| Article Index |
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| LaCie 2big network Review |
| Specifications |
| External Appearance |
| Basic Functionality |
| Advanced Functionality |
| Performance |
| Is The LaCie 2big for me? |
| Conclusion |
| All Pages |
For a couple of months now we've been evaluating the LaCie 2big network (1TB model) in our labs. The LaCie "iamaKey" impressed us recently, so we took the chance to evaluate one of LaCie's junior NAS devices; we chose the most basic model that supports at least two disks for redundancy. Read on to see how it fared in our torture tests.
The LaCie 2big network is another in the wide range of Network Attached Storage devices. Sporting a bright blue front LED (the large blue object is backlit) and space for two disks, the LaCie 2big network is a competitor to the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo that we reviewed earlier.
LaCie wax quite eloquent about their 2big network:
The LaCie 2big Network offers professional, reliable, central storage for instantly storing, sharing, and backing up from any computer on your network. Manage your home or small office network easily with this full-featured file server. With the 2big Network, you can share files among Windows, Mac, and Linux users, thanks to its SMB and AFP support; or connect remotely through FTP, HTTP and HTTPS file systems. Easily and quickly select your RAID modes with the manual switch on the back of the drive. The hot-swappable disk trays even allow maintenance without affecting your workflow; in RAID 1 mode, a defective disk can be replaced easily without having to turn off the 2big Network. With Windows ADS domain support, there’s no need to recreate existing user and group accounts in your Windows domain, making the 2big Network easy to manage for IT Administrators. Thanks to the Wake-on-LAN feature, the 2big Network can easily be switched back to operating mode from the client side. With the 2big Network, it’s easy to download big files using its integrated torrent server, without even needing your computer to be turned on. You can also play your media files stored in your 2big Network directly on any UPnP AV-compatible device or via a Digital Media Adapter (DMA), such as a PS3 or Xbox. In fact, the 2big Network has been developed to be compatible with any DLNA multimedia device, and also works with iTunes®.
One key difference between the LaCie and the Netgear is the addition of Active Directory support in the LaCie 2big network. This is a big plus for smaller organisations who want more network storage, but without the hassle of managing another set of user accounts and passwords. The LaCie should plug right into our test environment's Active Directory domain and use all the accounts we already have.
Let's take a more detailed look at the specifications of the LaCie 2big network.
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