Maxtor H01R300 Shared Storage Drive

Reviewed by: gosgan

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Fast, easy to setup, reliable and network friendly

Weaknesses: Software, software and software

Overall Evaluation: Very easy to setup and get running. Very fast and backups up large amounts of data daily without any problems...and did I say fast? Plus, it is a NAS, so you can attach it to your home network and backup several computers. The setup took about ten minutes.Management and Backup Software is a suckapoola:If you have used other backup products (software), you will be very frustrated with the limited options with this product. Maxtor attempted to make the UI idiot proof, but by doing so, they limited and degraded the whole package.I keep checking their Website for another version...like maybe one of the hardware guys at Maxtor/Seagate got frustrated and broke out his compiler...the software guys, forget about it...they were probably outsourced and have since left the building?! There is very little you can do, other then choose the folders or drives you want to back up and let it run. This sounds reasonable, but I needed to do more, such as run RoboCopy and backup a few SQL dbs. If you've worked with other backup products, such as Backup Exec, Roxio Toast even the incredibly wierd ArcServe from the incredibly wierd company CA, you will find Maxtor's SimpleView a dud. I'm not asking for EMC here or Bacula, but just like ATI, great hardware, very bad software. No reporting features.I also ran into problems when I migrated my domain from Windows 2000 to 2003. I think it is running SAMBA. I could not add it to a domain, so it remains a separate workgroup. The admin account went to SID hell.Does not take domain or network account changes well. Weak and very limited account management. As a Print Server (only USB):Reasonably well as ps with laserjet printers, but I ran into problems with my PhotoSmart Series...I think it doesn't like the bloated monitors HP is putting out. I wouldn't fault Maxtor on this one.Summary:This is a great product to backup your docs, music and photos at home but do not get it for the business. Suggestion:Create an Advance UI option and provide more granular file and account management or at least allow for Netbackup and RoboCopy - what is with the screwy timestamps?