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www.expresscomputeronline.com WEEKLY INSIGHT FOR TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS
28 December 2009  
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Review

WD ShareSpace 8 TB

This 8 TB 4-bay NAS device is aimed at SMBs and it can be shared with a workgroup of half a dozen to a dozen computers. The design is cubical and compact. This NAS box lets you choose from RAID 0, 1 and 5 configurations. We tested the ShareSpace 8TB NAS device in its default RAID 5 drive configuration. The ShareSpace 8TB model sells at a little over a lakh of rupees, which is a lot of money until you do the math. At Rs 13.6 per GB it’s not too bad.

The WD Discovery tool allows you to browse and map the ShareSpace’s network shares as well as providing a link to the Web-based interface. The Advanced interface provides access to RAID management, user and group quotas, and media server settings. We found the user management screen to be a bit confusing.

RAID 5 requires a minimum of three drives to implement. It adds fault tolerance by including parity information with the data, which gives a high level of fault tolerance. But configured in this way, the device had 5.37 TB free out of 8 TB. You can also configure it in JBOD mode to get one large volume without any fault tolerance.

This NAS box is DLNA compatible allowing users to stream media from it to compatible computers, media streamers and televisions. There is also an iTunes server, as well as an HTTP/FTP download function. (These are pretty much standard functions across personal NAS devices).

The USB 2.0 port on the front of the device allows you to automatically transfer data from external drives by pressing a one-touch backup button. You will find two more USB 2.0 ports around the back for connecting external hard drives and USB UPS devices as well as a Gigabit Ethernet port.

Pros

  • RAID 0, 1 and 5 support
  • Massive capacity
  • One touch button for copying from external storage
  • Cost per GB works out cheaper than competing units

Cons

  • The unit is heavy
  • The browser-based user interface is confusing
Specs
Capacity 8 TB
Space occupied (L X B X W) 196.2 X 199.2 X 160.1 mm
Weight 4.9 kg

How to buy
Price (MRP) Rs. 1,12,199
Contact Amarjeet Singh
Telephone -9321029113
E-mail amarjeet.singh@wdc.com
Web site www.wdc.com

— Akhtar Pasha

 


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