The Iomega StorCenter ix2 is a network-attached storage (NAS) drive with a unique feature set. It's the first NAS drive we've tested that supports Bluetooth devices and it's also the first that doesn't offer remote, over-the-Internet access. It's also one of a few that is not user-serviceable; you're stuck with the two hard drives it comes with. On the bright side, the StorCenter ix2 is dead simple to set up and use--it just might be the easiest-to-use NAS server we've laid hands on. It's also compact and the first to support writing to external hard drives in NTFS format. If you need easy access over the Internet to your NAS, we'd recommend the Maxtor Central Axis or the Buffalo LinkStation Mini . Otherwise, at $299 the 1TB Iomega StorCenter ix2 is a decent investment for a home network. You can also get a 2TB version of the device for a reasonable $479.
Design and setup
The Iomega StorCenter ix2 is about as compact as a NAS server can get with two internal hard drives; it's barely larger than two 3.5-inch hard drives put together. The StorCenter ix2 comes with two 500GB hard drives or two 1TB drives, but you can't replace the hard drives yourself.
The Iomega StorCenter ix2 is about as compact as a NAS server can get with two internal hard drives; it's barely larger than two 3.5-inch hard drives put together. The StorCenter ix2 comes with two 500GB hard drives or two 1TB drives, but you can't replace the hard drives yourself.
Iomega® StorCenter™ network storage devices offer advanced storage, security, and content sharing that is easy to use and affordable - all powered by world-class EMC® software. Robust features will make StorCenter the cornerstone of your growing IT infrastructure, without increasing your budget. Find out which one is right for your business.
- Lenovo Global Support Home.
- Sep 09, 2013 Iomega® StorCenter™ ix-series devices; Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive (Backward compatible with previous Iomega StorCenter devices and iConnect). Reconnect to homehub again and the storage manager software reports them as unavailable. The iConnect is running firmware version 2.5.26.18966. Any ideas what may be wrong?
On the front there are two blue status lights, one for power and the other for drive activity. These lights are very bright, enough to be annoying in a dark room. On the back, you'll find a Gigabit Ethernet port and two USB 2.0 ports. The device has a small cooling fan inside, which is very quiet.
Setting up the StorCenter ix2 is painless. Once hooked to the network, we followed the included CD and after a few clicks and a few minutes, everything was done--including two network drives being mapped to the NAS' default share folders: Public and Backup.
The setup process also installs the Iomega StorCenter Manager software, which helps add new USB devices connected to the NAS server, shows the network drives, and launches the Web-based interface where you can further customize the settings of the StorCenter ix2. Other than using the Iomega StorCenter Manager, you can also access the ix2 using Windows Explorer the way you would access another computer in a local network.
The Web interface is robust and easy to use, comparable with that of the Synology DS107+ or the Zyxel NSA-220.
The StorCenter ix2 comes with EMC Retrospect Express HD backup software. The software, though easy to use, is very limited. Other than the content of My Documents and Desktop folders, you can't choose to back up any other folders on the hard drive unless you choose to back the entire hard drive altogether.
Features
The StorCenter ix2 supplies many popular NAS features save one: remote access via the Web. Iomega says it might add this feature later via a firmware update. On the other hand, the StorCenter ix2 includes a feature that we've never seen before on a NAS drives: Bluetooth support. It doesn't come built-in, but rather via a USB adapter that you'll need to insert into one of the StorCenter's USB ports. We tried it with a Kensington USB Micro Bluetooth adapter, and it worked the moment we plugged it into the NAS server. We were able to send images from different cell phones directly into the NAS server and they were immediately available to other network users. Bluetooth access is on way; there was no way for the phone to get anything from the NAS server.
The StorCenter ix2 supplies many popular NAS features save one: remote access via the Web. Iomega says it might add this feature later via a firmware update. On the other hand, the StorCenter ix2 includes a feature that we've never seen before on a NAS drives: Bluetooth support. It doesn't come built-in, but rather via a USB adapter that you'll need to insert into one of the StorCenter's USB ports. We tried it with a Kensington USB Micro Bluetooth adapter, and it worked the moment we plugged it into the NAS server. We were able to send images from different cell phones directly into the NAS server and they were immediately available to other network users. Bluetooth access is on way; there was no way for the phone to get anything from the NAS server.
The USB 2.0 ports of the StorCenter let you extend the storage capacity by connecting an external hard drive. To our pleasant surprise, the NAS supports read and write access to external hard drives formatted in either FAT32 or NTFS format. This is the first time we've seen a NAS drive that supports both read and write to NTFS external hard drives; most support only read access, some don't even offer support at all.
Other features of the StorCenter include support for media servers (including UPnP, DLNA, and iTunes), a print server, and a security camera. The media server and print server worked well during our tryout and were easy to set up, thanks to Iomega's well-organized and intuitive Web interface. The security camera feature, however, was very limited. The NAS server supports only one network camera at a time, and it can only record based on schedule, not motion detection, as found in the Synology DS107+. Nonetheless, we tried it with an Axis network security camera, and it worked as intended. The Web-based page for the camera also works well with the iPhone and the iPod Touch. We were able to view the live video on an iPhone via a Wi-Fi connection. The security camera feature of the StorCenter ix2 works better as a tool that keeps tab on kids, rather than as a surveillance system.
Iomega (1980–2013) | |
Joint venture | |
Industry | Computer |
---|---|
Founded | April 1, 1980 in Roy, Utah, USA |
Founder | David Bailey[1] and David Norton |
Headquarters | San Diego, California, USA |
Products | Computer storage |
Owners | Lenovo Dell EMC |
450[2] | |
Website | lenovoemc.com |
LenovoEMC (formerly Iomega), sometimes styled lenovo | EMC², is a producer of external, portable, and networked storage products. Established in the 1980s in Roy, Utah, as Iomega, LenovoEMC has sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks. It was formerly a public company.[3] The Zip drive was Iomega's most notable product.[4]
- 2History
- 3Products
Operations[edit]
Lenovo announced the construction of a research and development facility near São Paulo, Brazil, in November 2013. This facility will be dedicated to enterprise software and supporting LenovoEMC's development of high-end servers and cloud storage. Construction will cost $100 million and about 100 will be employed at the facility. It will be located in the University of Campinas Science and Technology Park, about 60 miles from São Paulo.[5]
History[edit]
Iomega logo
Iomega started business in Roy, Utah in 1980 (the firm moved its headquarters to San Diego in 2001).[6] For many years, the firm was a significant name in the data storage industry. Iomega's most famous product, the Zip Drive, was revolutionary as it offered relatively large amounts of storage on easily portable compact cartridges. The original Zip disk's 100MB capacity was a huge improvement over the 1.44MB limitation of floppy disks. The Zip Drive became a common internal and external peripheral for IBM-compatible computers and Macs. However, Zip disk cartridges sometimes failed after a short period, (commonly referred to as the 'click of death'). This problem, combined with competition from CD-RW drives, caused Zip Drive sales to decline dramatically, despite later efforts to introduce larger 250MB and 750MB disk versions. Iomega eventually launched a CD-RW drive.[7]
Without the revenue from its proprietary storage cartridges, Iomega's sales and profits declined considerably. Iomega's stock price, which was over $100 at its height in the 1990s, dipped to around $2 in the mid-2000s. Trying to find a niche for itself, Iomega released devices such as the HipZip MP3 player, the FotoShow Digital Image Center, and numerous external hard drives, optical drives, and NAS products. None of these products were successful.[7]
In 2012, reporter Vincent Verweij of Dutch broadcaster Katholieke Radio Omroep revealed that the contents of at least 16,000 Iomega NAS devices were publicly available on the internet. This was due to the devices being sold with password security disabled by default. Among those affected were KLM, ING Group, and Ballast Nedam, who all had confidential material leaked in this manner. Iomega USA acknowledged the problem and said future models (starting February 2013) would come with password security enabled by default. The company said it would clearly instruct users about the risks of unsecured data.[8]
Acquisition by EMC[edit]
The signing ceremony that created LenovoEMC joint venture
On April 8, 2008, EMC Corporation announced plans to acquire Iomega for US$213 million.[9] The acquisition was completed in June 2008,[10] making Iomega the SOHO/SMB arm of EMC. EMC kept the Iomega brand name alive with products such as the StorCenter NAS line, ScreenPlay TV Link adapter, and v.Clone virtualization software.[7]
Joint venture with Lenovo[edit]
In 2013, EMC formed a joint venture with Chinese technology company Lenovo, named LenovoEMC, that took over Iomega's business. LenovoEMC rebranded all of Iomega's products under its name. LenovoEMC designs products for small and medium-sized businesses that cannot afford enterprise-class data storage. LenovoEMC is part of a broader partnership between the two companies announced in August 2012. The partnership also includes an effort to develop x86-based servers and allowing Lenovo to act as an OEM for some EMC hardware. Lenovo is expected to benefit from the relatively high profit margins of the NAS market. LenovoEMC is part of Lenovo's Enterprise Products Group.[11][12][13]
1980–1999[edit]
- 1980: April 1, Iomega Founded[14]
- 1982: Released First Bernoulli Box Drive (10MB)
- 1987: September, Shipped first Bernoulli Box II model (20 MB)
- 1995: January, Shipped Iomega DittoTape Drive
- 1995: March, Released Zip 100MB Drive
- 1995: December, Shipped Jaz Drive 1GB Drive
- 1997: June, Announced Buz Multimedia Producer
- 1997: November, Unveiled Clik! 40MB Drive
- 1998: February, Shipped Jaz 2GB Drive
- 1998: December, Shipped Zip 250MB Drive
- 1999: Shipped First Internal CD-RW Drive
2000–present[edit]
- 2000: September, Launched HipZip Digital Audio Player
- 2000: October, Shipped FotoShow Digital Image Center
- 2000: December, Shipped First External CD-RW Drive
- 2001: January, Announced Peerless Drive System
- 2001: March, Shipped DataSafe Network Attached Storage (NAS) Server
- 2002: April, Announced Portable and External Hard Drive Family
- 2002: August, Shipped Zip 750MB Drive
- 2002: November, Launched USB Mini Flash Drive
- 2003: March, Launched iStorage Online Storage
- 2003: March, Announced External Standard Floppy Drive
- 2003: June, Announced first DVD-RW drive
- 2003: June, Shipped 50 millionth Zip drive
- 2003: November, Introduced Super DVD QuikTouch
- 2004: February, Shipped CD-RW/DVD-ROM 7-in-1 Card Reader
- 2004: April, Shipped REV 35GB Drive
- 2004: April, Shipped Floppy Plus 7-in-1 Card Reader
- 2004: September, Introduced Wireless NAS Server
- 2004: October, Introduced REV Autoloader 1000
- 2005: November, Announced ScreenPlay Multimedia Drive
- 2006: September, Introduced desktop RAID storage
- 2008: January, Announced eGo Portable Hard Drive
- 2008: April, EMC acquired Iomega
- 2008: April, Announced ScreenPlay HD Multimedia Drive
- 2008: May, Announced eGo Desktop Hard Drive
- 2008: August, Introduced ScreenPlay TV Link Multimedia Adapter
- 2008: September, Announced the new eGo Helium Portable Hard Drive
- 2008: October, Announced StorCenter ix2
- 2008: October, Announced ScreenPlay Pro HD Multimedia Drive
- 2009: January, Shipped Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive
- 2009: February, Announced StorCenter ix4-100 Server
- 2009: April, Ships the StorCenter ix4-200r NAS
- 2009: May, New Generation of eGo Portable Hard Drives
- 2009: August, Announced StorCenter ix4-200d NAS
- 2009: October, Announced StorCenter ix2-200
- 2010: January, Shipped Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station
- 2010: January, Announced ScreenPlay Media Player, Director Edition
- 2010: January, Announced v.Clone Technology: Take your PC Virtually Anywhere
- 2010: April, Iomega celebrates 30 years
- 2010: May, Announced StorCenter ix12-300r NAS
- 2010: June, Introduced Skin Hard Drive by Iomega
- 2011: March, introduced Cloud Edition IX series
- 2013: January, Iomega Corporation was renamed to LenovoEMC Limited, which is a joint venture between Lenovo Group Limited and EMC Corporation. Lenovo owns the majority stake in the new company.
Products[edit]
Iomega designed and manufactured a range of products intended to compete with and ultimately replace the 3.5' floppy disk, notably the Zip drive. Initial Iomega products connected to a computer via SCSI or parallel port; later models used USB and FireWire (1994).
LenovoEMC's current product portfolio includes network-attached storage products, external hard drives, multimedia drives, and removable storage technology.[15]
PX4-400d[edit]
The 400d is a multi-bay network-attached storage (NAS) device. The 400d is powered by an Intel Atom processor running at 2.13 gigahertz, has 2 gigabytes of RAM, and has a SATA3 controller capable of moving data at 6 gigabits per second. HDMI and USB ports are included. The HDMI-out function enables monitoring live feeds from surveillance cameras. The unit can be set up and managed without a PC using an external display, keyboard, and mouse. The 400d is LenovoEMC's first product sold with its LifeLine 4.1 software, which adds functions such as a domain mode, enhanced Active Directory support and a more robust SDK. McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator is included for centralized security management. All THINK-branded systems from Lenovo pre-installed with Windows 8.1 include LenovoEMC Storage Connector in order make discovery and set-up of the 400d and other LenovoEMC NAS devices smoother.[16]
Lenovo Beacon Home Cloud Centre[edit]
At the 2014 International CES, LenovoEMC announced the Lenovo Beacon Home Cloud Centre. The Beacon is a storage device that allows remote sharing of data such as music, pictures, and video. The Beacon allows music and video streaming to multiple devices. Android phones and tablets can be used to control the Beacon. It also has an HDMI port to allow connection to a television or monitor. Up to 6 terabytes of storage, RAID 0 and 1, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth are all supported.[17]
Product discontinuation[edit]
As of 2018, lenovoemc.com now redirects to lenovo.com, and Lenovo has retired all of the LenovoEMC products on their product page advising that the product(s) are no longer available for purchase on lenovo.com.[18]
See also[edit]
- Nomaï, a competitor that was acquired and closed down
References[edit]
- ^'Executive Profile: Dave Bailey'. Bloomberg.
the lead Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Iomega Inc.
- ^Iomega Corporation (2005). 'Iomega:25 Years of Storage Technology Leadership'.
Today Iomega has approximately 450 employees
- ^'Iomega Corporation History'.
- ^International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 21. St. James Press, 1998.
- ^[1]
- ^Wallace, Brice (19 October 2001). 'Iomega leaving Roy for San Diego'. Deseret News.
Roy, with about 33,000 residents, had been Iomega's headquarters city since the company was founded in 1980.
- ^ abc[2]
- ^'A Gift for the Hackers', produced by Katholieke Radio Omroep, distributed on YouTube by Journeyman Pictures
- ^Press releaseEMC To Acquire Iomega. Accessed 2008-04-09
- ^http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2213837/emc-agrees-iomega-dealEMC secures Iomega acquisition. Accessed 2008-10-08
- ^http://www.pcworld.com/article/2025141/lenovo-and-emc-partner-on-storage-for-smbs.html
- ^https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/01/storage-giant-emc-unites-with-pc-oem-lenovo-on-new-joint-venture/
- ^http://blog.laptopmag.com/lenovoemc-forms-to-bring-nas-solutions-to-businesses-of-all-sizes
- ^Iomega Corporation. 30 years of unstoppable innovation
- ^iomega - Products
- ^[3]
- ^Lynn, Samara (9 January 2014). 'LenovoEMC Reveals NAS Boxes for Home and Business'. PC Magazine. United States. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- ^https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/systems/storage/nas/lenovoemc/
External links[edit]
Emc Iomega Storcenter Ix2 Software Mac
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iomega. |
Iomega Storage Manager Software Download
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