Today's modern SoHo Office and Small Business users are always looking for modes in how to save their precious files in Back-Up incase that horrible event should ever transpire - a hard disc failure.  There are many options out in the wild and the bigger you get with more added functionality within the Back-Up device, the more expensive they become.   Its not often that we see end users spending in excessive of easily £1500 for  simple device with the associated back-up software.   With "credit crunch" being the vogue phrase of today and it is hitting some companies very hard, we have to look for a device that will facilitate all the back-up needs of the one.   Enter the Western Digital ShareSpace.  This is an exceptional piece of equipment that after looking at the basic facts below will have many thinking - this is the way to go.

With these facts in mind lets now have a swift overview of the product – Our Thanks to Western Digitals Public Relations for this information.

This high-speed network-attached storage system with capacities up to 4 TB and a space-saving footprint gives you all the benefits of a big time data centre without the need for a big time IT department. Perfect for centralizing and sharing data on a small office or home network.

Key Features

Big capacity, small footprint - Offered in 2 and 4 TB capacities, this small-footprint four-bay system takes up very little space and provides plenty of storage to go around.

RAID capability - Offers multiple RAID configurations for data protection and speed -- RAID 0 (Striped), RAID 1 (Mirrored) and RAID 5. The RAID 5 mode, only available on the fully-populated 4-drive system, is the recommended mode to achieve both high-performance and data protection through redundancy.

The 4 TB WD ShareSpace system is shipped in RAID 5 mode for maximum reliability.

The 2 TB WD ShareSpace system is shipped in Spanning Mode for maximum capacity and the flexibility to add additional drives without reformatting the system.

High-speed access, Ethernet connectivity - Provides data transfer rates up to 1000 Mbit/s when used in a GigE network.

Gigabit networking and transfer rates are five to six times faster than other network storage systems. This performance is comparable to USB 2.0 direct-attached storage.

Easy setup and discovery - An intuitive set-up wizard and easy-to-use discovery tool makes installation a snap.

E-mail alert system - Monitors drive and system health and sends you an e-mail if a problem is detected.

Microsoft Active Directory support - Will join an Active Directory domain to utilize AD users and groups.

Push-button transfer - Plug a USB drive into the front-mounted USB 2.0 port and push a button to automatically transfer all the data on the drive to the WD ShareSpace system.

Automatic network backup software - Set up continuous backup for the computers* in your network using the included automatic backup software. Select the files you want to back up, then set it and forget it; every time you save a change it's automatically backed up. *3 software licenses included.

Remote access software - Access your files anywhere, anytime using MioNet® remote access services from WD.

Download manager - Supports scheduled download through FTP and HTTP. Simultaneously manage multiple download tasks.

iTunes® server support - Centralize your music collection and stream to a Mac® or Windows® PC using iTunes software.

Windows Vista® ready - Works seamlessly with Windows Vista to provide easy setup and automatic discovery.

Built-in FTP server - Set up your own FTP server. Manage the access authority and share your files with your friends or customers easily.

Three USB 2.0 ports - Two USB ports on the back to connect additional USB hard drives for backup or additional network storage. One USB port on the front for push button transfer.

Cooler, quieter, eco-friendlier - Equipped with WD drives using WD GreenPower™ technology, this system, with its efficient cooling architecture, and power saving mode, consumes up to 33% less power**, is reliably cool, and remarkably quiet.

** Tests based on comparison between a 1 TB dual-drive system using 7200 RPM drives and a 1 TB dual-drive system using WD’s GreenPower drives.

Network storage manager - Manage your system configuration, create user IDs, passwords, security permissions, and quotas. 

Ideal For

For small workgroups of 5 to 10 this system offers compact, centralized storage, accessible from anywhere.

Compatibility

Windows
Windows® Vista/XP/2000
Mac OS X 10.4.11+, 10.5.2+

Note – Before the Linux community get carried away saying why are we not supported.  Once you read further into the instructions it is all there for you.

Page 1 - Introduction
Page 2 - ShareSpace Description
Page 3 - Installation and Set-Up
Page 4 - Tests & Conclusions