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"Gets the job done for decent price despite some quirks." on by wdoyle0447
Pros: Supports ftp, nfs, external USB storage, USB printers, and bluetooth. Can access and play non-DRMed iTunes library in Linux through media sharing. GPLed firmware source available.
Cons: Runs hot to the touch, no power saving for drives, always spinning. No MTP, ssh/scp/rsync, or NFSv4 support. No built in scheduling/cron jobs to USB backup. 2 USB ports. External power brick. Bright annoying blue LEDs. Documentation insufficient.
Summary: For common home users this device is extremely simple to use and setup.
For more advanced users I'm running 1.1 firmware, holding off on update to 2.0. It works extremely well in my hybrid Linux and barely Windows environment. There seem to be quirks on the NFS side of things but generally works well. You are forced to share over SMB/CIFS if you want to enable NFS export for a specific share. NFS exports can be locked down with an IP address and mask. No SSH capability means I can't scp or rsync directly, have to mount NFS. No access to umask so Windows clients enable execute flag on every newly created file and don't set file ownership to the group I prefer. Embedded Linux is locked down. The only known way to gain access to root to enable SSH and other services was plugged with a firmware update that came OEM on mine.
The device seems to run extremely hot and worry about long term reliability. It needs bigger/more fans and more accessibility to move air through. It also needs ability to spin down disks when not accessed for a given amount of time.
This is my first NAS. I've had it a couple months, so far so good. The documentation is very lacking. From a marketing standpoint I know what protocols and features are supported but real details are lacking. I want to know exactly what is running under the hood, Linux Kernel X, NFSvX, Samba X, etc. -
"Most unreliable piece of HW I have ever owned." on by mofriedbiscuits
Pros: Easy to use, when it works.
Cons: Certain, impending drive failure.
Once a drive fails, access to data is lost, even when mirrored.
'Support' really means "replacement drive shipping service".
Often unable to log into "award winning" support site.Summary: This is easily the most unreliable piece of hardware I can recall ever having owned, and I bought my first computer about 25 years ago. This is quite ironic considering most people will likely be buying it as a storage device for their most precious data. After three drive failures, and even though my product is still under warranty, I have decided to junk it. I don't plan on buying any more Iomega products in the future.
I had nearly identical experience to zipadyduda, only I was able to recover my data (with no help from Iomega support) due to some experience with linux, and after about 18 hours of googling, buying supplemental hardware and trial and error. -
"Do not expect your data to be safe on this thing." on by zipadyduda
Pros: Relatively inexpensive.
Compact smooth design.
Choice of configuration raid 1 or 0
Easy to install and use.Cons: Data is not safe.
Summary: I got one of these, had it for about 6 months. If you access a file on it, the hard drives will grind perpetually for no apparent reason until you restart the device.
Then I moved the thing, maybe I bumped it, but didn't drop it. And when I went to restart it, it would not connect. It just kept blinking at me. I got to support through online chat. After several sessions over the course of a week, (they sent me a flash drive for rebooting it and this did not work.) it was determined that the device was not functional. And they offered to send me a new one at no cost. But what about my data?
I had it set up as raid 1 (mirror) so that my data would be on both drives. I did this because I wanted to be sure and save my data.
Support told me that my only option was to go through a data recovery service. I asked and asked again if I had other options, they completely denied it. They told me that this is because the file system is proprietary, you can't just take a drive out and plug it in to a windows computer and move your files off of it. The quote I got for data recovery was $900 at the low end. YIKES!!
After losing some sleep over it and searching, I discovered that It turns out that the file system is XFS, so you can also plug the drive into a linux system like samba or ubuntu and move your files over. (im not sure if they are encrypted if that will work.)
There is also a windows software that will let you get your files, it's $100 from runtime software. I used this to get my data. I'm not sure if there are free softwares out there to let you read xfs hard drives from windows.
I felt like a victim of highway robbery for the data recovery. I am opting to not take the free replacement. I am taking the hard drives out and putting them in my computer instead. -
"Very good performance" on by DelmonFrayne
Pros: Easy to setup and use
Cons: Nothing till now
Summary: The Iomega StorCenter Network Storage offers content sharing with advanced security, and is ideal for small and remote offices, workgroups or home networks. I have been using this for over 6 months and I am quite satisfied with its performance. Easy file sharing, data backup from any networking workstations is an advantage as I can juggle between networks. I can connect from anywhere. The setup process was simple and immediate. It's a required asset for my business.
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"V hot and runs port scans on other machines" on by JohnSmall
Pros: Cheap. Easy to set up as long as you only want a networked disk.
Cons: Runs very hot and the fan is close to useless. In fact the first one I got the fan didn't work at all so I sent it back and got a replacement. The extras e.g. the backup software is a bad joke. You can't go back and change the settings.
Summary: Not only does it run at a toasty 60 deg C, but it runs port scans on all the other machines in my network. What is that all about! My guess is that they've built the thing to run hot so the disks will die early and then people have to pay top dollar for the proprietary and expensive replacement.
Avoid.
Iomega StorCenter ix2 user reviews (1TB)
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