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Iomega StorCenter Pro ix4-200d 4 TB Network Attached Storage Server 34549


  • Easy file sharing, data backup and print serving from any networked PC, Mac, or Linux workstation
  • RAID support: RAID 5 and RAID 10 – all with automatic RAID rebuild. JBOD mode also available.
  • iSCSI: provides block-level access for the most efficient storage utilization, especially for database and email application performance. It can be used parallel with file-level storage access via CIFS/NFS.
  • Remote access: connect securely from anywhere in the world and get full access to the pictures, videos, files and administration of the StorCenter ix4-200d through personalized web address
  • Vmware certified NAS (NFS) and iSCSI storage for Vmware

Product Description
The Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d NAS Server offers content sharing with advanced security, and is ideal for small office, remote office or home networks. Based on enterprise-class EMC storage technology, the StorCenter ix4-200d provides dual GbE connections, easy file sharing, iSCSI block access, and multiple RAID configurations for optimized data protection. Business users will appreciate the robust data protection features such as UPS support, print serving, folder … More >>

Iomega StorCenter Pro ix4-200d 4 TB Network Attached Storage Server 34549

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  1. #1 by Jeremy D. Cioara on March 31, 2010 - 4:04 pm

    If you’ve got a VMWare ESXi server in a lab (or even small production environment), this box is awesome.
    Rating: 5 / 5

  2. #2 by Michael Smith on March 31, 2010 - 6:01 pm

    NB: This review (and device) is not for the technically challenged. You should have good knowledge of networking and file sharing concepts before reading on or even considering this product.

    This is the second NAS I’ve ever owned – the first was a Buffalo Technology LinkStation that I used back in 2002. It was a single hard drive using 10/100 Ethernet and the web interface was downright awful and slow, though data transfer rates were acceptable.

    Fast forward to 2009. Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) is common as well as 500GB hard drives and more folks know about RAID. This device seems make a nice balance between a consumer device and one that could be used in a small office network. There are simply 4 user replaceable drives in the back (the web interface indicates they are Seagate drives.) It’s generally plug and play in a DHCP network – the IP address shows up on a beautiful little screen on the front of the device after powering up. It takes just a couple minutes to boot. You’ll need to know about networking and file sharing (an average consumer won’t be able to jump in without reading the help file on device and on the enclosed CD-ROM – the enclosed printed documentation is very basic.) You had better know what MAC, FTP, DHCP, etc. means before trying to configure the device. Nonetheless, no command line knowledge is needed (and unfortunately, you can’t SSH into the device either as I’d like to be able to.)

    In my specific scenario, I’m using this as a file server for accessing from my Mac environment at home. My Macs are able to access the server via AFP without difficulty and quickly – and no client software required. I was able to easily configure this device for use for Time Machine backups, a pleasant surprise. As far as benchmarks are concerned, I copied 25GB to the drive over gigabit Ethernet in under an hour (acceptable to me and comparable to USB2.0 or Firewire 400) when using Time Machine. There is also a print server for the device, though I have not been successful in getting my HP LaserJet P2015 to work on my Mac through the device over Bonjour. Other consumer-level features include torrent/web file downloading, content search, media sharing, USB device copying. E-mail notifications (through EMC’s SMTP server), UPS support (it talks directly to my APC UPS!), and dual GbE ports are icing on the cake. I won’t be using the VMware or iSCSI features so can’t comment on that. Setting up ACLs, user accounts, shares, and quotas are straightforward. While running the device just emits a quiet hum – just a bit more noise than an average laptop with its hard drive grinding away.

    I have not encountered any problems with any of the described features, except for the aforementioned print server issue. The device’s firmware/web interface seems to be mature. There are other devices that cost less but may not provide all the above features. The average home consumer may find better luck with a product based on the well-reviewed Windows Home Server (and save some money too.) Home users who can fiddle with a network are a good match for this device, as well as small businesses who know enough IT to understand this review. Otherwise, you should look elsewhere.

    Rating: 4 / 5

  3. #3 by Richard C. Drew on March 31, 2010 - 7:17 pm

    Installation: Plugged in the power, network cable, turned it on. It ran an automatic config (I assume it was formatting the drives, etc.) Installed the software and had it do an automatic setup. Total time (literally) five minutes. The system automatically assigned drive letters and volume names ( Backups – Y: – and Public – V: )

    Part of the setup is entering a notification email addres – if you receive the test email, you know all is good.

    “This is a test message to validate that notification address `address@address.com’ is reachable.

    Device Information: 10.1.10.62, 2.1.9.46472, Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d, 0JAK350016″

    The “congratulations” message screen displays the drive names, letters, and several options – configure backup, take a tour, setup internet access, plus the software tabs – Home, Dashboard, Users, Shared Storage, and Settings.

    It also has a “manage torrent downloads” – a really cool feature I’m dying to use. Just click on the Manage Torrent link, then paste in the torrent URL, or the torrent file (you can save the file instead of opening it as usual.) I saved a torrent link, then browsed for the file in the devices software. I selected the file, used the default download destination, and let it go.

    Press “OK” and you’ll see a status screen for your torrents. You can add, edit and remove torrents, as well as start and stop any torrent. If this works as advertised, I can stop using my PC for torrents and get red of that security hole!

    The “Settings” tab is the heart of the device. There are 20 different areas here, including backup and restore, setup, disks, quotas, printers media services and more.

    Looking under the “media services” has three options – Media Server, Picture Transfer, Video Surveillance.

    Media Server enables UPnP AV players (including iTunes) to access media via the built in media server.

    Picture Transfer allows you to transfer photos from your digital camera.

    Video Surveillance allows you to capture video from IP based network cameras, view the camera, set a recording schedule, or manually make a recording!

    The Center is also a print hub – you can attach printers and access them from your network. Another handy feature! I was wondering what all those USB ports were for.

    Front buttons: Bottom button cycles – Time ->space used / available -> IP address

    Basically this thing does it all. When I first picked it up, I was seeking an alternative for my Drobo. The Drobo is slow on the network, but is a great desktop RAID. The price for the Drobo is about 20% less, but it is strictly a drive / RAID. This thing is the Swiss Army Knife of NAS. Media Server, Torrent Server, automatic backups – and a lot more. I’ve only scratched the surface. Seen the top of the iceberg. It does so mush more! A definite AAA+++

    If you’re going to be manually copying large amounts of files (I copied about 900 meg at one time – or tried to), you have to adjust the power settings. It went into power save mode in the middle of copying files, to the copy timed out. I changed mine to 6 hours instead or 1 hour. I also enabled iSCSI. iSCSI allows you to map the device as network drives instead ou going through the Iomega StorCenter control panel/dashboard.

    Torrent followup: Downloaded a few files already – faster then my regular torrent client. You can set max and min speeds, and even stream the downloaded files from this gadget! Using the URL method is buggy – you have to save a .torrent file and use that. Tried 10 torrents – all that were downloaded using .torrent files went fast – the ones that were downloaded using the URL did not work.
    Rating: 5 / 5

  4. #4 by Daniel J. Schneck on March 31, 2010 - 8:27 pm

    Buggy, BUGGY firmware/OS. The OS is embedded on and written to the SATA disks and is not reinstallable. I had the same issues as other users of this unit – the unit would completely freeze up and become unresponsive. The only way to reset the unit is to power cycle by pulling the power cord. Would lose CIFS and iSCSI shares and connectivity for no reason, even though the unit would still respond to pings. Their tech support was good and agreed to replace the unit, but that does NOTHING for the production data that was running on my unit…it won’t stay up long enough to copy the data off the drives. Yes, I’m running the latest “stable” firmware from the Iomega site. Be advised, Iomega will quickly admit their firmware/OS is causing the problem and will send you a new box, but they will do nothing to help you get your production data off the unit as a result of their defective product. You’ll end up spending major $ on data recovery. My advice, save your money & don’t buy it.
    Rating: 1 / 5

  5. #5 by Ricardo Molina on March 31, 2010 - 11:12 pm

    I am so dissapointed with this product !!!

    Since the first time I turned it on I had trouble. I got a message telling me that a confirmation for overwriting the drive was needed but there is no way of telling it to go ahead. I installed the software on my mac and the drive never got found because the disks never mounted. It had a red light flashing all the time. I’ve had trouble before with iomega products but I was always able to fix the problems. Not with the Store center. I sent email to iomega and never got an answer. And my Storecenter is not the pro so I don’t know if amazon sent me the wrong item !!!!!!!!!

    I wouldn’t recommend iomega at all. This was my last iomega product.
    Rating: 1 / 5