eWeek - January 4, 2010

Low-cost StorCenter ix2-200

packs enterprise-class features

REVIEW: Iomega device offers device-to-device replication, iSCSI support
and Apple ‘Time Machine’ backup support

By Cameron Sturdevant

Iomega’s Stor Center ix2-200 Network Storage device is a harbinger of things to come, as enterprise features continue to move down the data storage food chain.

New in the ix2-200 is iSCSI support approved for use with VMware’s vSphere (and older) Virtual Infrastructure platforms, along with Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer server virtualization products.

A recent Gartner report on server virtualization pointed to small and branch offices as a growth area for server virtualization in 2010. Organizations with no more than 25 users will likely find that the $700 StorCenter ix2- 200 could fill the need for network shared storage in a quiet-running, field-serviceable unit. The StorCenter ix2-200, which started shipping last October, comes in a 1TB, 2TB and 4TB model. I tested the 4TB unit.

The ix2-200 comes with myriad features that make it suitable for small-office use. Among the most important are device-to-device replication (called Copy Jobs in StorCenter parlance), iSCSI support and Apple Time Machine backup support.

In my tests, I found that the big-
The two hard drives in the ix2-
200 are field-serviceable, although
they are not hot-swappable. I pow-
ered down the unit and removed
the drives by easily removing the
two screws per drive holding the
sleds in place.

A small fan helps with cooling, although the relatively slow-spinning ( 5,900-rpm) drives and new, user-con-figurable idle-drive spin-down control help ensure that the ix2-200 is cool, quiet and energy-effi-cient. During my tests, the unit generally ran at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit and generated little more than a whisper of sound.

The 4TB unit I added as an iSCSI target to the e WEEK Labs VMware vSphere Configuring iSCSI on the ix2- 200 was a simple procedure, and I was able to integrate the iSCSI target into the storage associated with my vSphere 4 environment. It’s worth noting that both Iomega and VMware are owned by EMC, which explains in part the appearance of these useful enterprise-class features in an otherwise SOHO

gest drawback to the ix-200 is that the administrative interface, which is entirely Web-based, is painfully slow. I dreaded every configuration interaction needed to put my ix2-

200 into service. And, it’s been a long time since I commented on documentation, but the cumbersome and poorly prepared user documentation is dreadful.