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XIMETA TECHNOLOGY NDU10-160 160GB NetDisk Portable External NDAS Hard Drive

XIMETA TECHNOLOGY NDU10-160 160GB NetDisk Portable External NDAS Hard Drive

List Price:
Your Price: $228.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Useable storage solution not the best one out there -
Review: Here is the deal; there are advantages and there are disadvantages; I sent it back because it didn't do what I needed as an advanced user.

Advantages:
1) New firmware addresses most of the access problems earlier users complained about.
2) Fairly easy software eliminates network config i.e. no ip address.
3) CAN use USB to directly connect if needed
4) Small size
5) RAID (Ability to mirror drives)
6) Fast transfers

Disadvantages:
1) My main problem was that the pc connects to the device upon login but then doesn't always moun the device. So if another user who doesn't really know what is going on logs in and can't access the drive they are out of luck.
2) No IP Address - use of proprietary connection software. No way to troubleshoot over the network.
3) Limited info on the web; no user community or resources.
4) Not very reliable behind a network switch.


Conclusion - useful device for most people. But proprietary network connection makes it less optimal for advanced users.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not ready for Mac users
Review: I bought the Ximeta 160GB drive in hopes of creating shared network storage between 3 Mac's - a 15" Powerbook, a 12" iBook and and a G5 Tower machine. The Ximeta has been somewhat of a disappointment in a Mac networked environment.

First off, only one user can write to the drive at a time. The other users should (key word being should) have read only access. In reality, the Ximeta is quirky and won't mount up for the read-only users. You constantly have to play with enabling and disabling the drive through the Ximeta admin tool, shutting off and restarting the drive to enable the read only access. Should a second Mac enable read/write access, it will cause the first user's session to unmount and cause the drive to disappear. The drive will also momentariy unmount causing the Mac's (all on OSX 10.3.7) to display "improper disconnect and loss of data" alerts when it happens, or to display error messages that the Mac cannout mount a drive with an unknown format, even though the drive ins formatted in Mac OS extended format.

Secondly, the file transfer rate is extremely slow for the read/write users. I was intending this drive to be a central storage point for all my music so I could off-load the files to the Ximeta. iTunes will hang and freeze on trying to play files from the Ximeta. On the occasions it will play the file, it can take almost a minute or two for playback to begin when using one of the files on the Ximeta. Using the Ximeta with a wireless Mac is excruciating in how slow the performance works out to be.

Ximeta's support solutions for Mac users are pretty awful, mainly consisting of uninstalling and re-installing the Ximeta drivers, which I've done more times then I can count, or advising to stop any firewall software, or the most extreme solution in purchasing alternate routers/switches to improve performance. I've gone through 3 different brands of switches - Linksys, Netgear and D-Link - all producing the same poor performance.

On the PC front, it seems to work as advertised. I have one WinXP PC I've configured to run the Ximeta (after re-formatting to NTFS format) and it appear to run smoother with faster transfer rates. However, Mac users can only use the drive in a mixed network environment if the drive is formatted as FAT32. The drive out of the box is formatted as NTFS, so to format as FAT32 you either have to use a 3rd party formatting tool like Partition Magic or format the drive using the Mac to create one 160GB partition as Windows will attempt to create 4 - 5 32GB FAT32 partitions on the drive.

For Mac only users, I would recommend looking elsewhere for a NAS drive. The Ximeta is definitely not-ready-for-primetime in the Mac world.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good for home, not so good for business
Review: I have 2 disks. I have never had problems, such as hanging OS, the need to reboot, etc. I performed numerous "stress tests" like copying large number of files from disk to disk simultaneously playing mp3 on all attached computers. No problems.

However, there are some things I don't like:
1. NDAS protocol "pokes" the network continously. Each computer that has NDAS driver installed talks to all other computers all the time. LEDs on switch blink like crazy - I have 8 computers connected to the network,
2. The above is not that bad, unles there is a slow WiFi (i.e. "b") connecting some computers. I have 2 laptops connected through WiFi"b". These computers also "poke" the network. The effect is that even I write to XIMETA drive from computer connected to wired network, the write operation is slowed down by the existence of WiFi connections. If laptops are ON, write operation is about 100 times slower then when laptops ar OFF. The remedy is to unmount NDAS drives on laptops, and mount them only when needed,
3. All disk space is visible to all computers connected to the network and there is no way to establih more sophisticated access rights.

These problems can limit the usefulness of XIMETA drives for large network with low speed components. Otherwise, this is excellent solution for keeping mp3, video and jpg files and daily backups

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Get a snap server instead
Review: I have had a ximeta drive for about a year and although it worked well at first, it has driven me crazy over the past couple of months and I have given up on it. With the ximeta drive attached, my computer will often hang or freeze. The only way to reboot your computer is to shut off the power. Ximeta tech support has had me unload and reload about 5 or 6 versions of their drivers...each with its own special problem. Unless you are truly desparate to save money on network storage (as I thought i was until i counted up all the time i spent trying to get the drive to work) then run away from this product.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: No...
Review: I purchased this external hard drive in a hurry because I needed a quick backup of my entire system. I didn't have the time (nor the patience) to scope out the entire market for external hard drives. At the time of purchase, I was only concerned about transferring some large files. However, once I completed my core task with this drive, I thought it could be useful for backup purposes in the future. Unfortunately, the hard drive has a series of upsetting problems associated with it. First, it overheats very easily. It heats up within a few minutes and does not cool down unless you turn it off. Second, the power switch does not work very well - it is already malfunctioning and I have had this device for only a few months and barely use it as is! I'm talking about an AC adaptor that is *very* loose and will lose power if the device is just barely tapped. Third, there are much better quality drives out there at a fraction of the cost. I found this out the hard way and that is why I am writing this review. While the drive still works, it does have its faults. I feel that before buying a Ximeta product, be sure to review all of your options first! It seems like Ximeta is a newer company in the external hard drive market and while the product does offer an appealing exterior design, the inside (which is where it matters) just doesn't stand up to powerhouses like Seagate and Maxtor.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Stay away
Review: I was never able to set it up for my windows 2000 machine and I am trying to return it. Tried the latest drivers, etc. The program crushed and even after I uninstalled it I am having some popup windows after rebooting complaining that some drives are missing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Product!
Review: Ive had my NetDisk for about 3 months now and i must say, What a great Product! Installation was a snap. Through USB i didnt even have to do much of anything. I did experiance a small issue with Ethernet mode but after talking to thier supurb tech support staff i soon found the issue to be my fault. But after that everything has been great! I would highly recommend this product!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not god enough
Review: Performance is terrible on Wireless network here. I'm getting 1.1 MB/sec compared to about 30MB/sec on the laptop drive. That's S.L.O.W.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect shared storage solution
Review: The Ximeta NetDisk is a great solution for sharing storage in a home or small business network without the hassle or expense of a file server or Network Attached Storage (NAS). Installation is simple; hook up the power cable and the Ethernet cable, write down the disk key and write access code from the bottom of the disk, install the driver, and access your drive just as if it were a local hard disk. Install the driver on all computers needing access.

It can currently be set up as having multiple write access if you only have Windows on your network, but if your network is mixed only one computer at a time can write data. According to their website they're working on updated drivers for MacOS and Red Hat Linux that support multi-write capability.

I've not used it with the USB 2.0 connection (nor will I, in all likelihood). The drive also supports aggregation (combining drives into one logical unit for larger volumes) and mirroring (having two disks maintaining identical copies of the data for data safety) with another NetDisk. Both require formatting the disks into the aggregate/mirror.

Data access is what you'd expect from a 7,200 RPM drive over a network--poky over Wireless-B, decent over Wireless-G, and good over 100 Mbps wired. If you were moving large files it might be advantageous to hook it up via the USB connection, move the files, and then put it back on the network.

The USB and Ethernet connections may not be used simultaneously.

I compared this with the Linksys Storage Link which allows network access of two USB 2.0 external drives and/or one flash drive. The Linksys device requires formatting the drives with a proprietary format, which keeps them from being used as "normal" external drives. (USB hard drives are also not hot-swappable on the device, which makes it a little suspect in my mind.) The NetDisk's price was also far more competitive than the Linksys device plus an external hard drive.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Works as advertised
Review: This product works as advertised, I use it in the Ethernet mode on a wireless network.

The one drawback - I can enable read/write access on only one computer at a time. Not a true net disk drive, but better than what I had. At least I can have read access on all of the computers at the same time.


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