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[tbutler@ofb.biz]

I posted a few days ago about the MediaSmart Home Server, and that still intrigues me, but I was thinking maybe I should have posted what I'm looking to do so as not to limit my options... My big goal is to stay relatively cheap. I have $350 ready to spend, and I'm willing to toss some more into the pot to get something decent, but I really do not want to go over $600 for a finished solution, unless there is a really good reason.

Here's what I'm looking for:

1.) 2-4 bays, 4 is preferable, so I can use some kind of redundant storage arrangement (RAID or otherwise) and still have > 1 GB of usable space.

2.) Fast. I want something that provides as close to USB or Firewire speeds as possible for my budget.

3.) Mac OS X Time Machine backup officially supported by the manufacturer.

4.) AFP -- I believe this should be synonymous with Time Machine compatibility, but I want native file sharing with my Macs.

Ideally, I'd also like:
5.) Flexible firmware.

6.) DLNA compatible with the PlayStation 3 (especially if somehow it could auto-discover the media that had been already copied over via Time Machine).

7.) More than one eSATA, USB and/or FireWire port for expansion (ideally, I guess, eSATA or FW for speed).

8.) Relatively quiet

In the best of all worlds situation, I'd like:

9.) Portable Home Directories (PHD) ala Mac OS X Server... or at least any easy way to synchronize some of my folders, such as Documents, between the unit and my machines... If not true PHD, then at least something that would have a conflict resolution system of some sort to deal with different versions of documents.

10.) Some sort of status display on the unit itself.

11.) HFS+ compatibility.

Thoughts on what I should get with these criteria? I've considered the aforementioned MediaSmart EX490 (or 487, perhaps?), Synology DS409, NETGEAR ReadyNAS NV+ and now I'm also intrigued by the Iomega IX4-200D... but others are fine too.

The NV+ is going for $499 with 2TB of storage at Fry's and the Iomega is going for $599 with 4TB, also at Fry's. If the Iomega was decent enough in speed, that sounds like an unbeatable price and feature set...

 

[tbutler@ofb.biz]

Following up on this, if I was trying to go between the $599 Iomega 4TB unit and the $499 NETGEAR 2TB unit... any thoughts on which is the better choice?

I can't find any real performance testing on the Iomega, but it looks like a more robust unit and a lot better value with 2 extra 1TB drives in it. On the other hand, it is somewhat less "proven" than the NETGEAR, which makes me wonder... and then, I go back to the Synology or MediaSmart... but I'm inclined towards these two since just the drives alone make them pretty good values, I think.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[thiggins]

I can't find any real performance testing on the Iomega,

The Iomega ix4 200d test data was added to the charts last week.

 

[tbutler@ofb.biz]

The Iomega ix4 200d test data was added to the charts last week.

Thanks. Wow -- it looks pretty impressive. Especially since it is essentially $300 or so for the NAS itself when compared against BYOD units. Do you plan to have a full review of it?

I'm wondering how the current EMC Lifeline OS stacks up. I guess there is a cost in flexibility over a Synology or NETGEAR NAS or a WHS server, right? Then again, unless I'm mistaken, it looks like the unit come about as close as anything to fulfilling my list of needs and wants.

Thanks!

-Tim

 

[thiggins]

Review is coming. The ix2 review gives a good idea of the OS.

Note that the Iomegas are now the only NASes besides the NETGEAR ReadyNASes to support NAS to NAS backup to and from network shares and rsync servers.

 

[claykin]

I'm guessing you are a Mac user? Any PC's? If Mac only, I wouldn't recommend the WHS solution. You give up some functionality in a Mac only environment.

The Readynas NV+ will probably serve you sell, but its a bit aged and on the lower end of the performance curve when compared to other 2009 products. That said, Netgear is still developing the RAIDIATOR firmware for the NV+/Duo series and they plan to release V4.1.7 before end of the year. There's no sign of them discontinuing the Duo/NV+ anytime soon.

I'm not so sure of Iomega's history as a NAS player and just how long they will support products before obsoleting them. Then again they still sell the ZIP and REV drives so I guess its anyone's guess. I guess time will tell.

What do you mean by HFS+ compatibility? I don't know of any NAS using HFS+ as its host file system. I do recall hearing something about Lacie and HFS+, but don't have any concrete info. HFS+ is not important for the NAS host file system. Most use EXT3 and a few now use EXT4. Both are compatible with HFS+ when accessing over AFP, CIFS or NFS. I've heard of Mac users who want the external USB port to support HFS from a backup perspective and I think both Qnap and Synology may have made comments that they are working on it for future firmware (though don't hold your breath waiting for it). Check their forums for more info. Again, its really not important since the Mac can read EXT3 formatted external drives using a third party driver. http://ext2fsx.sourceforge.net/

 

[tbutler@ofb.biz]

Tim, thanks. I enjoyed the review as well. It leaves me somewhat perplexed since it looks like the Synology DS-409 is still probably an overall better performer, but the base unit *is* cheaper with Iomega, given its included four drives. Hmm...

Claykin, thanks for the advice. I only have one PC, the rest are Mac or Linux. The big thing that intrigues me about HP's WHS solution (far more than the others that lack the Mac-friendly addons) is the sheer speed. It looks like for the money I can't get anything faster. But, I see what you mean and I'd rather go with a *nix based solution generally speaking.

The Iomega unit lists support for external HFS+ drives, as I understand it. Since all of my externals are formatted in HFS+ I figured that would be handy, albeit not a make or break kind of thing.

I'd be tempted to give up on premade units and build my own, but I wish there was something a bit more polished, ala RAIDiator, etc., that would run on a custom box. FreeNAS looks a little rough around the edges to me.