SMB IT | Curtis Franklin » REVIEW: Iomega StorCenter Pro 150d

March 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)

REVIEW: Iomega StorCenter Pro 150d

TAGS: SMB Hardware

Okay, I just spent a few days dissing my Iomega 500GB StorCenter shared network hard disk because it suddenly started flaking on me after about 8 months of use. That didn't daunt Iomega, however, which sought to reclaim my mindshare by getting us a hands-on period with their new 1TB StorCenter Pro 150d.

The gist of this new StorCenter is that its a full-fledged NAS, in fact a close sibling of the Windows Storage Server-based StorCenter 200d. The 150d includes an automatic hook to Active Directory, and brings you most of the 200d's functionality along with a terabyte of data storage for about $800 (though you can get a 2TB version for more bucks). This is done with fewer hardware options (though you still have the USB connector so you can back up to a REV drive, for example) and a management interface based on Linux.

The Active Directory integration intrigued me because Iomega made a big point out of the fact that this is brainless, even though the StorCenter Pro 150d is based on Linux firmware. So I sent the thing to Brian Chee at the ANCL Lab in Hawaii so he could plug it into the Fergenschmeir domain, which is InfoWorld's Microsoft-only test network.

Brian turned my scoffing into silence, however, after he confirmed most of what Iomega promised. While hooking to the AD server had a wrinkle because both the NAS and the AD server need to be within 5 minutes of each other, that got fixed quickly with a manual clock change.

After that, the Iomega found the network's DHCP server; it then joined the Fergenschmeir AD domain in a couple of minutes and setup a basic share in yet a minute or two more. All done, access accomplished. It took a little extra time to figure out how to setup an NFS share, which proved to be more involved than simply clicking the checkbox (Iomega has some work to do there). But after that was working, Brian was able to connect not just to Windows machines, but Macs and Linux boxes as well.

The whole thing is managed through a Web interface that works as well in Firefox as it does in IE. Most everything is accomplished via checkboxes. The interface goes through setup options, user access controls and disk health. User access goes through local users, local groups as well as users and groups culled from the AD server. You can get alerts via the Interface or via email.

There's even a general backup utility for backing up the entire NAS to a CIF share. All these controls are there and certainly easier to use than many other interfaces. But if anything goes wrong, our experience is still that you'll need to know what you're doing to get it fixed.

Even so, Iomega has done a good job of balancing advanced capabilities with a need for KISS (keep it simple stupid). For example, the StorCenter supports jumbo frames, but the option isn't turned on by default because many switches still don't support it which is a headache that neophyte users don't need.

Flip side to that, tho. Iomega tried to make NTP a one-click option, but if your AD server isn't handling NTP then the checkbox just sits there non-functioning with no real explanation. Also don't like the fact that only one person can be in the management interface at a time and that any attempts to connect to it via a VPN connection died hard.

So is it easy or not? It is, as long as nothing goes wrong. Sticking the 150d into an small SMB network shouldn't give you any trouble based on our experience. Performance was solid and getting something besides a Windows machine to access it, while not brain-dead easy, also isn't rocket science, either. So far, we'd recommend it.

StorCenter Pro 150d
Iomega
Base price: $800
Pros: Real simple, real easy, real quiet, truly hot-swappable drives
Cons: One-person access to the management interface, needs more granularity in user permissions, no access to management interface via VPNs.

Posted by Oliver Rist on March 12, 2007 10:39 AM

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