Iomega StorCenter px2-300d 2-Bay Network Storage Array

Unless you’re feeling nostalgic about the printing press, going digital is definitely the more convenient and cost-efficient way to share and store data in your small or mid-sized business. If you have enterprise locations, such as branch or remote offices in different parts of the world, having a network storage array with an Internet connection will allow everyone in your business to quickly access the data stored. If security is an issue for you, then it’s important to have an enterprise-level network storage array with strong native security support with a robust username and password-authorized access. Luckily, the Iomega StorCenter px2-300d 2-Bay Network Storage Array has all of the above.

Advanced Business Features

While the Iomega StorCenter px2-300d excels at storing and securing your data, it can also provide various other features as well. For instance, with two px2-300d devices in different locations and the Iomega Personal Cloud function, you can create your own disaster recovery scheme. The Iomega Personal Cloud feature is a web-based architecture that connects your Iomega StorCenter Network Storage Array devices to other individuals and devices via the Internet. You can also back up and restore system configuration information. Backing up a configuration saves various system properties, such as users, groups, device identification, multi-device setup and Share names and permissions. Backing up a configuration allows you to quickly restore your system properties after a drive failure or data loss.

With EMC Atmos Cloud Connector software, you can back up and share data using the px2-300d as the source and Atmos cloud technology as the target. Enabled by Iomega's integrated copy job utility, you'll be able to set up cloud folders and configure jobs to automatically copy data to any Atmos cloud.  And with EMC Avamar support, the px2-300d provides you with EMC's Avamar sub-file deduplication for remote office and branch office (ROBO) backup.

Another great feature the px2-300d can be used for is video surveillance. The px2-300d comes with included with a single MindTree SecureMind camera license, but the px2-300d can support up to 16 cameras per device. The px2-300d supports H.264, MPEG4 and MJPEG IP and USB-connected cameras so you'll be able to connect a variety of different cameras to the px2-300d. With options like activity-based recording and alerts such as video loss and tamper detections, you'll be able to stay on top of your video surveillance without the need to constantly check on the status of the px2-300d. Activity alerts and "Alert-Me" notifications are sent via email and with the SecureMind mobile app for iOS or Android smartphones, you'll be able to control, view and configure cameras remotely. The px2-300d also supports Axis AVHS system.

Design

The StorCenter px2-300d is a two-bay high performance network attached storage (NAS) array designed for small to medium businesses. Each of the two drive bays has a carrier that can fit either a 2.5” or a 3.5” SATA-II Enterprise Class hard drive. The drives are hot swappable so you don’t have to shut down the px2-300d to exchange a full hard drive or remove a failed one. With a capacity of up to 6TB (2 x 3TB), the px2-300d provides a large storage capacity with the ability to be in RAID 0, 1 or JBOD modes. The px2-300d houses a 1.8 GHz Intel Atom D525 processor with 2GB of RAM for fast, reliable performance. For ports, the px2-300d houses a single USB 3.0 port and dual USB 2.0 ports. This allows you to connect USB-compatible devices to access the data, such as USB flash drives and computers. There’s even a VGA port for use with MindTree SecureMind VMS technology.

There’s also dual 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports for fast Internet locations. Dual-Gigabit Ethernet connectivity provides a high-performance embedded architecture that supports teaming or bonding modes to increase network proficiency. When connected to the Internet, you’ll be able to set up the px2-300d in three steps using the intuitive Web-based interface. After the initial set up, you can use the user-friendly Web-based management interface to access your data, provided you have the authorized username and password. The Web interface supports 16 languages, which are English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Swedish and Polish.

iSCSI Block Access

iSCSI stands for Internet Small Computer System Interface and is an Internet protocol (IP)-based storage networking standard for linking data storage arrays. The px2-300d uses iSCSI target to provide block-level access to utilize data storage efficiently, especially when it comes to backup, database and email applications. In addition, the px2-300d can provide cross-platform file sharing and iSCSI block access simultaneously.

RAID

The px2-300d supports RAID 0 and 1 for optimal data security. RAID 0 is block-level striping without parity or mirroring and has zero redundancy. It provides improved performance and additional storage, but provides no backup for drive failure. Any drive failure while using RAID 0 will likely result in the loss of data, and the likelihood of failure increases with more drives in the array.

RAID 1 is mirroring without parity and striping, which is when data is written identically to two drives. This “mirrored set” ensures that when one of the drives fails, you’ll still have the data saved on the second hard drive. RAID 1 requires at least two hard drives to work.

JBOD (also known as Just a Bunch of Disks) mode is also available. In JBOD mode, all disks are independently addressed with no collective properties. Each physical disk is mapped to its own volume so you can maximize storage space, but won’t have the protection of RAID 1.

Data Protection

You can also encrypt a certain volume of the hard drive with an assigned password to prevent unauthorized access. If you have several users accessing the px2-300d, you can assign a maximum limit per user to optimize storage space. Not all data protection comes from hackers and unauthorized users. Sometimes, power failure is a much bigger threat. Luckily, the px2-300d has Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) support, which enables unattended system shutdown via the USB port without data loss in the case of a power failure.

If you’ve configured your px2-300d a specific way, you’ll be able to back up and restore system configuration information to ensure your options are saved properly. Backing up a configuration saves various system properties, including users, groups, device identification and Share names and permissions. It’s also important to check the system status of the px2-300d from time to time. Thankfully, px2-300d has system status, a consolidated resource on space utilization, device information and status. In addition, you can manage controls such as device restart from here. Also, the SMART hard drive monitor on the px2-300d continually monitors and reports on the health of all drives in the Iomega StorCenter px2-300d system to ensure you have the most up-to-date information on the state of your hard drives.

If there are problems with the px2-300d while you’re away from your computer, the px2-300d can send email alerts and log incidents to provide up-to-the-minute updates on the status of the px2-300d. SNMP agent monitoring helps administrators centrally manage the px2-300d while you’re away. In the rare event that the px2-300d malfunctions, Iomega offers a 3-year limited warranty for the px2-300d.

Different Options to Choose

The StorCenter px2-300d doesn’t come with hard drives, but you’ll be able to purchase one of the many variants that do. The 2TB Iomega StorCenter px2-300d comes with two 1TB 3.5” SATA-II server class hard drives. The 4TB Iomega StorCenter px2-300d comes with two 2TB 3.5” SATA-II server class hard drives. The 6TB Iomega StorCenter px2-300d comes with two 3TB 3.5” SATA-II server class hard drives. Whichever px2-300d you select, be assured that the important data of your small or medium business will be safe and secure.