Thread: Network storage

I bought a network hard drive, IOMEGA MHNDHD, and installed it on my home network. It is supposed to work with all PCs on the net. It doesn't. It comes with Retrospect Express, which loaded on the first PC (XP Pro) but did not on any others. And it's flakey on the XP machine. It also tries to load Mozy online backup (kinda dumb idea with this product) which in some places says it's free, other places list a monthly fee. It would seem the fee is correct. In no case do I want that loaded on any machine. Things don't always uninstall as promised.

Before I try to load this RE garbage on my new 64 bit W7 machine, I thought I'd ask opinions here.

-Give it a try with the "full" Retrospect s/w from their website?

-Try to load the Express version from the CD?

-Is there some other software that might work with this drive?

Or just toss the whole thing and find a better solution?

Looks like the problem is the Home Storage Manager software. It's locking on No Devices found, and will not allow me to configure. The Retrospect (backup) & Mozy are just canards.

If all else fails...... Well, I should be able to access it directly via IP, but the device is not visible. Will try cycling power later and see if it appears.

OK, now this is getting odd. I can see, but not access, the unit via add network place (won't add) on the XP pro machine. But under workgroup, where it's supposed to be visible, it isn't.

And it now appears on the W7 machine, fully assessable.

Tomorrow I'll see if my other computers can see it. Gotta shut everything down now.

what is your ultimate goal? Just data storage?

IHMO, the full-blown version of Retrospect is a POS; I'd image a "Lite" version for home use would be lacking. You might try the demo of
Acronis True Image Home 2010

. Of course, if you have multiple clients, it might get a bit pricey.

Windows 7 seems to have timed backups built in. I use a Samsung 500 GB drive I have connected to my AirPort Extreme as the target.

Return the IOMEGA and get a HP Mediasmart Server. I've had mine for a year with no problems, installation and set up is simple (works with XP, Vista, Windows 7). I've currently have 5 computers connected to it, which back up nightly, plus share access to all common folders. Storage is only limited by the size of hard drives you install. Currently I have 4TB.
More info at Mediasmart home and mediasmart.net

The idea was just a central store of data for pictures and such. I have been using USB EHDs for backup. But I could see using the LAN storage for backup, maybe. The backup with Norton 360 v3 does not recognize it, though, so I might look at some other solution. Automated backup on a timer is of little use though, as I turn off my PCs when not in use. Or look into the W7 process as two of my machines, the most important ones, are now W7.

Too late to return it. Might look at the HP if I can't resolve this.

Have a look at unRAID.


Digital Media Storage Solutions

If you have an old computer and a couple of hard drives laying around, you can have a test box up and running in no time. Ive been using it for about a year now. I purchased the "Pro" version of the software and I have about 12TB of storage online. With 2TB drives (and the case I have), I can put about 28TB of online storage in this one server.

I access unRAID from every computer at home for all my media storage. I also have a BackupExec server at home that has its own storage, but copies a backup monthly to the unRAID server.