6TB (2 x 3TB) 2-bay Cloud Edition 34788 Now
I had very high hopes for this device. I've had good luck with Iomega products in the past, but this has turned out to be one of the worst purchases I've made in a long time. The sad thing is that I read reviews of this that were not good for many of the same reasons Im going to talk about. But I mistakenly thought that those bad reviews were all by people who didn't know what they were doing. I was wrong.
Everything about this looks good on paper, and when you open the box it looks and feels well made. The problems start when you want it to do what you bought it for.
This is, without a doubt, both the slowest and the noisiest hard drive I've ever owned. Did you like the 80's? Well, then you'll be presently surprised when you discover that this transfers data at the speed of an old CD-Rom. I mean a really old CD-Rom.
And the noise. I have no idea what this thing is doing, but it runs constantly. All day. All night. And it sounds like you hear every bit being written. I have set it to have the drives spin down after 30 minutes of inactivity. It still runs. It runs when every device in the house is off. It literally runs 24/7/365. If you are planning on putting this in your bedroom, or within 50 feet of your bedroom say goodbye to any chance of getting a full nights sleep.
And because of this insane problem, again what it could possibly be doing is beyond me, I have no faith whatsoever that this is a reliable product. The running/noise problem is not only annoying, but as far as Im concerned this thing is running as fast as it can towards a catastrophic drive failure.
I will never buy another drive from Iomega. A company that puts out a product this flawed will not be supported by me.
Read Best Reviews of Iomega Storcenter IX2-200 NAS 6TB (2 x 3TB) 2-bay Cloud Edition 34788 Here
Summary:
A seemingly simple implementation became quite buggy, with a frighteningly hot device, that was noisy with loud grinding noises, incapable of accepting an external USB drive without locking up, and the proprietary connecting software was incapable of connecting to the device.
System configurations tested:
Windows 7 64 bit; Windows 7 32 bit; connected to a U-Verse router; several different external USB hard drives, including USB powered and AC powered; Chrome, Firefox, and IE browsers; latest versions of Iomega Storage Manager and firmware; appropriate port forwarded.
Review:
The Iomega ix2-200 4TB seemed promising, with two solid hard drives, a mostly metal case, USB connection, actual buttons on the device, and a simple interface. However, upon receiving the device, I was unable to access the drive from the network. After switching from the included cable to one that I have owned for almost a decade that doesn't even have prongs to hold it in place anymore, the ix2 connected right up.
Initially, it went okay, with setting up the device going smoothly, access via Windows Explorer occurring quickly with the Iomega Storage Manager mapping the various shares directly. The registering of the Cloud went quickly as well.
Upon connecting USB hard drives, however, the device would lock up and become unresponsive to the front panel buttons, including not being able to turn off by pressing and holding the button. Obviously, then, the 'QuikTransfer' function flatly failed. I tried three other drives, one AC powered and two USB powered, and all resulted in it locking up eventually. Occasionally, it would recognize a drive long enough to search it via the web interface or Windows Explorer, but without fail it would revert to becoming completely unresponsive to anything except pinging (which was just fine for some reason), but would not respond to its own buttons, the web interface, or Windows Explorer. The only option, after leaving it sit for a day incase it was unresponsive because it was rebuilding data or something, was to unplug it. I had to do this several times.
Although the Cloud idea sounds promising, the needing to use the Iomega Storage Manager is a little frustrating, but free and more or less expected. The other option that they advertise requires a subscription after the first year. However, the ix2 only responded outside of my network once, and would not connect again, whether I reinstalled the software, restarted my computer, or even wiped the entire device clean. No luck.
I also had to completely reconfigure Windows' networking settings to get it to access the device. No matter what configuration of user names and passwords I entered, whether the ix2 security was enabled or not, I could not access them through the Network Places; if the drives were already mapped it would usually still connect to those, as well as the web interface. Poor implementation of security compatibility in my opinion. Sometimes, even if the ix2 drives were mapped, they would stop being responsive unless I went into the web interface and logged in. The Storage Manager software was no help, and Windows credentials were useless.
The Storage Manager software was also very perplexing. It would state the device was unavailable, then I would force it to find it; other times it would say the Cloud Service tab was simply 'Disabled' in the middle of the screen; other times it would try to connect and ask me for credentials that I had saved, despite the fact that the downloaded software was specifically from the invitation I sent myself from the cloud, which has a custom access code immediately available to it; finally, it would give me an XML-RPC error that was nowhere to be found on Iomega's site. Before I gave up, it changed the icon from an ix2 to some strange squiggle and a blob... No useful functionality.
The highest temperature I recorded was 132 F, and the fan status still said 0 RPM. The device was obviously warm to the touch externally.
The Twonky media server configured itself despite not installing it, which is quite disturbing.
After trying lots of iterations of troubleshooting (I have seven pages of paragraphs and small screen snip-its describing a number of steps I took to see if it was my computer, my set up, my USB drives, etc...), I did the secure overwriting of data, which took approximately 27 hours to complete, packed it up and sent it back.
Be aware that the customer service is limited to week day hours, and after hours or after the warranty expires you have to pay them $50 to even ask about your device. There is a user forum, that I recommend potential buyers view to see the other potential problems awaiting you with this device, that Iomega staff occasionally will respond to, but there is no email correspondence that I could find. The Iomega responses on the forum are few and far between, and seemed to often simply ask basic troubleshooting questions rather than proactively offering suggestions under various scenarios (eg: rather than asking "Does your work use a proxy?" they should state potential ways to work around this limitation, or declare that your device will not work through the proxy, instead of wasting time with a feudal back-and-forth in a forum).
Take home message:
It seems that if all I wanted it for was in-network storage, without any use of the 'QuikTransfer' it seems like it might be a decent device. However, I paid for a 'Personal Cloud' with USB transferring capability, and this was not it.
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When I read the characteristics of this product, I thought it would be great.
The first months, everything worked ok. Files and music there was very comfortable.
But then, when I requested more from the unit, I started to see its performance.
Slow... Really slow! Not a great unit for video.
And failures! I already had one hdd failure. I got a hdd replacement (The customer service agent was good. The problem is that I had to wait more than 4 weeks for the disk replacement. Maybe because of problems with argentinian customs... But they didn't had spare discs here for this situation... That's bad).
Now I have a second failure... Let's see. That's not a good thing for a device where you have so much valuable things!
I have been quite pleased with this item it works as advertised, except I haven't yet been able to set it up for remote access (though this may be something to do with my PC setup).
One cirticism is that the disc drives are very noisy when reading/writing. Much noisier than any other drive in the house. I'm not sure if this is a function of the size of the drives, but you would definitely have to think about where you put the Storcenter.
