Good Deal on Ximeta NDAS Enclosure $39.97

[ttown]

I'm trying to decide between this and a regular NAS....

The need for proprietary drivers is a turn off for me -- but I'm not sure NAS works in my scenario.
What I have is a win2k-server domain and several client PC's joined.
Seperately, (not part of the domain) sitting on the network is a win98se machine which I sometimes connect to shared wifi networks (not in my domain) [the win98se machine has a wifi card + regular 100mbit ethernet card].

Can a win98se machine (not part of a domain) use a NAS drive simultaneously with machines in a domain? I browsed an online manual for the Buffalo Terrastation, and my impression is: "No" Does anyone here know?
If the answer is yes, then I think I'd prefer the "driverless" NAS. If the answer is no, will this NDAS be able to work the way I want?

thanks-
ttown

 

[LoverBoyJ]

Originally posted by: StormRider
Do these power down the hard drive when it's been idle after a certain amount of time?

based on the link from Arstechnica.com

Operation
One of the first things I noticed about the NetDisk is that the drive spins constantly when plugged in. Ximeta advises users to simply pull the plug if the need to power down arises,

this is what I don't like, it'll get the drive hot all the time if running 24x7

 

[onemo]

My Netdisk goes into some sort of standby when connected via ethernet when not in use, it takes a few seconds to start access and the case isn't warm. When it is plugged in via USB it is warm all the time. The outer casing is some type of light metalic material that seems to work as a pretty good heatsink. Mine was a HD equipped model, so I ripped the OEM 60 or 80 gig drive out and stuck in a 400 gig, was a little bit of a pain to take the case apart, but other than that works great. Haven't run into any heat issues with sustained usage (streaming movies and music).

 

[mikeford]

Heat depends a lot on which drive you use, some churn out the heat.

This box doesn't support W98, so thats a killer to a old computer keeper like me.

Speed is nice in a network device, but running unattended and being able to support backup etc for a number of PCs on a network is the actual purpose.

 

[bigbangtech]

I bought two Ximeta NDAS drives a little over a year ago, and set them up in a mirrored pair on our 100mb network. If you're thinking of keeping your 150MB QuickBooks database on these, you can just about forget it. Speed with more than 1 user accesing a file is horrific simultanesouly. Access databases would probably be slow as molasses as well.

BTW, if anybody uses QuickBooks on their network, definitely upgrade to gigabit ethernet and set workstations to exclude the quickbooks share from virus-scanning, let the server handle that and you will see a big performance increase running large reports in a mu setting.

Also, the SCSI driver is flaky at best. If one connected workstation locks up or crashes(disconnects from NDAS improperly), it forces all other connected workstations to connect to the drive in read-only mode. The only way to get back into read-write mode is to power down all connected workstations, power-cycle the drives, start all workstations, and then manually go into each workstation and select read/write in the NDAS settings. Convenient huh?

If you want to just STORE some large files on the network that get accessed once in a while, NDAS might work for you, but multi-user access is definitely a let-down.

We replaced the NDAS mirror with a 2K3 server in our office, and placed the NDAS mirror in a separate building to accept backups from the server.

 

[StormRider]

Thanks, OP. Got one to play around with.

 

[NasdaqTrader889]

Got one of the last ones at a local RS. Thanks OP! Had to go around to a couple of loops to get it since the associates that work there said the online inventory system is 3 days behind. Guess I will call for now on instead of using their system.

 

[DEQGuy]

Check out this site for a good alternative to FreeNAS called NASLite-2, seems to be faster and easier to use. Has several flavors to choose from depending on your equipment. Version 1 is free and version 2 (faster, more features) is relativly cheap.

Link to Server Elements homepage

 

[StormRider]

I just installed an 80 gig hard drive into the Ximeta case. I'm not impressed by the case at all! Inside is all plastic so there's no metal to metal contact to draw away the heat. Hopefully, heat won't be a problem but it's something I'll worry about.

Another thing I don't like about the case is that it seems like it will be difficult to open it back up again to remove the hard drive! You slide the top part on and it snaps shut and it seems like it will require some trickery to get it open again.

 

[fishhawk]

Originally posted by: StormRider
I just installed an 80 gig hard drive into the Ximeta case. I'm not impressed by the case at all! Inside is all plastic so there's no metal to metal contact to draw away the heat. Hopefully, heat won't be a problem but it's something I'll worry about.

Another thing I don't like about the case is that it seems like it will be difficult to open it back up again to remove the hard drive! You slide the top part on and it snaps shut and it seems like it will require some trickery to get it open again.

There's a hole on each side of the case. Just push a small screwdriver or pin in the hole, and the catch on that side will release.

 

[StormRider]

Okay, I had some initial problems formatting the drive (it got stuck at 100%) based on my stupidity. I thought I had a 10/100 switch but it was actually a half-duplex 10/100 hub. You need a 10/100 full duplex switch for this device.

Once I swapped my hub for a switch, formatting went without a hitch and I ran a tiny program I wrote to benchmark it.

I got an impressive 10 MB/sec (the theoretical best is 12.5 MB/sec over Ethernet) write speed out of this thing.

I had earlier purchased another NAS from CompUSA (this one has the limitation of only supporting FAT32) and I only got about 2 MB/sec write.

So, I'm pretty happy with this little device. For my purposes, I think it will be fine. My main worry is the heat issue now. Hopefully, it will turn off the drive after a period of non-use....

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: fishhawk

Originally posted by: StormRider
I just installed an 80 gig hard drive into the Ximeta case. I'm not impressed by the case at all! Inside is all plastic so there's no metal to metal contact to draw away the heat. Hopefully, heat won't be a problem but it's something I'll worry about.

Another thing I don't like about the case is that it seems like it will be difficult to open it back up again to remove the hard drive! You slide the top part on and it snaps shut and it seems like it will require some trickery to get it open again.

There's a hole on each side of the case. Just push a small screwdriver or pin in the hole, and the catch on that side will release.

Thanks. I noticed those holes earlier but it seems like there were other tabs near the front of the case that didn't have those holes. In other words, I saw 4 tabs but only 2 holes. I guess the ones in the front don't latch onto an opening so the holes weren't neccessary there?

 

[StormRider]

One thing I noticed is that my switch's lights are constantly flickering with the Ximeta NDAS connected to it. I haven't noticed any problems this constant network usage is causing though.

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: onemo
My Netdisk goes into some sort of standby when connected via ethernet when not in use, it takes a few seconds to start access and the case isn't warm. When it is plugged in via USB it is warm all the time. The outer casing is some type of light metalic material that seems to work as a pretty good heatsink. Mine was a HD equipped model, so I ripped the OEM 60 or 80 gig drive out and stuck in a 400 gig, was a little bit of a pain to take the case apart, but other than that works great. Haven't run into any heat issues with sustained usage (streaming movies and music).

Yeah, I think mine does that too. I left my computer for a bit as I watched TV. When I came back to play around with the drive some more it seemed like it "woke up" the hard drive. It seemed like the HD was in some sort of power saving mode and the case was cool (it was warm after I had formatted the drive). So, this is really good news if it really does place the HD in some sort of power saving mode after a period of non-use.

 

[nomadh]

interesting deal. I question nas / ndas comparison though. Most of the ndas' advantages I consider disadvantages. Not convinced its sooo much faster. Sounds like some here agree. Wout a std nas interface it seems more on the side of a toy. Maybe an interesting useful toy though.

 

[StormRider]

Strange. I just installed the client software on another computer (connected to the same switch as my 1st computer) and I'm only getting write speeds of 4.5 MB/sec...

 

[StormRider]

Hmmm, I just turn off my first computer and it seems like it speeds up my 2nd computer's access to the Ximeta drive. It seems like the 1st computer on the network has the fastest access to the Ximeta drive. If there are more than one computer on the network, the other computers have slower access to it.

 

[StormRider]

I just ran the benchmark on the 2nd computer (the 1st computer has been turned off) and now I get a write speed of about 9.5 MB/sec. So, it does seem like having more than 1 computer on the network slows down the other computer's (even if only one computer is accessing the Ximeta drive) access to it. But if you only have one computer on at a time on the network, then you get about full speed (close to the theoretical max of 12.5 MB/sec).

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: nomadh
interesting deal. I question nas / ndas comparison though. Most of the ndas' advantages I consider disadvantages. Not convinced its sooo much faster. .

So don't buy one. All tyhe third-party reviews have confirmed my own observations: NDAS is much faster than the cnsumer NAS units being marketed today. A server solution is definitely faster but that's a whole different game. Ximeta represents a very good cost-effective solution for the routine backup that most end users never get around to doing.

 

[flot]

Just picked one up. For those who bought at RS, did the package have the most suspect looking shrinkwarp on it? I asked the clerk about it and she swore it had not been repackaged but the hard-cellophane-wrapping on the outside screamed return.

Everything on the inside looked good. Now just digging around for a spare HD for it.

Edit: Took 15 mins to find a drive and 2 mins to install. Especially easy since the case was already seperated in their packaging. They included 4 mounting screws so didn't have to dig around for those, and then the clamshell snaps tight. As others said, no thermal connection between drive and case, the drive mounts to plastic. The case is definitely not airtight (or even close to it) as it offers little dampening of the HD whine.

Hooked it up via USB and XP detected no problem, reformatting now. Once that's done I'll give it a shot via network access.

 

[Wolfie1]

NDAS plenty fast over ethernet - !!! faster than NAS, fast enough i can stream music and video across the network from the drive. fast enough i use it instead of local sata drives for all of my data storage. read some of the online reviews which will support the speed advantage of NDAS with the proprietary drivers

have been running seagate 200 drives in these cases for 2 years now with no heat issues

yes the drive powers down after period of inactivity. powers back up when you access it

use the 2 holes to push in the 2 tabs and slide the case off. yes there are 2 other tabs but they dont lock in place like the 2 with the holes

picked up another case - my 3rd - for 29.97 + tax at my local radio shack over the weekend. not sure how i will use but like them so much i find them hard to resist

my experience with the latest drivers at ximeta website has not been great, experienced a lot of lockups and disconnects. so i have reverted back to the 3.10.1230 drivers from july 2005 which are rock solid and have been working great for me for over a year

v 3.11 1327 "Not recommended for use with FAT32 formatted NetDisks" - that's likely my issue. i use fat32 as i travel with the drive and prefer the flexibility of being able to attach to older pc's. so the newer drivers may work great if you are using NTFS

http://www.ximeta.com/support/downloads.../v3x/ndas-3.10.1230-setup-enu-full.exe

 

[fishhawk]

Installed and runs fine on the first machine (3500+ on ECS KN1-Lite). Installed on a 2nd machine (a Compaq 1710nx), and got a BSOD. Found this,which is exactly the crash I get. I guess I'll have to get the hotfix mentioned.

 

[flot]

Got it mounted on the network and offhand I am pretty happy with the performance. I wasn't thrilled with installing the windows driver for it, but it shows up seamlessly now and considering that I backed up 4 gigs of data to it in a couple minutes, no complaints.

The only disappointing thing was that one review I read (probably of their 80 gig drive-included model) lead me to believe it came with backup software, mine came with acronis trueimage which, as I understand it, can backup a partition but not individual folders etc.

 

[EKKC]

wow this is really interesting. i never heard abou NDAS before. i actually invested 500 bucks on the Intel Entry Storage System SS4000 NAS. and added 4 300GB drives. this might have been a lot cheaper.

the intel i have is gigabit but on RAID 5 its so slow its not even funny (going down to 7Mb/s). did any one here try to set up these ximeta ndas in RAID 5 config?

thanks. i may get one shipped to the local radio shack

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: flot
Just picked one up. For those who bought at RS, did the package have the most suspect looking shrinkwarp on it? I asked the clerk about it and she swore it had not been repackaged but the hard-cellophane-wrapping on the outside screamed return.

Everything on the inside looked good. Now just digging around for a spare HD for it.

Edit: Took 15 mins to find a drive and 2 mins to install. Especially easy since the case was already seperated in their packaging. They included 4 mounting screws so didn't have to dig around for those, and then the clamshell snaps tight. As others said, no thermal connection between drive and case, the drive mounts to plastic. The case is definitely not airtight (or even close to it) as it offers little dampening of the HD whine.

Hooked it up via USB and XP detected no problem, reformatting now. Once that's done I'll give it a shot via network access.

Yes, mine was wrapped with hard cellophane too. But everything looked good and seemed new on the inside. Mine had the rev 1.1 Ximeta chipset.