Share Your Life With Iomega

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2010/01/06/iomega-intros-the-99-iconnect-wireless-data-station-nas-adapter/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ehomeupgrade/entries+(eHomeUpgrade+1)' target='_blank'>http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2010/01...eHomeUpgrade+1)</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Connect the Iomega iConnect device to your router in either a wired or wireless configuration*, and it&rsquo;s as easy as plugging external USB drives or USB Flash drives (any brand) into any of the four USB ports on the Iomega iConnect device, making the drives automatically connected to and accessible from any computer on your network or remotely via the web."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1262831219.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>In all honesty, the iConnect is nothing new.&nbsp; It acts as a NAS which you connect USB hard drives to, making your files available on your network, or through the web.&nbsp; Similar devices that come to mind are Windows Home Servers and the Pogoplug, though this one has a slightly lower price at $129.&nbsp; The one thing I am curious about, which rarely gets promoted with most NAS based devices is what its actual data throughput is like.&nbsp; Sure, it has a gigabit port, but I have come across many a NAS with gigabit ports which provide disappointing performance.&nbsp; Having over a terabyte of data, moving things around, or even streaming high bit-rate video is definitely a concern.</p>

[The Yaz]

This looks like a good option for someone who needs to put together a unified home network without having to resort to a stand alone server. I have the Belkin network USB hub to share a 500GB drive and two printers for the computers in my home and have been disappointed in it because only one computer can connect to each device at any given time.

If Iomega's product can solve that issue, then I'll gladly pick it up and give it a go :D

Steve :cool:

[Hooch Tan]

I'm pretty sure that this device will do the trick for you, but be aware that there are a lot of other options at the $100 price point, both ones that accept external USB hard drives, and ones that use internal ones.

The main thing that I would suggest you research before buying on is checking out its data transfer speeds at a site like Small Net Builder (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/) if you intend on doing a lot of transfers. Otherwise, you can find yourself waiting a long time to move that home video, or if you're streaming, stuttering because the network can't keep up.

Just as a personal example, I've been playing with NAS devices for many years now, and one of the first I tried, a Vantec Nexstar, managed 3.3MB/s. Fine for small stuff, but insufficient for driving HD video, or serving multiple users at once. I'm not using an Acer EasyStore H340, which seems to handle (assuming a fast enough network setup) anything I need of it, including multiple streams and backups.