Timothy
Parker Consulting Incorporated
|
|
|
|
Maxtor MaxAttach Rack-mount storage libraries are quickly becoming popular
for both on-line and backup purposes, so it’s no surprise big-name disk
manufacturers like Maxtor are getting into this market.
The MaxAttach line of network storage has been available for a while now,
and seems to be gaining in popularity. The
MaxAttach NAS 4000 sent to us for review includes 240GB of disk space designed
to attach to any Ethernet network. The MaxAttach NAS 4000 is a single rack-mount height unit,
blue metal clad, that slides into any standard rack quickly.
The back panel has a power connector, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet connector, a
rocker main power on-off switch, and a push-button power switch. The front panel
has four LEDs: power, network activity, drive activity, and status.
Connecting the MaxAttach NAS 4000 is simple: install in the rack, connect
power and network cables, turn the unit on, then leave for three minutes while
it initializes and comes up. The
MaxAttach NAS 4000 package includes two CD-ROMs, one with drivers and the other
with Reflect-It!, a backup utility. Installing the drivers on a Windows machine is simple, taking
only a minute. Once launched, the
MaxNeighborhood utility searches out any attached MaxAttach units, displays
their names and IP addresses, and lets you launch an HTML-based configuration
and management routine. We did have problems with the HTML routine launching under
Internet Explorer 5.0. On two
different Windows NT 4.0 machines, a Windows 98 machine, and on a Windows ME
machine, IE5 locked up half way through the launch.
We cut and paste the URL into Netscape Navigator and it worked fine.
Unfortunately, the utilities Maxtor provides seem to insist on using IE5.
Java is required for the utility to operate. Once launched, the original configuration routine lets you
set name, IP address, and passwords for the MaxAttach NAS 4000.
You can also set up the disk arrays any way you want.
Our four-drive unit was shipped as a single mirrored set of spanned disks
but we changed to a pair of spanned disks with no mirroring to check the
procedure. The change took a few
minutes, followed by a reboot. Moving
back to a mirrored set of spanned disks was just as easy.
Backups are a good idea, of course, when managing the disk setup!
You can also use the MaxAttach NAS 4000 as four individual disks. We
didn’t fail any of the drives in the MaxAttach NAS 4000 because they are
tighly packed in the chassis, but the mirroring software seems to work
perfectly. The Reflect-It! software is a utility for Windows based
machines that allows network-based backups to the MaxAttach NAS 4000 on demand
or at preset times. A full backup
of a client system to the MaxAttach NAS 4000 takes a while, depending on the
network traffic and amount of data, but then incremental daily backups are quick
and easy to perform. We found the
Reflect-It software excellent for backing up to the MaxAttach NAS 4000 for our
clients and laptops, allowing fast and safe storage of data.
Recovery of files and directories from the MaxAttach NAS 4000 was just as
simple, using a click and select interface.
We like the Reflect-It approach so much we’re seriously considering
changing from backup tapes every night to mirrored MaxAttach NAS 4000 units in a
rack. They are faster, more
convenient, and cost effective too (high-capacity tapes are expensive). We left the MaxAttach NAS 4000 in our server rack for two
weeks, performing ten different client backups every night.
In addition, we moved several large video files back and forth from the
MaxAttach NAS 4000 to a video server to test throughout and performance.
As expected, the limiting factor in transfers is the network, not the
MaxAttach. A 100Mbps network
connection is highly recommended for large volume transfers.
Ideally, a faster interface such as gigabit Ethernet will replace the
10/100 Ethernet in the future. Although disk arrays like the MaxAttach NAS 4000 are not
inexpensive, and they tend to be slower than directly-attached drives on a
single machine, the availability of high capacity backup for the entire network
is an excellent idea. The cost of
the MaxAttach NAS 4000 compares well to other network arrays, and competes with
backup devices. The configuration
software is very good, Reflect-It is a winner, and the whole package is easy to
install, configure, and administer. MaxAttach NAS 4000 Summary: Convenient high-capacity network backup device. Easy installation and configuration. Good utilities. |
|
Send mail to
tparker@tpci.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|