Gigabyte Intel Core i7/ Core i5/ Core i3/ LGA 1156/ Intel H57/ 4DDR3-2200+/ATI CrossFireX/ HDMI/ USB3.0/ Raid Micro ATX Motherboard GA-H57M-USB3 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Ordered on 6th feb, left Memphis TN on 8th, reached Miami FL feb 10 with free standard shipping from amazon and then I got it in Trinidad 2 days later via a skybox. The motherboard was the only item ordered and it came in a slightly bigger box with brown paper padding on the outer edges, I uploaded a pic of it here.

The board worked as soon as I powered it on. I first used a usb keyboard but when the system woke up from sleep the left side of the board would be messed up and show multiple keys in an area being pressed when only one was pressed, eg when I typed 'a' it would show 'as' in Word. The same keyboard works perfectly on every other system I have and it corrects itself if i unplug and replug it back in even if it is the same port. It is not just the usb 2.0 or just the 3.0 ports, I get the problem for all ports on the back, I did not try the front ports on the case. I have switched to a ps/2 keyboard and it works perfectly now.

Another issue is the 1 terabyte hard drive (WD1001FALS) I use makes a funny noise when plugged into any one of the blue sata ports, it sounds like it is shutting down but midway it spins back up again, it may be a power setting somewhere, but it is random and the sound comes every 5 - 10 mins whether I am using the system lightly on the internet, or doing nothing just staring at the screen. While gaming or watching a movie I have the music on loudly so I'm not sure if it happens then too. If I use either of the white sata ports the sounds never comes which is why I suspect it is a setting somewhere. The system never freezes or stalls, the mouse always moves smoothly with the funny sound on.

About a week ago after I was looking around the bios and the system restarted the system did not boot. The power led kept blinking as it normally did during booting (it does not stay steady as with most other systems) but it did not beep and never booted. To get the system to boot I had to unplug the power cable and pop the battery on the board out then let it sit for a few mins. I then updated the bios to f5 from f1 revision using the windows utility, the same thing happened the first time I restarted after the bios update but not since. The drivers on the CD included were installed with no problem. The Easy Tune 6 app does give an error message when it starts up but runs properly I think.

The board has all the necessary settings to overclock the cpu and the memory. The i5 steps down and back up in speed as necessary. I do not have any usb 3.0 devices to check the speed on the ports.My XFX 5770 which uses 2 slots just meets the top of the level of the first pci slot, so I consider it blocked, I would not squeeze a pci card in to block air for the fan on the 5770.

I am very happy with this build and I see it lasting me well into the future. When games get even more demanding I will use xfire and a SSD and mayb overclock.

NOTE: - Make sure you get an ATX V2.2 or 2.3 power supply with an 8-pin EPS connector as this board requires it.
- I had to choose 'Profile 1' in the bios under XMP profile for the board to recognise the memory as 1600mhz, 9-9-9-24, the default was 1300 mhz.System specs:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Intel Core i5 750 Processor 2.66 GHz 8 MB LGA1156 CPUI5-750BOX (quad core, turbo boost)
Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 XMS3 4 GB PC3-12800 Core i5 Memory Kit (1600mhz)
XFX Radeon HD 5770 1GB DDR5 PCIE Graphics Card HD577AZNFC (1gb, DX 11)
Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3 H57 motherboard (usb3, 7.1 audio, xfire, raid)
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 3.5 Inch, 32 MB Cache, 7200 RPM SATA II WD1001FALS
OCZ OCZ600MXSP ModXStream Pro 600 Watt Power Supply (ATX12v 2.2, modular cables, 80+)
Thermaltake VI1000NWS M9 case (2 x 120mm fan, toolless, bought locally)
IDE dvd burner
Logitech MX 518 High Performance Optical Gaming Mouse (Metal)
Dell S2209w 22" LCD (5ms, 1080p, DVI-D)
Logitech x530 speakers (5.1, 70w rms)
MS Keyboard
Sony MDR-XD200 headphones
500VA UPS
HP 3050 AIO

Windows Experience Index Ratings:
Processor: 7.3
Memory:7.7
Graphics:7.4
Gaming graphics: 7.4
Primary disk:5.9

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Product Description:
Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3 Intel Core i7/ Core i5/ Core i3/ LGA 1156/ Intel H57/ 4DDR3-2200+/ATI CrossFireX/ HDMI/ USB3.0/ Raid Micro ATX Motherboard

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3WARE 9650SE-2LP Internal Sata II Hardware Raid Controller Card. Pci-express X1, Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Works fine under FreeBSD 7.2-RELEASE and 8.0-RELEASE with Seagate Barracuda 7200.5 drives and a SuperMicro server board.

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Product Description:
3 Ware 9650SE SATA II hardware RAID controllers deliver industry-ieading RAID 6 and RAID 5 performance, robust fault tlerance, and multi-terabyte capacities. A PCI Express host interface, Multi-lane connectivity, StorSwitch architecture, and sophisticated SATA II features drive this unrivaled performance. The 3ware 9650SX offers the most comprehensive line of PCI Express controllers, available in both low profile and full height footprints with 2,4,8,12,16 and 24 port configurations. All 4 port and above models feature 3 Ware is award-winning Multi-lane connectivity. The 9650SE supports RAID levels 0,1,5,6,10,50,Single Disk and JBOD.

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Buffalo Drivestation Duo 500 GB Desktop External Hard Drive HD-W500IU2-R1 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Duo pairs up with 2 WD HDs, which is simply noisy when operate. Speed passing though USB2 is alright, USB driver works like a charm. Security + backup software is a plus.

However, RAID never worked! I've been fighting with Tech support for days (It will take you about 50 mins. waiting on the phone to get to them each time.) and nothing works.Tech support simply push back the problem to customers and indicated it's your "windows" problem.

1. Raid driver can't find the USB hard drive.On the first public version of driver, it creates C++ error. The newest version simply can't find the hard drive.

2. If you are looking for mac support, there is none. The newest driver "README.TXT" indicated that, newest driver only works under PowerPC chip with OSX. So if you have intel core duo, good luck to find the RAID driver.

3. When I first spoke with tech support about RAID problem, they said it might be my windows.Actually, I've tried 7 computers with 3 of them are clean installed. Nothing works! the RAID software simply CAN NOT FIND ANY DEVICE on the USB, even your hard drives are working and running.

4. Tech told me the RAID is hardware raid, however, it requires "THE DRIVER" to work. Where, most of people on the net will tell you, "THE DRIVER", never worked. So, if you are unlucky just like me, you have to run 2 USB drives at same time instead of any RAID/MIRROR support on this thing. they simply don't have it yet.The newest driver 1.01 was dated as far back as June 2006, and there is no newer driver existing so far.

Buffalo's linkstation gaves me nice experiences (only down side was the transfer rate), but this Drivestation Duo turns me away. I'll never going to be business with Buffalo ever again in my life. It's too painful to call in and gets no results whatsoever.============== UPDATE Feb/27/07 ==================================
After a few weeks of problem solving, I am able to make the RAID work now.

Since the utility came with CD or "buffalo" tech support suggested version was never worked. (RAID utility simply can't find the Hard drive itself), and MAC raid utility only support OS 9 or older.

Instead of killing myself without a RAID feature which I paid for, I went to Japanese website to download the newest RAID utility.First of all, if you have the connection problem like I do, and you only have windows machines, I have to tell you the sad news.Even Japanese (NEWEST update) RAID utility still won't work under windows XP SP2.

Instead, You need an IntelMac (like macbook/pro), hook up with firewire (only works under firewire connection), and fire up the Japanese version of the RAID utility.It will find the Drivestation Just fine.

If you don't read Japanese, basicaly, there are 3 options under the RAID menu, and once you opened up the utility, you see 2 partition (2 separated HD on the list), and you will have 3 options.1st, remain 2 Partitions. 2nd, Make them into one 500GB partition. 3rd, make into RAID 1 configuration.

Here is the tricky part!! Since windows RAID utility didn't work, You have to make your RAID configuration on MAC through firewire.However, You HAVE TO USE USB2.0 connection to the Windows machine after this.After you configured your DriveStation into 500GB or RAID 1, You will either see a 500GB HD after reboot the Drivestation on Mac, OR!!! You will see nothing (Partition worked, but MAC has no longer access the right partition.)

So, You need to use USB 2.0 connection back to Windows, and fire up the "Format program" that came with original CD. (Sorry! No MAC utility here!).Here! You can delete/create/format a partition.And after format the Drivestation into FAT32, both of your PC/MAC will see it and work perfect after that.

Since the front pannel did indicate 1, 2 as first and second hard drive in LED. If your RAID 1 worked, they both will access almost at same time when you are using the Hard Drive.Fully RAID 1 baby!!

If you made them into a Huge 500GB, it works the same too.. 2 Hard Drive will access at same time (Almost).It is much better than 2 separated Hard Drives.

============ WARNING ===================
This is personal testing result.Actual procedure might facing difficulty I haven't encountered.So, if this method don't really work for you, please don't contact me.Just call Buffalo-tech then.

Be honest, I think Buffalo-USA did a bad job of re-writting the entire utility.They simply didn't do a full testing on it.Japanese one didn't work as well.You will also see FW update.. I didn't try that at all. This is the catch.. if FW fails.. You never gotta know how to get back to the original FW in the first place.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Buffalo Drivestation Duo 500 GB Desktop External Hard Drive HD-W500IU2-R1

Product Description:

Product Name: DriveStation Duo Hard Drive Array
Marketing Information:
The DriveStation Duo is a quick and easy solution to store, access, back up and transfer your music, photos, videos and other files. Get maximum storage with the increased capacity of two spanning hard drives or the extra security of automatic mirroring in one affordable box.Storage

Storage Capacity: 500GB Installed/500GB Maximum
Hard Drive: 2 x 250GB Serial ATA
Controllers

Controller:Serial ATA/150 RAID Controller
RAID Levels: 1
I/O Expansions

Expansion Bays: 3.5" (2 Total/2 Populated)
Interfaces/Ports

Ports: 2 x 4-pin USB 2.0 - USB
Ports: 1 x 6-pin IEEE 1394a - Firewire
Power Description

Input Voltage: 110V AC
Input Voltage: 220V AC
Physical Characteristics

Dimensions: 6.4" Height x 3.9" Width x 8.7" Depth
Weight: 6.4 lb- Approximate
Warranty

Standard Warranty: 1 Year(s)

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Buffalo Technology DriveStation Duo 2.0 TB (2 x 1 TB) USB 2.0 & FireWire Combo External Hard Drive HD-W2.0IU2/R1 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I usually do not write reviews but this time after spending so much time doing a research on a good external RAID1 hard drive and finding no useful information I figured I'll write one up to save other people time and money.

I've read a whole bunch of reviews on Amazon and other websites all people complaining about DriveStation Duo RAID-1 configuration on Windows. Not sure what those people did wrong but they definitely got me concerned before buying this unit.

Before choosing this unit I've compared whole bunch of products available. I was looking for external hard drive either USB or NAS that supports RAID-1 for redundancy and I need to have a flexibility to swap one of the hard drives if needed in case it crashes after warranty expires by not going to the manufacture. Out of all products I looked at (Linksys, Buffalo, Maxtor, Iomega, SimpleTech and many others) I liked Linksys NAS200 the best as it gives you most flexibility with hard drives you choose and Linksys usually have a pretty good software to configure and maintain their hardware but the only downside with NAS200 was the speed. I don't need high transfer rates but I do need at least 10Mb/sec when NAS200 was producing around 3Mb/sec.

When I got the hard drive the one thing I was concerned about is configuring it for RAID-1 based on all the problems other users had (from reviews). I just ran a disk utility that comes with the drive, connected hard drive via USB and then configured it for RAID-1. It was that easy. No problems on Windows XP as other people reported. Then I just formatted the drive using Disk Management utility and it is ready to go.
I even decided to test redundancy so I copied some files to the drive and shut it down and pulled out one drive out of it. Started it back up and the drive was accessible with all the files there. So then I shut it down again and reconnected the drive and it started rebuilding it. According to their doc on the website it is supposed to take 8-11 hours for 500Gb hard drive but after 18 hours it did not finish and I decided to call tech support. After calling tech support they confirmed that the reconnected drive will not rebuild since it expects brand new drive RAW formatted and a drive formatted other than RAW it will go in infinite loop trying to rebuild it. First tech support suggested to format the drive while it was rebuilding it (which I didn't think was a good idea but did it anyway) and that didn't work (2-3 hours wasted). Then after keeping me on hold while (probably) reading some documentation tech support rep. said that because I opened up front cover the warranty is void and they can't replace it for me so he suggested returning back to the place where I got it from since there's no way to fix the problem any more. Then I figured I'll take it into my own hands and tried using DiskUtility to change the drive back to Normal Mode (2 independent drives) and that worked fine but changing it back to RAID-1 failed with misspelled error "Disk Restracturing failed". So, I formatted each drive using FAT32 (back to default formatting) and then tried converting it back to RAID-1 and it worked just fine.

At the end here are pros and cons of this hard drive:
+ Supports RAID-1
+ High transfer rate
+ Auto-power shut off (via USB). Nice feature. Starts up the drive when you start up your computer and shuts it off when you shut down computer.
+ Swappable hard drives. After hands on experience with the hard drive I found out that it will not be that easy to change them, but at least it'll get you the data if one crashes.
+ Easy to access hard drives - just few screws away
+ No need to install all kinds of drivers and whole bunch of useless memory and CPU wasting software to make this unit work. It is literally Plug-n-Play. Windows recognizes this unit without any issues. You can format it using Disk Management in Windows.
+ Comes with 2 Seagate hard drives and not some proprietary like other manufactures
- 1 year warranty. Some websites advertise 3 years warranty for this drive but support confirmed that it is actually 1 year
- Tech support. Doesn't seem like they know what they're talking about. They kept putting me on hold every time I ask them any question. My guess, they were looking for answers in some documents because they didn't know. Really takes them long time to come back with an answer and at the end those answers are useless and misleading.

So at the end, the drive seems to be performing as advertised. I got about 30Mb/sec when copying large files and over 100Mb/sec when copying some MP3 files. At the end, I think this is a good bang for the buck.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Buffalo Technology DriveStation Duo 2.0 TB (2 x 1 TB) USB 2.0 and FireWire Combo External Hard Drive HD-W2.0IU2/R1

Product Description:
2TB 2X500GB DRIVESTATION DUO EXT 7200RPM TT SATA RAID 0/1 USB 2.0

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NETGEAR ReadyNAS NVX 4-Bay 2TB (2 x 1000GB) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have owned the NV+ and this NVX is much better, read much faster.It validated all the new disks I bought and said two of them were bad even though they worked in a PC.It is very quiet and does not take much power.Software is very versatile - lot of options and the web interface is very straight forward.5 year warranty is also appreciated.

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Product Description:
The ReadyNAS NVX is a 4-bay desktop storage system designed for home offices, workgroups and small businesses . It is a high-quality solution for storing, sharing and protecting businesscritical data that is affordable for the smallest office.ReadyNAS unified architecture solves numerous data management problems with a single system, making capacity management, access, backup, restore and disaster recovery worries obsolete. Now you can eliminate common data concerns and revolutionize your storage environment without becoming an expert.

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Synology Disk Station 4-Bay (Diskless) 2.5 Inch HDD Network Attached Storage DS409Slim (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is my second Synology NAS (the other one is a CS407) and I am greatly satisfied with it.

Pros:
(1) It is small, really small for a 4 drive NAS.
(2) Very very quiet. Synology website rates the CS407 at 23db and the DS409slim at 24db. However in my opinion the ds409slim is almost silent and the CS407 is not.
(3) Although it uses 2.5 hds, it supports the 12.5mm height ones that allow you (as of 04/10) 4TB total storage.
(4) Rock solid, proven linux os.
(5) Tons of functionality appart from standard NAS services (web server, bittorrent client, rsync server for backup, etc), and on to it allows you to add custom software (e.g. subversion server).
(6) Nice and easy to manage configuration software.

Cons:
(1) Price. 2.5" drives are relatively more expensive than their 3.5" counterparts (2+ times at 1TB).
(2) 2.5" drives limit the storage capacity. W.r.t noise, I have to say that one of the reasons that my ds409slim is much quieter than my cs407 is that the 2.5" drives I used are very silent (5400rpm WD blue) and the 3.5" are not so much (2 hitachi 7200rpm and 1 samsung 7200rpm).

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Product Description:
Synology Disk Station DS409slim is designed to provide users with a budget-friendly solution for easy file sharing and backup. The snap-in 2.5" hard drive design brings low power consumption, quiet operation, reliability and easy disk replacement in a compact design. Its software, Synology Disk Station Manager 2.1, delivers ease of use and variety of features. It is designed to work with 2.5" hard drives. The low power consumption characteristic of 2.5" hard drives will lower your electricity bill, as well as reduce your carbon footprint.The smart fan design keeps the fan off under normal operations and spinning up at a very low speed only when needed, thus minimizing the noise level.In addition, 2.5" hard drives have reduced vibration, increased MTBF (mean time before failure), and shock tolerance. Synology Download Station 2 functions as a 24x7 BitTorrent, FTP, HTTP, eMule, and NZB download center. Synology Audio Station supports music, Internet radio stations, and iPod playback with connected USB speakers. An optional direction-free Synology Remote allows you to freely enjoy your music. Web-streaming mode allows your music to be shared with multiple users over the Internet.UPnP support allows users to stream multimedia files with an UPnP Digital Media Adapter (DMA) on a stereo system or a TV-set. Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox360 are also supported.iTunes Server is an easy way to share music to other iTunes clients over the network.USB Copy provides a plug-n-save solution to store data. Synology Data Replicator 3 allows Windows users to back up desktop data to the DS409slim. Users can select immediate, sync, or scheduled backup according to their needs. The Network Recycle Bin ensures all deleted files are recoverable from the recycle bin. Synology Photo Station 3 simplifies photo, video, and blog sharing over the Internet. Customized themes and various selections are available for personalization.

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Buffalo Technology TeraStation III 8.0 TB (4 x 2 TB) Network Attached Storage TS-X8.0TL/R5 Review

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(More customer reviews)First, we like Buffalo and will continue to buy their products.Their is nothing wrong with the design of this product.Buffalo support has been superlative.

But 2 TB hard drives are not ready for prime time.Our unit has Samsung drives.We use it raid 5.We lost one drive on Monday.We continued using the unit only to read from.

On Thursday a second drive failed.All data was lost.Luckily we backed up everything on Monday and continued to write to another drive.

When I talked to tech support they said units shipped with the Western Digital drives had been even more problematic.

Steer clear of 2 TB drives for now.

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Product Description:
Buffalo's TeraStation III Series is the ideal choice for businesses or demanding users looking to implement a RAID based Network Attached Storage solution. As Buffalo's flagship NAS product the TeraStation III includes all firmware features presently found in the Buffalo lineup of NAS products. Especially, business oriented features, such Active Directory support, DFS support, disk quota support, a share level replication feature and port trunking make the TeraStation III a top choice for small to medium sized businesses. Hardware features like hot swap and dual Ethernet ports add to the list of new features. Reliability and performance are again the key design criteria for the TeraStaion III. A heavy-duty power supply and oversized cooling system, as well as vastly improved CPU speed guarantee excellent and reliable performance. It is the clear choice for those users who desire maximum reliability and robust features.

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Netgear ReadyNAS Duo 2-Bay 2 TB (1 x 2 TB) Network Attached Storage RND2120 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This device is fast, great for home use and is fairly fast. The setup is very easy however make sure you read all the tips as some firewalls will prohibit the software to see the device. The Marketing and box states it will run at 1GB Ethernet speeds. This is true BUT NOT WITH THE SUPPLIED ACCESSORIES. They give you a CAT5 cable which can only achieve 100MB speeds. I would think most people do not know that fact and would cause them to wonder why the device is slow. I did buy a CAT5e cable for $3 to replace it and it does run at the stated 1GB speed with my supplied cable. Quite cheap of Netgear in my mind. Netgear would not replace the cable after numerous attempts. Otherwise the device is working fine.

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Product Description:
The Netgear ReadyNAS Duo, a member of the award-winning ReadyNAS family of advanced network storage products, is the ideal storage and file sharing solution for the home or small-office. This compact, quiet, and very low-power-consuming, network attached server lets your network users share all your files, including music and video, easily and securely. The Duo has two storage bays and supports RAID for secure storage with great performance.

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NETGEAR ReadyNAS NVX 4-Bay 4TB (4 x 1000GB) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a powerful and very flexible platform for all your storage needs.Out of the box it provides wholesale upgradable storage.With a little work, it can become your personal webserver, streaming media server, FTP server, remote data server through VPN, the list goes on!This is all, of course, while being under the protection of RAID.The best part is there is a thriving online community that can help you with anything you might want to do with this little machine.I've been consistently impressed by the ReadyNAS.I highly recommended it to anyone wanting flexible network storage!

Click Here to see more reviews about: NETGEAR ReadyNAS NVX 4-Bay 4TB (4 x 1000GB)

Product Description:
The ReadyNAS NVX is a 4-bay desktop storage system designed for home offices, workgroups and small businesses . It is a high-quality solution for storing, sharing and protecting businesscritical data that is affordable for the smallest office.ReadyNAS unified architecture solves numerous data management problems with a single system, making capacity management, access, backup, restore and disaster recovery worries obsolete. Now you can eliminate common data concerns and revolutionize your storage environment without becoming an expert.

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Netgear ReadyNAS Duo 2-Bay 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) Network Attached Storage RND2210 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I just placed an order for my second Readynas Duo.Done with backing up PC's to thumb drives, Cd's or DVD's.Internet access is great once it is configured.I could never get the remote software to work, so I'd looked around the web for directly setting up web access.

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Product Description:
READYNAS DUO 2TB DESKTOP GBE PERP

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Western Digital WDA4NC80000N ShareSpace 8 TB 4-bay Network Attached Storage Gigabit Ethernet (RAID 0/1/5) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)(Note: My review is Mac based, but the Western Digital ShareSpace 4TB 4-Bay NAS RAID supports PCs and Linux as well.)

My history with SOHO NAS so far hasn't been all that good. The WD ShareSpace is the third NAS type device I've owned. The previous two (a 1 TB WD MyBook Pro II used as a NAS device through my Apple Airport Extreme and a 2 TB OWC Raidon NAS/RAID) were both returned. The WD MyBook Pro II had a drive sleep issue with the Airport Extreme. (See below.) The OWC Raidon NAS/RAID couldn't set user permissions properly running as a Mac formatted drive. As for the Western Digital ShareSpace 4TB 4-Bay NAS RAID, so far it appears to be the best of the lot.

After completely setting up the drive yesterday evening (in no more than an hour), overnight I did a complete restore of the 60 GB or so I have backed up of our home business data to the WD ShareSpace. It was seamless. When I woke up this morning all the data was there just as it should be. Then I copied my 47 GB iTunes library over from my Mac Pro to the ShareSpace Public:Shared Music folder. (The shared folders are created by WD and ship with the drive.)

So what do I have?

* Effectively in RAID 5 I have 2.68 TB of available storage (my 60 GB barely touches the surface.)

* I have access to my entire iTunes library from every Mac and PC in the house

I can now have an iTunes server without having to have a Mac acting a server or buying another separate device. The ShareSpace can handle multiple audio streams over the 1 GB/s NAS interface without breaking a sweat. (I have read in the WD FAQ that there is an issue with multiple audio streams and simultaneous file downloads, but I haven't run into this issue yet.) The only downside is, while you can access all the music (including MP3s and DRM AAC,) you can only run iTunes in List View, not Grid or Cover Flow. That's a bit of a bummer, but I expect that this is more of a limitation of iTunes than it is of the ShareSpace.

* Access as Administrator to all the drive shares.

At first this might not sound like a big deal. But unlike my Windows 2000 Advanced Server, all the previous NAS drives I've owned to date wouldn't allow me to access shares that I don't "own." My wife's share, for example, was not accessible to me. So why would I want that anyway? Simply because it makes backing up the entire NAS so much easier. What I've had to do in the past to access all shares for backup was to physically disconnect the NAS drive from the network and attach it via the USB port to my Mac Pro. Doing so overrides the read/write privileges of the NAS because now it appears as just another external drive attached to the Mac Pro. I did my backups and then had to eject the drive from the Mac Pro and reconnect it to the network. It was a bit of a pain. The ShareSpace overcomes this by allowing me to apply Admin privileges to my user account. Now when it's the weekly backup time I can simply mount all the shares on line and do the backup in one fell swoop.

* A green device

To save energy, the ShareSpace spins the four drive's speed down when they are not being used. This is a big improvement over the MyBook Pro II. I wound up sending it back because it completely shut down the drives when they weren't in use and the Airport Extreme couldn't wake them up again.

* A very quiet RAID/NAS

The drive runs very quietly. I can barely hear the fan. If the home office is dead quiet and I get right up next to the ShareSpace, I can hear the clicking of the drive heads as they read and write data--but that's completely tolerable. The Mac Pro, no noise generator itself, is louder than the ShareSpace.

I haven't done any file transfer performance testing yet. However, I do find that the device does well delivering streamed audio (and probably streamed video as well.) From what I've read and experienced with very large file transfers, it doesn't appear that WD hasn't put all that much oomph into the network driver and interface. (Yes, the ShareSpace does support Jumbo Frames over Gigabit Ethernet.) For now I don't plan to post-process any of my RAW files in Photoshop or Lightroom 2 on the ShareSpace. I'll leave that task up to the internal SATA drives in my Mac Pro.

The bottom line may be that the WD ShareSpace is a flexible, easy to manage device with tons of storage. But if you are looking for an absolute speed demon RAID/NAS this may not be your first choice. Pros:

* Great, great management tools via the web interface.
* Pretty decent management security (log in and HTTPS.)
* Tons and tons of on-line storage.
* RAID 5 capability.
* Very easy drive discovery.
* Bonjour spupport means that there is no need to guess what DHCP IP address has been assigned to the drive.
* No need to be an IT expert to manage the drive.
* Flexible and straightforward account and share management.
* Easy, easy, easy to use.
* 4 TB of RAID 5 for a decent price. Are you kidding me?
* Mostly all metal construction (how rare is that these days?)
* Stable drive enclosure that won't slide around on the desk or table easily.
* Design is okay. A bit techy looking, but it won't offend anyone either.Cons:

* I'd prefer to have an integrated power supply, although the brick power supply is better and more rugged than most I've seen.
* Let's have "real" documentation included. The "Quick Start" documentation is anemic. The on-line documentation is okay, but it has to be printed for a device this expensive and flexible.
* Virtually no software included. They include a backup application and the documentation on a CD. That's about it. But, to tell the truth I'd rather spend my dollars for the hardware and not for software "throw ins."
* Failed (or added) drive must be Western Digital drives. No other vendors are supported. Boo!
* Case opens like a PC. This is not complex matter, but drive access could have been made easier. (How about a door that swings open? Other vendors have done just that.)
* Drives are not hot swappable.
* File transfer speeds may be on the slow side.Overall so far: Most of the cons are nits or easy to live with. Highly recommended. All-in-all a very excellent way to provide RAID/NAS for a SOHO environment.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Western Digital WDA4NC80000N ShareSpace 8 TB 4-bay Network Attached Storage Gigabit Ethernet (RAID 0/1/5)

Product Description:
The WD ShareSpace 4-bay Gigabit Ethernet network attached storage system with a space-saving footprint and capacities up to 8 TB gives you the benefits of a big-time data center without the need for a big-time IT department. Perfect for centralizing data on a small office or home network. Features include RAID 0/1/5, MioNet remote access software, an e-mail alert system, Active Directory support and a download manager. Push a button to quickly transfer data from a connected USB drive. Centralize your music collection and stream to a Mac or Windows PC with iTunes software. Set up continuous backup for up to 3 computers in your network using the included automatic backup software.Stream digital media anywhere in your home - Built-in media server for streaming music, photos and movies to any DLNA certified multimedia device such as Playstation 3, Xbox 360, wireless digital picture frames, and connected audio receivers. DLNA 1.5 & UPnP certified.

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Dane-Elec My Ditto 2TB 2-Bay, MD-H102T2E23S Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've had many bad expriences with external hard disks in the last 7 years. All my disks were made by Western Digital and none of them lasted more than 2 years. I was looking for something that was easier to install and use. Read the review of 'myditto' decided to buy it. Installation is truly a breeze. I love the key concept. Makes file storage/sharing secure. Only time will tell about the logetivity of the unit but i am hoping that setting the conifguration to RAID1 will give me redundancy. I feel that a lot of small business will find this system very useful.

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Dane-Elec My Ditto 2TB 2-Bay, MD-H102T2E23S

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QNAP Pro II 2-Bay Desktop Network Attached Server TS-239 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this for 3 reasons - 1. RAID 1 mirrored backup, 2. Data protection and 3. In hopes of greater transfer rates with 2 Gb NICs versus the TS-109 model. Initializing the mirroring process took hours on 1Tb disks, Data security works as described and transfer was slow...I ended up decoupling the NIC's and using one NIC to get reasonable speeds. Now I realize I needed a switch with port bonding capabilities. Otherwise it works as advertised. Good investment - pricey.

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Product Description:
The TS-239 Pro II is the powerful 2-bay network attached storage (NAS ) server, which is designed to provide an affordable and easy-to-management solution with iSCSI service for virtualized and clustered environment. The TS-239 Pro II also offers versatile business applications to maximize the efficiency of the data center in the business environment. Incorporating the next-generation Intel Atom D410 1.66GHz Single-Core processor and 1GB DDRII RAM, the Turbo NAS delivers exceptional performance and maintains high reliability for multiple concurrent applications and intensive data transfer with guaranteed low power consumption.

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LaCie 2big Quadra 2 TB 2-Disk RAID Hard Drive 301352U Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this drive to replace a Maxtor 2-disk RAID drive that recently stopped working after one of the disks failed.The RAID did it's job though - I was able to recover all the data from the good disk after I had to take apart the enclosure to remove it.This new drive has quite a few advantages over my old Maxtor.In addition to more disk space, it has a fast eSATA interface, a cool "mixed" RAID mode that gives you one "safe" partition and one "big" partition if you don't want to use the whole drive in "safe" (mirrored) mode, and removable drives so I don't have to take the whole thing apart (and replace the unit) if one of the drives fails.The "auto" power on/off mode is also very nice if you use the USB connection.The enclosure itself looks very nice and is built very solid (in a good way).Both the fan and the drives themselves (Hitachi in mine) are definitely on the noisy side at times, but I'm hoping the extra airflow will help the drives last longer than the Maxtor.The printed "manual" is also extremely short and unhelpful, but I didn't have any problems setting up the drive on my PC (I am a computer professional).

Click Here to see more reviews about: LaCie 2big Quadra 2 TB 2-Disk RAID Hard Drive 301352U

Product Description:
The LaCie 2big quadruple interface professional 2-disk RAID delivers fast speed, large capacity and data security. With eSATA 3Gbits, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & Hi-Speed USB 2.0, it provides complete universal compatibility with any PC or Mac. The easy-to-use 2big Quadra comes with two extractable, lockable and hot-swappable disks for a user-controlled solution. With four RAID levels, it meets your storage needs, whether it-s security, capacity, speed or a combination. With burst transfer rates as high as 165MB/s** (eSATA), it-s ideal for audio/video projects (DV and SD video playback or 2D/3D imaging). The sturdy heat sink metal design provides 60% more surface area for natural heat dissipation. The 2big Quadra comes with Genie Backup Manager Pro software with disaster recovery for Windows users and Intego Backup Manager Pro software with disaster recovery for Mac users. It also features Triple Power Management and the LaCie Shortcut Button, which can launch any application you choose in one push. Box Contents: LaCie 2big Quadra, eSATA-to-eSATA (3Gbits) cable, FireWire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable, FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable, Hi-Speed USB 2.0 cable, Power supply kit, Quick Install Guide, LaCie Utilities and User Manual on CD-ROM. System Requirements: eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 or USB ports, Windows 2000/XP or Vista, Mac OS X 10.3 or higher, Minimum free disk space: 600 MB recommended

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LaCie 2big Quadra 2 TB 2-Disk RAID Hard Drive 301352U Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this drive to replace a Maxtor 2-disk RAID drive that recently stopped working after one of the disks failed.The RAID did it's job though - I was able to recover all the data from the good disk after I had to take apart the enclosure to remove it.This new drive has quite a few advantages over my old Maxtor.In addition to more disk space, it has a fast eSATA interface, a cool "mixed" RAID mode that gives you one "safe" partition and one "big" partition if you don't want to use the whole drive in "safe" (mirrored) mode, and removable drives so I don't have to take the whole thing apart (and replace the unit) if one of the drives fails.The "auto" power on/off mode is also very nice if you use the USB connection.The enclosure itself looks very nice and is built very solid (in a good way).Both the fan and the drives themselves (Hitachi in mine) are definitely on the noisy side at times, but I'm hoping the extra airflow will help the drives last longer than the Maxtor.The printed "manual" is also extremely short and unhelpful, but I didn't have any problems setting up the drive on my PC (I am a computer professional).

Click Here to see more reviews about: LaCie 2big Quadra 2 TB 2-Disk RAID Hard Drive 301352U

Product Description:
The LaCie 2big quadruple interface professional 2-disk RAID delivers fast speed, large capacity and data security. With eSATA 3Gbits, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & Hi-Speed USB 2.0, it provides complete universal compatibility with any PC or Mac. The easy-to-use 2big Quadra comes with two extractable, lockable and hot-swappable disks for a user-controlled solution. With four RAID levels, it meets your storage needs, whether it-s security, capacity, speed or a combination. With burst transfer rates as high as 165MB/s** (eSATA), it-s ideal for audio/video projects (DV and SD video playback or 2D/3D imaging). The sturdy heat sink metal design provides 60% more surface area for natural heat dissipation. The 2big Quadra comes with Genie Backup Manager Pro software with disaster recovery for Windows users and Intego Backup Manager Pro software with disaster recovery for Mac users. It also features Triple Power Management and the LaCie Shortcut Button, which can launch any application you choose in one push. Box Contents: LaCie 2big Quadra, eSATA-to-eSATA (3Gbits) cable, FireWire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable, FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable, Hi-Speed USB 2.0 cable, Power supply kit, Quick Install Guide, LaCie Utilities and User Manual on CD-ROM. System Requirements: eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 or USB ports, Windows 2000/XP or Vista, Mac OS X 10.3 or higher, Minimum free disk space: 600 MB recommended

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