Ximeta 80GB NetDisk - Articles / Reviews

Reviews: Networking

Ximeta 80GB NetDisk

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Brian Kristensen
Kurtis
Ximeta
Jan. 3, 2004

Specifications

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What's Included

NetDisk™ Ethernet/USB 2.0 Combo External Hard Drive
Ethernet cable (UTP Category 5)
USB 2.0 cable
AC Adapter with power cord
Software installation CD
Quick Install guide

A Closer Look

We received the 80GB version of the NetDisk. This version is housed in a purple aluminum shell with black plastic sides. The 120GB NetDisk has a silver housing while the 160GB NetDisk is encased in a dark red shell. The dimensions of the NetDisk are 8.3" long, 4.7" wide and 1.4" high. There are smaller external storage devices available, but the larger size of the NetDisk is due to the full size 7200RPM hard drive inside.

The NetDisk is, if I may say so myself, quite a looker. The aluminum housing gives it a sleek look and feel and should appeal to most people. The NetDisk can be used in a variety of ways. Probably the simplest way is by simply connecting it to your computer via USB. You can also connect the NetDisk to your computer through your Ethernet card, but I'm sure it wouldn't be as efficient as USB 2.0. The final and most interesting way to use the NetDisk is by connecting it to a network by plugging it in to a hub, switch or router. The computers on the network will see the NetDisk as a NDAS drive which everyone on the network can access. Ximeta recommends that no more than 20 people use the drive for best performance.

Currently the NetDisk is only usable on systems running 98SE/2000/XP. Anyone using Mac, Linux, or older versions of windows are out of luck. This is because of the NetDisk's software package which allows computers to see the NetDisk on the network using the Ethernet interface and not a limitation of the drive itself. Hopefully we will see more operating systems supported in the future. Ximeta is currently working on Mac and Linux drivers so stay tuned to their website often for updates.

The NetDisk has four rubber feet on the underside to keep it from sliding. The rear of the NetDisk contains a mode selection switch (USB 2.0 or Ethernet), a USB 2.0 connector, power connector and an Ethernet connector. There are two status lights located on the top of the NetDisk, the left lights up green indicating if the unit is on, and the one on the right lights up yellow during disk activity.

The NetDisk comes with NTFS as the default file system but you can format the NetDisk in FAT32 or NTFS.

The NetDisk offers some very interesting features such as the ability to use multiple NetDisks in aggregate mode or in a RAID mirror setup. The ability to aggregate NetDisks means that you can have multiple NetDisks on your network setup so they are seen as a single drive. If you have two 120GB NetDisks in aggregate mode, they will be seen as a single 240GB drive. If your network storage starts running out of room, just add another NetDisk to the cluster. You can also connect multiple NetDisks in a RAID configuration using Ximeta's software for the ability to backup or mirror your data. The drive also has the ability to be set into a Read or Write mode, allowing protection to the data stored on the NetDisk if needed.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: A Closer Look
Page 3: Setting up the NetDisk
Page 4: Performance
Page 5: Issues / Conclusion

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3 User Comments

1 - Posted by Kurtis on January 4, 2004 - 12:31 am

Ximeta’s NetDisk is not only a USB 2.0 accessible hard drive, it is also accessible to a computer or an entire network via a 100Mbps Ethernet port. Is this an external hard drive or pocket sized file server?

http://www.thetechlounge.com/review.php?directory=...

2 - Posted by zero_seek on June 15, 2004 - 6:50 pm

I'm actually using their new 3.03 multi-write drivers, and it is working great for me with 3 machines (2 winxp and 1 win2k machine). I had a problem upgrading, but after talking to ximeta support, they sent me a cleanup utility to install everything from scratch and that solved everything...all in all a great drive and great support...

-steve

3 - Posted by Guest on August 14, 2004 - 1:45 pm

I bought this product with high expectations. These were not met.
1) It is not a server, so it has to be run with special software on any computer that access it (assuming using ethernet)
2) The one I got, and the one a friend of mine got (at the same time) have never worked.
3) I sent mine back for warranty replacement. I bought the unit end of april, and have still not received a replacement. It is now middle of August. I am giving up on getting my money back.
My advice, do not buy products from this company.

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