First Look: Iomega, Western Digital Network Drives

All Around the World

Whereas Iomega's StorCenter calls out to business users, Western Digital's My Book World Edition is all about making things easier for consumers. And it does so in many ways--but in others it falls slightly short of its goal.

The My Book is relatively inexpensive at $500 for 1TB of storage (on two 500GB drives). You can configure the drives in RAID 0 or RAID 1; by default the unit ships striped, using RAID 0.

The drive's design is a study in simplicity. On the front are the only controls, consisting of two concentric LED circles with a power button in the center; the circles serve as a status indicator and capacity gauge. The unit itself is petite, comparable to the thickest of the Harry Potter hardcover novels. It's white, with ventilation holes along the top and back.

Software installation went smoothly, although I had to install the WD Anywhere Access software (a required installation) and the optional Retrospect Express HD 2.0 backup software separately. (Retrospect seemed to require a Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0 account, a minor annoyance.)

WD Anywhere Access is based on an app by MioNet. The Western Digital-branded version of MioNet's program provides a secure network tunnel between your PC and your network storage drive. (The software, however, installs into your program directory under the MioNet name--confusing since it's branded everywhere else as WD Anywhere Access. Western Digital representatives said the company would address this issue.) Once it's installed, you create a new account with a user name and password, add a name for your computer and your My Book drive, and sign in.

Western Digital includes a basic version of the MioNet program along with a 30-day trial of the Premium version, which costs $7 per month or $65 per year. The basic version supports remote access to the My Book drive, plus the ability to share folders. If you graduate to the full version of the software, you get a slew of PC-centric functions, including remote computer control and the ability to share computer folders and screens.

I found the interface reasonably clean, with three tabs that showed me my connected PCs in 'My Resources', folders created by others that are 'Shared With Me', and folders that I've 'Shared With Others'. The software assigns the drive a letter and shows public folders; I was also able to manually assign a drive letter to the My Book via Windows Explorer.

Sharing a folder is simple: You enter the e-mail address of the person, assign folder permissions (read only or read/write), and have MioNet send an e-mail inviting the user to access your shared content.

Unfortunately, this is the point at which the My Book World Edition stumbles. The e-mail the WD Anywhere software sends out can be confusing: The message redirects the recipient to MioNet's site to sign up and install the software on his or her computer, thereby creating the secure tunnel to access the My Book drive. Once the invitee does so, they are then prompted to sign in to WD Anywhere--which is puzzling because they already have an account created via MioNet. On top of that, the invited user has to reboot their system for the MioNet installation to complete. Western Digital says it will work to streamline this process in the near future.

This approach to sharing folders and files, and providing remote access, has its advantages--namely in security. The setup could work fine if those you share content with have computer savvy and will receive frequent invites from you. For one-off invites, casual sharing, or sharing with users who are not computer sophisticates, however, the World Edition is not ideal.

In performance, the Iomega StorCenter came in near the top of our field of network-attached drives. It beat the My Book World Edition by a large margin; in our test in which we copy files and folders, the Iomega took about 300 seconds fewer than the My Book did. The My Book's poky performance--the second slowest we've seen--accounts for its low rating.

Clearly, the Iomega StorCenter Pro 150d is a strong choice for small- and home-business use--or even for personal use. The Western Digital My Book World Edition is good for anyone who needs a roomy network drive with backup software and remote-access capabilities, but its usability problems limit its appeal.

Iomega StorCenter Pro 150d 1TB

Hot-swappable drives, RAID 5, easy management, and flexible backup software make this a great storage choice.
Price when reviewed: $800
Current prices (if available)

Western Digital My Book World Edition 1TB

Network storage option with remote access is inexpensive, but it's a slow performer.
Price when reviewed: $500
Current prices (if available)