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Iomega StorCenter Pro NAS 150d 1TB
Iomega's StorCenter Pro NAS 150d 1TB placed fourth, lagging in performance and ease of deployment.
Suited for small businesses or even advanced home users, the 1-Tbyte unit houses four hot-swappable 250-Gbyte SATA II hard drives.
The StorCenter Pro NAS 150d was tested while configured with a 686-Gbyte RAID 5 array. The 1.72-Gbyte folder was copied to the array in 4 minutes, 26 seconds, and copied back to the client PC in 5 minutes, 39 seconds, for an average of 5 minutes, 2 seconds. While this gave it a last-place finish in performance, it's not so far off from Netgear and MicroNet's scores. The performance is actually quite respectable, considering cost.
The unit can be configured for RAID 0, 1 or 5 operation. The disks are hot-swappable, so any one of the four hard drives can be exchanged for a new drive while the unit is running. The 150d then will rebuild the new drive to fit the existing RAID 1 or 5 array with no downtime or interruption of service to the users.
With its 1-Tbyte capacity, Iomega's StorCenter Pro NAS 150d has the least amount of storage space of all units reviewed here, but it's also the least expensive unit by a good margin. Priced at only $799, the 1-Tbyte StorCenter Pro NAS 150d actually costs $200 less than a barebones version of Netgear's ReadyNAS 1100, making for an incredibly good value. Pricing for a 2-Tbyte version costs $1,349, a bit above MicroNet.
The unit runs an embedded Linux kernel and is powered by a 400MHz processor with 128 Mbytes of memory. A Gigabit Ethernet port is also included.
The StorCenter Pro NAS 150d supports Windows, Unix, Linux and Mac operating systems. It also will work as a client member in an Active Directory domain, taking advantage of the security features and policies already in place. Built-in print server functionality allows a printer to be connected to one of the StorCenter's four USB 2.0 ports, the most included on any box here.
To set up the StorCenter Pro, solution providers must run Iomega's bundled automated discovery tool. But there is no way to jump right into a manual setup process, which many partners might prefer. Once the unit is discovered, a browser-based utility is used to make configuration changes and monitor system health. Engineers found that the unit had the least desirable interface and the poorest documentation.
Iomega bundles a five-client license for EMC Retrospect Express software for manual or scheduled backup from Windows and Mac-based clients.
Benefits of Iomega's channel program include dedicated account management, product discounts, presales support, and marketing tools. Web-based training is free. Margins average between 15 percent and 30 percent.
Bottom Line
With its strong feature set, top performance and ease of setup, ZyXEL earned first place in this bakeoff of NAS appliances. Albeit available only as a barebones unit, it has the potential to be more profitable than those offered in populated form. Netgear allows a bit more flexibility with both options and also includes the most robust feature set. It lagged ZyXEL slightly on performance and ease of deployment and was the most costly unit. MicroNet cuts into profit potential by only offering a populated version of its NAS device and lost face for only including two USB ports. It did, however, gain kudos for offering the lowest pricing for 2 Tbytes of capacity. Iomega offers strong value, featuring the lowest pricing for a 1-Tbyte unit without sacrificing a tremendous amount of performance vs. Netgear and MicroNet. Compared to the winner, however, Iomega's performance time lagged by one and a half minutes. It also offers no barebones option.
All-in-all, solution providers looking for a top-speed offering with strong features, a reasonable price and high profit potential need look no further than ZyXEL's NAS-2400.
| Shopping The Ingredients |
| VENDOR: Iomega San Diego, Calif. (858) 314-7000 www.iomega.com • PRODUCT: StorCenter Pro NAS 150d 1TB LIST PRICE: $799 for1 Tbyte; $1,299 for 2 Tbytes • REBATES/INCENTIVES: Rebates, spifs, deal registration, promotions, sales awards. • PROGRAM PARTNERS: More than 500 • TRAINING COSTS: None. • DISTRIBUTORS: D&H, DSL, Ingram Micro, Synnex, Tech Data |
| VENDOR: MicroNet Torrance, Calif. (310) 320-7272 www.micronet.com • PRODUCT: PlatinumNAS 4.0 • LIST PRICE: $2,949 for 4 Tbytes; $1,299 for 2 Tbytes • REBATES/INCENTIVES: Rebates and spifs for select partners • PROGRAM PARTNERS: 20 • TRAINING COSTS: None. • DISTRIBUTORS: Ingram Micro |
| VENDOR: Netgear Santa Clara, Calif. (408) 907-8000 www.netgear.com • PRODUCT: ReadyNAS 1100 • LIST PRICE: $2,495 for 2 Tbytes • REBATES/INCENTIVES: Volume incentives, instant and mail-in rebates, government/education discounts • PROGRAM PARTNERS: 4,566 • TRAINING COSTS: None • DISTRIBUTORS: ASI, D&H, Ingram Micro, Jenne, MA Labs, Synnex, Tech Data, VodaOne |
| VENDOR: ZyXEL Anaheim, Calif. (714) 632-0882 www.us.zyxel.com • PRODUCT: NSA-2400 • LIST PRICE: $989.99 barebones, plus $130 each for four 500-Gbyte drives • REBATES/INCENTIVES: Sales leads, rebates, training, marketing collateral • PROGRAM PARTNERS: 400 • TRAINING COSTS: None. • DISTRIBUTORS: Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Wynit |
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