Zyxel 2-bay High-performance Digital Media Server And Network Attached Storage Reviews
Buy the Zyxel 2-bay High-performance Digital Media Server And Network Attached Storage . This sought after product is currently available. For this reasonable price, the Zyxel 2-bay High-performance Digital Media Server And Network Attached Storage is widely respected and is a popular choice amongst most people. With so many available today, it is good to have a make you can recognise. This product is certainly that and will be a superb buy. The manufacturer have added some excellent touches and this results in great value. You can believe this review, i hope you can try to buy this product if you want know this product. Reviewed: Zyxel NSA325. It supports 2 x 3.5" SATA drives, has 2 USB2 ports (back) and a single USB3 (front) & has Gigabit Ethernet. 1.6GHz Marvell processor is faster than older NAS devices (faster than the 800MHz CPU in the D-LINK DNS-320 or the 1.2GHz CPU in the DNS-325) and 512MB memory allows multiple functions at same time.
DRIVE INSTALLATION:
Drive guide rails must be attached to each drive via screws. Note that the pointy end of the rails must face INWARD (i.e. on the same side as the SATA connector). The quick install sheet doesn't mention this and it's easy to overlook from the diagram. The reason for the specific orientation is that you use a tool (located behind the drive cover) to remove an installed drive from its bay and this tool clips onto the exposed end of the drive rails. Also when installing be sure to insert the drive so that the SATA connector will mate with the drive (it will not if you insert the drive the wrong way and you could cause damage). ZyXEL needs to have better instructions. The front door is a little flimsy though, be careful when removing/installing to avoid breaking the tabs that keep it in place.
Note that drives are NOT hot-swappable, do not remove/insert with the power on. Drives up to 3TB are supported with newest firmware (note if you have old firmware you will need to temporarily install a smaller drive, create a volume, then use the firmware check function in the web interface to update firmware before installing 3TB drives).
RAID:
RAID 0/1 are supported. RAID 0 uses the combined storage space of both drives but has no redundancy. RAID 1 mirrors contents on both drives so if one fails your data is still safe.
POWER MANAGEMENT/UPS:
+ You can connect a (APC brand) UPS to the NAS via one of the USB ports and it will auto-shutdown when UPS battery is low (you can adjust when the shutdown occurs based on the UPS reported capacity remaining). A nice touch and one that will help prevent data loss. I tried it with a Tripp-Lite UPS and it wasn't recognized so it looks like only an APC will work.
+ You can set the UPS to always power on after a power failure, useful if acting as networked storage.
+ You can spin down drives if no data transmission occurs in a specified time (adjustable in minutes)
+ Supports "wake-on-lan" so device can turn on and service incoming requests even if powered off.
+ NAS uses external 12V 5amp power adapter. This is better than an internal power supply as it is easily replaceable if it fails.
+ Interestingly the NAS has an internal clock (powered by a CR2032 battery) and can be set to power on/off via time schedule.
THE BAD:
- There is no "network activity" LED at the front panel (the LED is on the Ethernet jack). I would have liked to see a front panel LED. This is important as use of one of the back USB ports will block the network LED on the jack.
- I do not think there is a way to migrate to larger capacity drives without backing up/replacing drives/recreate RAID/restoring the array.
- Download Manager feature (more on this below) cannot download files that require authentication from websites (i.e. files that require login). This is a shame as this would been much more useful.
- This NAS takes LONG to boot. This may cause a problem if used as network storage as PCs may boot quicker than the NAS!
- For some strange reason the CPU temp is reported incorrectly (12 deg Celsius) on the NSA status page after some time in operation. It still seems to work correctly so this may be a minor bug.
OTHER:
+ Front panel USB connector is USB3 for fast copy from/to external USB3 devices. This is just for copying data from/to an external drive, I don't think connection to a PC is supported.
+ NAS has CPU temp sensor.
+ The fan is a 3-wire fan (has RPM sensor so the NAS can determine fan speed). The fan label mentions that has a hypro bearing, which supposed to be a long-lasting bearing. The fan is very quiet, practically silent.
+ Web-based interface is nice and clean, with attractive icons. The admin setup webpage is logically organized. You can check the CPU temp/CPU load/free memory from the admin page.
+ ZPilot feature allows you to drop files/folders to an "always-on-top" icon to copy to the NAS. Optionally you can have the NAS sort files into specific folders based on the file type.
+ Add-on packages really expand functionality of the NAS. For example installing the SMART package allows you to see the status (temperature, SMART status, model & serial #) of the installed drives.
+ Firmware update is totally painless, one click will check for new firmware, another click downloads & installs it. You don't need to download it from a PC then upload it to the NAS. However note that you must have drive(s) installed and a volume created to use the auto-update feature as it needs to download firmware to the volume. If no drive(s) are installed it will not work.
+ Has "Download Manager" built-in file download function & bittorrent client. By logging into the NAS and either entering the URL of a file to download OR uploading a .torrent file from your PC you can have the NAS download files unattended without having your PC on and running. A nice feature, especially for downloading large files such as Linux ISO images.
OVERALL it's a good media server for the price and I recommend it. But also check out the ZyXEL NSA320 2-bay Network Attached Storage and Media Server as it is similar but about half the price. The NSA320 uses a slightly slower 1.2GHz CPU (but has the same 512MB memory), but doesn't have dropbox features or USB3 port. You probably DON'T want the older NSA2xx series because these use a much slower CPU/less memory and transfer performance is not as good.
I hope this is helpful!
Read the full review. Zyxel 2-bay High-performance Digital Media Server And Network Attached Storage (nsa325)
Zyxel 2-bay High-performance Digital Media Server And Network Attached Storage Price
| List Price: | $249.99 |
| Price: | $177.44 |
| You Save: | $72.55 (29%) |
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Zyxel 2-bay High-performance Digital Media Server And Network Attached Storage Overview
The NSA325 is more than a hard drive enclosure – it’s an all-in-one cloud-managed entertainment hub. The fastest, most powerful product in ZyXEL’s NSA suite of products, the NSA325 boasts high-speed USB3.0 support and the raw power to manage downloads, play music, and stream HD video to multiple devices simultaneously.
Just plug in up to 2 3TB drives (sold separately), and you’ll be ready to store, share, and stream your digital media in crystal clear HD to any game consoles, PCs, phones, digital media players, PDAs, or any other DNLA-capable device using your home network. Automated backup makes protecting your files a hassle-free experience, and programmable PC-independent downloads guarantee you’ll never have to waste any time making sure the newest music, movies, and TV shows are always right at your fingertips.
Step into the modern age with the NSA325, and set your media free.
Powerful HD multimedia streaming at your fingertips!
- USB 3.0 support for high-speed data transfer.
- Download FTP, BitTorrent, FTP, and eMule downloads independent of a PC
- Easy management of downloads from sites like Rapidshare with One Click Media Manager
- Intuitive interface integrated with media player
- zPilot allows easy drag-and-drop file classification
Multiple simultaneous HD streams
With USB3.0 support and the power to manage multiple downloads while simultaneously streaming music and 1080p HD video to devices throughout the house, ZyXEL NSA325 2-Bay Power Media Server takes its place at the head of ZyXEL’s NSA suite of products as the fastest, easiest way to store, stream, and access multimedia from DLNA-enabled TVs, Xbox360s, PS3s, and any other UPnP or DLNA-certified device anywhere in the house.
Your media – Your way
The NSA325 makes it easy to manage, back up, and play all of your media - freeing you to display it however you want, wherever you want. With only a few clicks, media can be stored on the NSA for high-definition streaming to any UPnP or DLNA-enabled device, access from any computer on your home network.
Boasting the versatility to act as an iTunes Server, SqueezeCenter, or personal blog and photo album server, the NSA325 integrates seamlessly with PCs, laptops, MP3 Players, and SqueezeBoxes already on your home network.
Convenient configuration
The NSA325 is carefully designed to promote an intuitive, trouble-free user experience. Media can easily be managed and played back directly from either your web browser or through ZyXEL’s zMedia app, available on all iPhone and Android devices.
The zMedia app provides a link between mobile devices connected over WiFi and the NSA325, allowing them to directly stream media, browse files, manage uploads and downloads, browse files, or change and manage configuration settings – all without ever turning on a PC.
Hands-off file management
The NSA325 allows users to automatically upload and download files without ever turning on a PC. RSS feeds allow you to set up automatic downloads of Internet content like Audio & Video podcasts ensuring that all your favorite media will be ready and waiting for you as soon as it hits the internet. FTP, BitTorrent, and HTTP downloads can be sent directly to the NSA325, and a one-click download hosting site manager makes it easy to download large files from websites like Rapidshare.
An embedded USB 3.0 port and copy/sync button makes it fast and easy to back up files from external hard drives, digital cameras, and other USB devices at the touch of a button, making safeguarding your important data completely hassle-free.
Managing user-generated media is a snap. With a few clicks, the NSA can be set to automatically upload photos, video, music, and other content to sites like Flickr, Youtube, or even your own FTP server. There's no input required, and no need to deal with multiple sites or services. Just put your media on the NSA325, and it'll handle the rest.
Automatic file classification with zPilotTM
zPilot automatic file classification makes it easy to store and manage media files. Just drag files onto the zPilot icon on your computer's desktop and they'll automatically be identified, organized, and delivered to your the music, photo, video, or other designated folders on the NSA325 - Organizing your media collection has never been simpler.
Energy Efficient media server
ZyXEL’s green Wake-On-LAN feature lets you access files stored on the NSA325 any time and anywhere, even if the device is powered off at home. To further save energy, if there’s no hard drive activity for a set period of time, the drives will automatically go into hibernation mode. Finally, power scheduling provides a convenient way to manage your power consumption by allowing the user to set the device to turn off or on based on your unique usage patterns.
Zyxel 2-bay High-performance Digital Media Server And Network Attached Storage Feature
- Superior performance powers multiple HD streaming
- zMedia enables mobile media streaming and NSA configuration at home
- Dropbox support offers remote backup and downloading everywhere
- USB 3.0 port provides faster backup from USB devices
- All-in-one backup solution protecting valuable user data
- Advanced green NSA with Wake-on-LAN, power scheduling and hard disk hibernation for energy saving
- zPilot organizes media files via easy drag-and-drop operations
Size: High-performance 2-bay
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Zyxel 2-bay High-performance Digital Media Server And Network Attached Storage Detail
Size: High-performance 2-bay
- Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 8.1 x 5.8 inches ; 2.5 pounds
- Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
- ASIN: B007JLDTRY
- Item model number: NSA325
