If, for example, you enter all lower-case text in an attempt to search for a file name containing any capital letters, the ix2 will not be able to find it. We did, however, notice an annoying weakness in that the search feature is case-sensitive. The browser interface’s Home tab offers a search feature that lets you find files on the ix2 much as you would use a search utility to find files stored on a PC. You can access data stored on the ix2 with Windows, Mac, or Linux computers, or via FTP regardless of operating system. A Dashboard tab on the ix2 lets you see things like device status, available capacity, and attached devices at a glance. With features that are logically arranged in an icon-based and tabbed interface, the ix2 makes it easy to locate and perform functions such as adding users, groups and folders. The ix2’s well-designed, browser-based administration console is almost as good as that of the Western Digital ShareSpace. Incidentally, you can send those notifications through a mail server run by EMC (Iomega’s parent company) so you don’t have to use your own mail account if you don’t want to. After plugging in and turning on we used the included Iomega StorCenter Manager utility to detect the device, connect to it via browser, and perform basic setup such as creating an administrative password, choosing a device name and configuring e-mail notification. Getting the ix2 situated on our network wasn’t at all difficult.
Iomega storcenter ix2 replace both disks Bluetooth#
The USB ports can connect to external storage devices, a shared printer, Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) or Bluetooth adapter. On the back of the ix2’s small metal chassis you’ll find a Gigabit Ethernet port and a pair of USB ports. The ix2 can’t be configured for performance-oriented RAID 0 striping, which is just as well because it leaves your data more vulnerable to loss than either of the other two setups. If you’d rather forgo the data protection and use all of the ix2’s storage, you can switch to non-RAID, or JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) mode. For data protection, there’s RAID 1 mirroring - the default mode‑‑which creates an exact copy of your data, and as a result leaves you with half the ix2’s storage capacity available for your files. You can configure the ix2’s storage in one of two ways. (Products in this price range that facilitate drive access generally offer much less capacity and start you out with a solitary hard drive.) Like most twin-drive NAS devices, the ix2 doesn’t give you easy access to the drives in order to remove and replace them yourself. Our 2TB test unit carries a $479 (MSRP) price tag, while the 1 TB unit will set you back considerably less, at $299. Inside every ix2 sit a pair of SATA II drives, either 500 GB or 1TB units for a maximum total capacity of 1 TB or 2TB, respectively. The ix2 takes up negligible space on a desk, runs warm (but not hot) to the touch, and the internal cooling fan, while definitely audible in a quiet room, shouldn’t be distracting in a typical office environment. Oddly enough, another feature that can be extremely helpful - remote access - is conspicuously absent. Iomega’s StorCenter ix2 Network Storage, a compact and easy-to-set-up network-attached storage ( NAS) device, offers several unusual and potentially handy features for small businesses - such as Bluetooth support and a built-in search function.