Question 1

Will it work if i only install one drive for now?  I may install a second in the future.

Accepted Answer

The users' guide states in no uncertain terms that you can install a single drive. Of course a RAID configuration will not be available in that case. Be aware that only certain drives are supported for this unit; you should be able to find a listing on Lenovo's web site. Also, I started out with 2 drives and the unit ran for some 6 hours to set up the RAID configuration. I have been unable to find any mention in the user's guide about enabling RAID when installing a second drive at a later time. It may only be possible by destroying existing data on the first drive; I just don't know. Good luck.

Question 2

How does this work/ Do I need to buy disk into the system before storing on it? What i s the storage capacity?

Accepted Answer

You need to add the Hard Drives to this...it does not come with them.  I think it can handle a large amount of TB, between two drives.  However, I rated this product with a low score because mine crashed after only a couple weeks of using it.  The formatting on the drives will be a Linux type format that makes the drive unreadable should the enclosure die.  Since the enclosure itself is not respected as particularly reliable, this might not be the best option if you are looking to back up important data.

Question 3

One of the reviews says that Windows 7 Home Premium will not recognize wireless network drives. Is this true? I would like to use this unit to back up a laptop running Home Premium. Can I do it?

Accepted Answer

This device does not connect wirelessly out of the box. That has nothing to do with Windows. This device does not have a wireless adapter.

You might be able to set up a wireless bridge to connect to your WLAN. In that case the device would appear at an IP address on your network. Windows won't care or know whether it is wirelessly connected. Do some research on this first because it is beyond the typical home networking setup.

Although the box has a USB port, I would not count on getting a wireless USB dongle to work. Again that has nothing to do with Windows - it is because you will not be able to install the driver for the dongle. (The setup screens for the device refer to a Bluetooth dongle that supposedly is available but I didn't see a reference to any variety of 802.11.)

In any case, think twice before planning to connect any NAS device wirelessly. The throughput of this box will saturate a Fast Ethernet (100 Mb/s) link so a wireless link will likely be a performance bottleneck. In addition wireless links typically are somewhat unreliable and therefore not the preferred choice for this or any file server. The box is designed for a wired Gigabit Ethernet link and that is what you should use for best performance and reliability.

You can certainly use it as a file server for a wirelessly-connected laptop. The laptop's wireless connection will be subject to the same throughput and reliability considerations. If the NAS and the laptop are both wirelessly connected to the same base station you will likely experience disappointing throughput due to the shared-access nature of WLANs. If the data you plan to back up is a few hundred megabytes this won't matter much, but if you are backing up gigabytes or more you should plan on wired connections.

Question 4

I plan on putting 2x 2TB Desktop HDD in this..  Is that ok?  it doesn't say anything about disk size.

Accepted Answer

I've installed 2 x 3TB in my NAS, and it works GREAT!  See this excerpt for the technical specs:

FEATURES
Capacity: Up to 6TB, 2 x HDD
Configurations: 
Diskless (ix2-dl, 0 HDD),
partially Populated (1xHDD) 
or Fully Populated (2xHDD)
Drive Capacities and Type: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB (SATA II)

It's a sweet little unit.  I'm using mine as a media server and it does fine with 'NAS' drives.  (i.e. WD Green)

Question 5

Will this unit support two 3T seagate NAS hard drives?

Accepted Answer

Here are the supported drives from Lenovo's website.

Western Digital Server class
1 TBWD RE4 1TBWD1003FBYX
2 TBWD RE4 2TB     WD2003FYYS
          WD SE 2TBWD2000F9YZ
3 TBWD SE 3TBWD3000F9YZ
4 TBWD SE 4TBWD4000F9YZ

NAS HD Drives

Seagate
2 TB Seagate NAS HDD 2TB ST2000VN000
3 TB Seagate NAS HDD 3TB ST3000VN000
4 TB Seagate NAS HDD 4TB ST4000VN000

Western Digital
1 TB WD Red 1TB WD10EFRX
2 TB WD Red 2TB WD20EFRX
3 TB WD Red 3TB WD30EFRX
4 TB WD Red 4TB WD40EFRX

Standard (Pro) Drives

Hitachi
1 TBHitachi 5400 CoolSpin 1TB  HDS5C1010CLA382
Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000-C 1TB, 7200 rpm  HDS721010CLA332
2 TBHitachi 5400 CoolSpin 2TBHDS5C3020ALA632
3 TBHitachi 5400 CoolSpin 3TBHDS5C3030ALA630

Seagate
1 TBSeagate Barracuda 1TBST1000DM003, ST1000DM005
2 TBSeagate Barracuda 2TBST2000DM001
3 TBSeagate Barracuda 3TBST3000DM001
4 TBSeagate Barracuda 4TBST4000DM000

Toshiba
1 TBToshiba DT01ACA100 1TBDT01ACA100
2 TBToshiba DT01ACA200 2TBDT01ACA200
3 TBToshiba DT01ACA300 3TBDT01ACA300

Western Digital
1 TBWD Caviar Black 1TB                WD1002FAEX
WD Caviar Blue 1TB                         WD10EZEX
WD Caviar Green 1TB                      WD10EZRX
2 TBWD Caviar Green 2TBWD20EZRX
3 TBWD Caviar Green 3TBWD30EZRX
4 TBWD Caviar Green 4TBWD40EZRX
 
Video Surveillance HDD

Seagate

1 TBSeagate SV35 1TBST1000VX000
2 TBSeagate SV35 2TBST2000VX000
3 TBSeagate SV35 3TBST3000VX000

Question 6

I am looking for a NAS system for a small business.  I am interested in install an accounting software like QuickBooks on this device.  Then i want to be able to file share it with certain people in the office.  Are you able to specify security and use this device like this?

Accepted Answer

This device is for file storage and file sharing. It is not really a computer that will run Windows programs all by itself. Technically, it has a small computer built into it but it just manages the networking, security, and other features. This is from the help file on security:

"When you create users, you are selecting the specific people that have access to your ix2 Network Storage, Diskless. You can secure Shares and specify which users can read and write to the secured Shares. You can also create additional administrator users who can manage the ix2-dl through the ix2-dl Management Console. Administrator users can change various settings on the ix2-dl, including adding and deleting Shares. If you create groups, you can also limit access to your ix2-dl by group so you don’t have to specify access for each individual user."

It's really an amazing little product. Don't forget that you will need to buy drives to go with it.  Buying two high-capacity drives that are identical will allow a RAID I setup for protection against hard drive failure.

This is the first product I have purchased in a long time that way exceeded my expectations.

Question 7

Can you use two of these NAS machines on the same network to double your storage and will the software distinguish between the two or will there be a conflict between the two? Two of these would be cheaper than one 4 bay model.

Accepted Answer

Let me clarify, each NAS unit will have a unique IP address.  I use my NAS in a non-RAID configuration.  The two installed 4GB drives in the NAS show up as a single drive.

Question 8

I am looking at this for a large music collection, will I be able to access music files with my phone through the cloud?

Accepted Answer

Though I have not activated this feature because of my fear of opening a port on my router to allow the Cloud function to work. I've battled identity theft issues for years, so I prefer not to give hackers an easier time getting in. That being said, once you open and apply the correct settings for your router, this should give you easy access through the Cloud. The unit will format your matching hard drives into a RAID or extended singular hard drive and then it creates separate folders for your documents, music, pictures, and videos. Using a lenovo utility on your computer, it actually will map drive letters to each folder to allow easy access using Windows Media Center. I'm sure sure how that will appear in the Cloud though. But I see no reason why it shouldn't work just fine.

Question 9

is Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 HDS723030ALA640 - Hard Drive - 3 TB - SATA-600  compatible?

Accepted Answer

I put in SATA 3 drives, but you'll only get SATA 2 performance.  That being said it has no problems streaming 4+ movies at a time.  I'd check the Lenovo website or product page, since I'm pretty sure they have a compatible drive list

Question 10

Can the USB port be used as a print server port also?

Accepted Answer

Yes, I am using it as a print server for a usb connected printer with no issues - great device for the price.

Brand	Lenovo
Model	70A69003NA

Port RJ-45	1 x 10/100/1000M
Port USB	1 x USB2.0

Included HDD Capacity	Diskless System
RAID	RAID 1, JBOD

Dimensions	7.93" x 5.85" x 3.909"
Weight	5.48 lbs.

Lenovo 70A69003NA Diskless System Iomega ix2 Network Storage 2-bay

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Item#: N82E16822502131