Thecus N2100P Network Storage

Pros: 1) Easy setup. Web interface is terrific. 2) Shows up under Windows Network Neighborhood. So you can map folders on the NAS as drive letters. 3) Install any size SATA drives. I have 2 400GB drives installed. I installed 1 drive by itself first, but when I added another drive I had to reformat the first one also. This is because the box only allows RAID 0, RAID 1, or JBOD (poor man’s RAID) so the drives have to be formatted together. So if you’re going to add 2 hard drives do it from day one. Or be sure to backup your data first. 4) No need to install special software on your PC! Although I did use the setup program to format the first single drive I installed, but I don't think it was necessary. I used the web interface once I added a second drive to format them in a JBOD configuration. 5) Set up folders to be either public or user accessible. i.e. everyone on the network can browse the folder or you can restrict it to a set of users you add. 6) FTP, iTunes, lots of extras.

Cons: 1) No way to set a folder as read only. It be nice to share a public folder as read only and only allow certain users to write to that folder. That way I can log in as a specific user, copy my data over then everyone on the network can see it but not delete it. Since it’s a network drive deleting the files doesn’t use the recycle bin. 2) Just a tad pricey. At $250 these would sell like birkenstocks at a hippie convention.

Overall Review: I’m using mine as a file server for music and videos. No stuttering when streaming either over the network. I have not had to reboot once since installing the hard drives. This thing is really, really cool.

Pros: Setup was a breeze. Popped two Western Digital Caviar WD5000KS 500GB drives in and set for RAID 1 via the Windows setup exe. Took about 3 hours to format. Via Windows XP, disk mount was fast and drag/drop worked great! FTP interface appears fast through web browser and programs like kasablanca (KDE Linux FTP Client) worked fine. Gnome based Nautilus did have problems connecting FTP but worked okay via Samba (albiet a bit slow) but this is probably a Gnome/Nautilus related issue and not a N2100 problem. Http/https Webdisk access was very well done and worked good. Transfer speeds were okay (~4 Mbyte/s) but I wasn't running Jumbo frames.

Cons: ---- major ---- The drives in the N2100 run HOT! Average is around 48~50 degrees C for both drives and system. That said, for Thecus to make the temperature info available so you can tell what the temperature is in the first place puts it a step above the rest. Received "Thecus_N2100 is recovering the RAID and rebuilding is in progress." in the log after a web based shutdown, but the data appears okay and have used it for a few days after this with no problems or any more messages like this. Still concerning. They may need more control over auto-rebuilds. ---- minor ---- Admin interface is clunky but overall functional. Should default to Dynamic IP addr. NTP Server control limited to name of server. No control over how often. If set to none does not use internal time!

Overall Review: For the price the N2100 is good for quick, easy, long term RAID 1 storage. With some extra cooling it will be good as a 24/7 server too.

Pros: Very easy to setup hardware and software. Makes hosting files on the network very easy. I have this FTP server set to DMZ to users can connect via DNS transfer. Very easy user/pass system. Def worth the money for hassless system that actually works. NO cables required for SATA Can connect via FTP or HTTPS.

Cons: Lacks some product specs such as FAQ about upgrading the 256 memory stick inside. , Can't change the website interface. Can't set permissions for sub folders.

Overall Review: Quiet noise with good ball bearing SATA harddrive, WD250 7200. Haven't used the gigabit ethernet yet since non of my computers have a gigabit driver. Very fast response time across networks.

Pros: I've had my N2100 over a month now. It continues chugging along and happily storing backup data and serving up iTunes. I use SecondCopy that copies changed (datetime) files at low priority to the unit mounted as a share. Lately I noticed SC copying more files than it should have...

Cons: The unit lost all track of time and went back to the year 2000 (wouldn't we all like to). It continued saving files but was storing datetime info that Windows didn't care for, so *some* files/folders would show a blank where the mod date & time should have been. The unit was sluggish on the web admin interface (but not the SMB share interface), and would not reboot. It would also not power down until I yanked the plug. When it re-booted, date and time was exactly correct again. Kernel issue (not firmware) - I reported it to them.

Overall Review: I cut 4 - 2" pieces of dense foam pipe insulation for feet and this works great. No more vibration noise transmitted from the disks.

Pros: Good mechanical design. Installation would have been brainless if I had realized that the SATA drives mated directly to the carrier; NO CABLES ARE REQUIRED. Knowing that, mechanical install is a 2-minute task. An earlier review said there was no read-only provision in the ACL, but there is now (they must be watching this thread). Get the firmware from Thecus.com - flash upgrade was a snap. See below for thoughts on disk setup. Overall, excellent product and, yes, they WOULD fly off the shelves like Birkenstocks at $xxx a pop.

Cons: Need soft rubber feet to dampen the spindle vibration. Should disallow setting up of folders, or services that create folders (FTPd, iTunes) while RAID is building. I think this messed me up on the first go-around.

Overall Review: I used two WD 250Gb drives. The RAID-1 build took about 90 mins and I set up folders and ACLs while that was happening. Nothing worked, so had to remove RAID, disable all services, re-build RAID-1, and be patient. When it was done I set up directories and services and everything worked perfect.

Pros: None

Cons: I thought that I had found a good small GIG-E, SATA, SAN for my home network. I had two 500 GB Hitachi Deskstar HD installed. All went easy with the HD install. It ran for a week then the Power Pack blew. As soon as I tried to return it; “mind you that I have only had it for one week.” It said that the manufacture no longer covers this for warrantee. Second. Make sure that if you have anything on the drives that you want to keep. Prior to installing them, regardless if you plan on not running them in a RAID configuration or not, make sure that your data is backed-up. Once they are installed and turned on it will format them and all data will be erased. So, make sure that you have your information back-up. Lastly, when it did work and someone was accessing the data on it then it seemed that no one else would be able to access the data until they were done.

Overall Review: You are better to just put your HD’s in a cheap old computer that you have laying around. If you need SATA and you want to run RAID of some type Promise STAT PCI add-in card is a good option at a fraction of the cost.

Pros: Good looking. Fast. Gigabit ethernet. Manufacturer pays attention to user community and adds features/fixes problems. Quiet operation. Speed tests were good in comparison to our Dell Poweredge via gigabit, less than 1-3 seconds difference reading and writing a 100 meg file.

Cons: You absolutely MUST go get the latest firmware from the web site. Takes an hour or two to initialize a Raid 1 Mirror set. Admin interface not the most intuitive, and documentation isn't up to date with latest firmware. Sleek and Smooth case could slide around - be prepared to place it on something grippy such as the rubbery stuff you line the drawers in a mobile RV with. Pictures show it standing on end, but if bumped it would tip and crash fairly easy and probably take out your drives if it fell over.

Overall Review: Fast but inexpensive network storage device. This (or any of the other color N2100 if you don't like White) is a good choice. There is a larger unit that will hold more drives as well. The latest firmware adds some wireless support, and can share some USB printers. I don't use it, but it also has an ITunes server built in. My unit was quiet, not loud at all (used Seagate drives); I was prepared to set it on a piece of rubber-grippy stuff based on other people's reviews to cut noise, but it didn't really need it for noise although it does need something to keep it from sliding around on the smooth case.

Pros: - Needed lots of fast backup space. - Loaded with 2 x 400gb WD drives as JBOD. - Drives run at 48 degrees under load. Consumes about 33 watts of power, pretty quiet. - OK speed. Big files read/write at about 8mb/second on gigabit LAN from WinXP box. - Easy setup.

Cons: - It would be nice if it was faster.

Overall Review: There's a 256 mb DIMM installed. May try to swap in a bigger one someday soon.