Western Digital's 4TB ShareSpace NAS gets introduced and reviewed

It's no Drobo, but Western Digital is dabbling in the NAS space with its minty fresh ShareSpace 4TB Network Storage System. Aimed primarily at small business users and "multimedia" junkies, the 4-bay NAS comes with gigabit Ethernet, support for multiple RAID configurations, and even the ability to act as an iTunes music server. Not too many surprises beyond that -- well, aside from the $999.99 price tag; if that's too rich for your blood, the 2TB version can be had right now for three Benjamins less. As for real-world performance? We're told it's a "great NAS for the money and one of the better picks in its category." We're serious, check it out below.

[Via HotHardware]
Read - ShareSpace release
Read - ShareSpace review

[StalematE @ Sep 30th 2008 6:58PM]

we need NAS! (you'll blow yourself to pieces)

[Skyride @ Sep 30th 2008 7:09PM]

Why?, Why why why?

Message to small buisnesses, GET YOURSELF A FUCKING SERVER! It dosen't matter if its just an older PC running windows XP because it will be far more versatile and expandable that these. Build a cheap PC, stick even Linux on it to keep costs down and put 4x 1TB drives in it. Will cost slightly more but guess what, see when that fills up, you can ANOTHER 1TB drive it! Also, say you want a website? No need to pay for hosting, run it off your shiny server at no extra cost.

[Curtis Joslin @ Sep 30th 2008 7:18PM]

as much as i agree with you, you going about it wrong.

this is tailored more for people who don't want to fuss with installing a operating system and getting everything working. and this is more aesthetically appealing than an ugly server or an old desktop case.

if you operate a business that has even one server rack, then i am sure you know that one of these wouldn't be suitable.

[Jon @ Sep 30th 2008 7:17PM]

$1000 is nuts ... i have a 6+ TB HP Mediasmart server (4 1tb drives inside + External drives) and its almost filled w/Media .. for less then that or about the same

[CraigJ @ Sep 30th 2008 7:20PM]

Agreed, to a point.

To most people a server means Windows, which will be a lot more expensive. Most people don't get Linux, and by the time you hire someone to build it for you, you're well over $1000.

To me, and presumably you, an inexpensive motherboard with 1GB RAM with at least 1 ePCI port + cheap 4 port sata card + 4 1TB drives + Ubuntu = all kinds of win, and for probably less than $1000. Plus it's a fully functional LAMP server.

[GeekyOne @ Sep 30th 2008 7:22PM]

Grow up... and be realistic.. NAS is so much more practical, safer and more economical for virtually any environment of 1-user to 25-plus. Full fledged servers have their place.. but not in an environment of few users and minimal or no IT support.

When was the last time you heard of a NAS being infected by a Virus or problematic Windows Service Pack or Stupid User.. Let alone the licensing issues of a Windows Server.

[fh @ Sep 30th 2008 7:33PM]

Message to small businesses: Please also consider TCO. If you end up having to hire a technician, pay for higher power consumption, warranty or parts replacement hassles, or deal with any other kind of unforseen headache, you might not save very much money in the end doing it yourself.

Also, please don't run your own web server on a paltry DSL connection. Pay the measly $3/mo to have it hosted on a proper T1+ connection, that is among other things, also properly secured. The last thing you need is to put sensitive company docs on an unsecured web server, or leave your customers looking at a "Server Not Found" page when the PSU dies while the replacement is caught in UPS for an eternity.

[Carnaval13 @ Sep 30th 2008 8:19PM]

This NAS has a RAID controller to support RAID 5. So if you have a small office, I don't think that you are going to try and built that same box on your own to try and save $50. 4TB with RAID 5 for $999 and it works out of the box. That's a pretty good deal.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Sep 30th 2008 8:45PM]

Skyride,

I think you're wrong on all counts. I'm going the opposite direction; considering going NAS from server.

I've currently got a Mac Pro with 2x320gb striped, and am now running out of space. Every time I upgrade I'll have to buy another pair of drives; 4 drives if I want to be able to have the capacity for mirrored backups. The striping is great for speed, but I don't need speed for my movie archives, only for apps. I need to have the system running whenever I watch movies streamed to my XBox hooked up to the TV, which sounds fine except when it's too warm in my room (most of the year) and I'd really rather not have my computer pumping out heat that will make my room too warm to sleep at night.

It doesn't really make sense to have a whole computer running when all you need is access to data, and it doesn't make sense to tie your data store to system files, where you'll have to do an OS reinstall to increase the size of your media storage.

[ChuChu @ Sep 30th 2008 9:03PM]

We use a ReadyNAS and I absolutely love the thing. It's completely headache free, just sits there and works. You couldn't pay me to trade it for a server. Not interested.

[Ridgecity @ Sep 30th 2008 7:10PM]

If there a way I can built something like this using off-the-counter parts? I can't find NAS enclosures here where I live...

[PGP-Protector @ Sep 30th 2008 7:38PM]

Yes.
4 X 1TB Drives (@ Frys for about $155 Ea)
1 Cheep Computer (About $200)
Linux ISO (Free)

[joshc @ Sep 30th 2008 7:14PM]

$1000 I think I'll build my own using 500Gb drives

[k2001 @ Sep 30th 2008 7:32PM]

please keep in mind power consumption if you are going to build your own.

[Jim Halpert DM @ Sep 30th 2008 7:36PM]

That's a lot of porn.

[Bitman @ Sep 30th 2008 7:38PM]

I'm happy with my D-Link DNS-323 with 2 drive bays. You could put two 1.5TB drives in for a whole lot less than this. Get two and probably still cheaper.

[El Taco @ Sep 30th 2008 7:38PM]

I'm having a hard time believing people can fill up 1tb, much less 4tb. I have all the songs I need (about 1000) on my 160gb hard drive and still plenty of space.

[Bitman @ Sep 30th 2008 7:42PM]

When you start saving HD Video and DVD's then you can rip up space like crazy. Pure HD needs about 9 gig per hour. H.264 shrinks that greatly. Of course since we seem to store more and more on less and less (more storage on smaller drives), eventually we should be able to store everything on nothing!

[LarryLarryLarry @ Sep 30th 2008 8:31PM]

Just to get an idea, everything in the US Library of Congress fits in 4TB. That whole building and all it contains could be stored in one of these.

[atbnet @ Sep 30th 2008 10:36PM]

Just because YOU can't doesn't mean other people can't.

[Goatee Man @ Oct 1st 2008 12:24AM]

Yeah. And who needs more than 640 KB of RAM? That's ridiculous.

... It's a reference to a quote by Bill Gates, if you don't already know.

[tricky2dope @ Sep 30th 2008 7:42PM]

Ghey, many others out there that are better, like Readynas pro and Qnap. If it had multiple gig ports and you could make it an iscis SAN then it would be worth the 1 large needed to purchase.

[Unknown @ Sep 30th 2008 7:51PM]

There isn't any info on the raid controller for this thing... but I would also say you 'I can do it cheaper by building a server' crowd... what raid card are you putting in? or are you using a shitty mobo implementation? Assuming this has a reasonably good raid implentation I would expect this might use less power as well, another consideration.

[dana @ Sep 30th 2008 7:59PM]

yep I was thinking raid card as well. You know what happens when you loose your raid controller? unless you can replace it with an identical controller, you loose your data. Cool, now 4 tb relies on a single part failing. And they do, fail, trust me.

Additionally, if it's a craptastic controller, you get lousy performance and the always fun prospect of corrupt data. And you need battery UPS that will safely shut down the thing if the power pops (can the enclosure handle that?)

I'm with the PC folks but the problem there is, again, you're going to pay as much for the controller as you will for the drives.

The other option is software raid, which under linux as I understand it isn't a bad deal, but I have no idea about recovery in that case (can you just put the drives into new hardware, install a new copy of linux, and remount the raid?)

Windows raid is even more suicidal than onboard raid.

meh. I suppose if you make nightly backups of all your data off site this is not an issue. not sure how you do that with 4 tb.

[rita hainsworth @ Sep 30th 2008 8:17PM]

neither one of those links has a review.

[Elementix @ Sep 30th 2008 11:17PM]

or you could just load up an old desktop with a few large hdds and install FreeNAS on it....

[pathfinda @ Sep 30th 2008 10:21PM]

I have a readynv and a HP WHS, both with 4 TB of space a piece. I hate that you have to spend an arm and a leg for a diskless ReadyNas, so that why i bought the HP.

If WD sells a diskless unit for 400-500, i might be all in, though the box looks kinda weak.

[Kristofer @ Oct 1st 2008 1:07AM]

or buy a Synology (synology.com), it runs linux.

[FuzzyCat @ Oct 1st 2008 8:03AM]

From:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1495




"Due to unverifiable media license authentication, the following file types cannot be shared by different users using WD Anywhere Access.

If these file types are on a share on the WD My Book World Edition system and another user accesses the share, these file will not be displayed for sharing. Any other file types can be shared using WD Anywhere Access.

File Extension File Description
AAC Advanced Audio Coding
AIF Audio Interchange File
AIFC Audio Interchange File
AIFF Audio Interchange File Format
AMF DSMIA/Asylum Module File
ASF Advanced Streaming Format
ASX Advanced Stream Redirector
AVI Audio Video Interleave
CDA CD Audio
DVI DivX AVI
DIVX DivX AVI
FAR Farandoyle Tracker Music Module
IT Impulse Tracker
ITZ Impulse Tracker
KAR Karaoke MIDI
MDZ Cubic Player/Cross-View Music Module Description
MOV QuickTime Video
MP1 MPEG Layer 1 (Audio)
MP2 MPEG Layer 2 (Audio)
MP3 MPEG Layer 3 (Audio)
MP4 MPEG Layer 4 (Video)
MPA MPEG Audio Stream, Layer I, II or III
MPE MPEG Video
MPEG MPEG Video
MPG MPEG Video
MPGA MPEG Layer 3 (Audio Stream)
MPV2 MPEG Audio Stream, Layer II
OGG OGG Bitstream
OKT Oktalyzer Tracker Module
PTM PTM - Poly Tracker Module (Audio)
QT QuickTime Video
QT1 QuickTime Video
VOB Video Object (DVD Video)
VOC Creative Labs Sound
WM Windows Media Audio or Video
WMA Windows Media Audio
WMV Windows Media Video"

[Neeko @ Oct 1st 2008 10:41AM]

WD you just lost 100% of you media customers.. Brilliant. I hope someone hacks this and takes off the MEDIA LOCK DOWN.

[Adam @ Oct 1st 2008 8:51AM]

Just get a Drobo and be done with it.

[TheChaz @ Oct 1st 2008 11:41AM]

Or a Qnap. (They're less expensive than the Drobos, since you don't have to buy a bunch of add-ons to make them network accessible, etc.)

[pvanderh @ Oct 1st 2008 10:58AM]

WD drivers die faster than any drive on the market. You'd have to be insane to trust all your data to WD drives. I had TWO wd backup drives die on me within the span of 2 1/2 yrs. They were backup drives that rarely got used.

[deusex @ Oct 1st 2008 3:58PM]

It looks like fancy 4-way toaster.

[Woody @ Nov 12th 2008 4:03AM]

I like the Sharespace and as a mobile contractor love the ease of access to my filestore from my notebook or mobile via ftp. I don't use the packaged MIO utility however its good for others. One thing I don't like is the inability to modify the web page and replace with a personalised "front end". 7/10 - could have been an 8/10. I have asked WD "what happens if the onboard RAID controller dies, can I recover my content?" - the answer is NO. IF the WD is still in circulation at the time you can buy a bare unit and insert the HDD from you old unit, or grab on from eBay and get down on your knees & pray - no promises, so it's off to a professional data recovery organisation (WD will recommend them to you for a fee for service). Oh, this could have been a 9/10. Still it's OK for the money and works for me!

[Woody @ Nov 12th 2008 5:59AM]

Anyone know how to enable SSH on this box? I've seen a few hacks for the world book - they dont work for this unit :-( Trolling the forums, but no luck yet...