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Product:
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Vantec NexStar LX NAS Hard Drive Enclosure |
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Price:
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$78 (CDN) / $70 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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Vantec
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Author:
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Mars
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Date:
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August 6th, 2006
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Rating:
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Copying files to the NexStar LX
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Under the Windows Explorer the administrator can simple "drag and drop" files into the NexStar LX. The FTP client route is a bit more
in-depth, and will not be discussed here. Once you have selected a folder simply drag it into the root directory if you have not
already created a specific folder, or drag it into the desired folder. In this case I created a folder called MUSIC that I dropped
the music files into. Windows will pop-up a "copying files" window the same way it does if you are copying files within you own
computer system.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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Users on the network can now connect to the NAS using either their web browser of choice or Windows Explorer. To connect to the NAS
you can either type the name of the NAS (default is storage), or the actual IP address for the device in the address bar. Once they
are connected the will see a list of the folders and files that you have made available to them.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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After I uploaded these files I returned to the NexStar’s administrative section and set up a password for the MUSIC folder, and tried
to re-enter that folder in Windows Explorer and was prompted for a password.
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Connecting to the NAS outside the Internal Network
Users can connect to the NAS from outside the internal network as well. Depending on your network hardware the steps to set it up will
be different from set-up to set-up, and only involve port forwarding on a router and knowing your IP address. I was able to configure
my router to direct all requests to the NAS without difficulty. Once that is done outside users can use an FTP client program, or the
web browser of their choice to connect to the NexStar. *NOTE* If the option to "allow anonymous" connections to the FTP portion
of the NexStar LX is enabled, regardless if passwords are set for the various folders, users will still be able to connect, view, and
download files in the password protected folders when connecting from outside the network. Passwords for the various folders are only
valid when user’s access files from within the network using Windows Explorer or other web browsers.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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2) Using the NexStar LX as a Portable USB Device
The NexStar LX has USB functions built into it. This will allow users to set-up the hard drive, and copy files and create folders from
within their own computers operating system, and at the same time provide a portable hard drive enclosure to take with them to
transfer files to other computers. Within the disk defragmenter portion of Windows we can run a check disk, as well as a disk defrag,
and notice how the hard disk is formatted as FAT32 and not NTFS. As with all USB external storage devices, use the safely remove
feature of Windows when disconnecting the NexStar LX from the computer.
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Conclusion:
The NexStar LX NAS Hard Drive Enclosure from Vantec is a versatile and handy device that easily allows the consumer to add
a simple NAS server to their network or add-on more storage capacity. I myself found this product to be a great asset to my
computing life, giving me greater options on how to share files with friends and family. I no longer need to use file upload
sites for hosting images of items for sale or photos of family functions that I want to distribute to others. I also no longer
have a need for a stand alone hard drive enclosure to take on the road for times when I do repairs and maintenance on people’s
computers that may not have high speed Internet access to download drivers. Another great use for the NexStar LX is, for people
that are on the road it can provide access to needed files. All in all the NexStar LX is a useful product, that is well constructed
and lives up to what I expect from Vantec. Their latest attempt into the hard drive enclosure market is turning out to be positive.
If you recall in the past I reviewed the AVX-100TX AVOX Jukebox from Vantec and
found it to be quite useful, but lacking in some key features. This is not the case here; Vantec has done a good job with all
facets of this product from the manufacturing right up to the user manual. Despite the damage to the top cover due to the lack of
packaging protection and lack of support for NTFS file systems, I was impressed with this product and I am awarding a final rating of
8.5 out of 10. If you have any questions regarding this review, be
sure to visit the Vantec website for more information or discuss them
in our forums.
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Pros:
- Perfect size
- Versatile
- Simple and stylish looks
- Well laid out users manual
- Easy to use GUI interface
- Passive and Active cooling
- Good assortment of accessories
- Price
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Cons:
- Lack of support for NTFS file systems
- Easily scratchable due to plastic material used
- Tight fit for hard drive installation
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Error processing SSI file
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Error processing SSI file
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