LaCie 301157U 1.5 TB Ethernet Big Disk Network Attached Storage Hard Drive

Having just purchased this 1.5 TB drive from Amazon about a week ago, I'm still in the process of evaluating it, but, my first impressions are that of complete satisfaction in using this drive amongst 3 PCs in the household (2-Macs,1-PC). You don't need software 2 set up the drive. If you are somewhat familiar with setting up a home network, able 2 set up your router & PCs accordingly, & understand the basics of network security (passwords, user accounts, shared folders, firewall, etc), you'll have little difficulty getting this drive set up as it's menu is very intuative. As it's a fast drive (well over the 100 mb/s limit) & capable of using "Jumbo Frame" with speeds certainly beyond the 10/100 ethernet range, consider a 10/100/1000-gigabit router as well 2 assure you have the fastest input/output in your network. I tried a few other non-fan cooled drives in the past & own both fan & fanless external drives. No matter how well they say the drive will stay cool without an internal fan in the housing, I've never seen a non-fan drive stay cool 4 long, especially if it is running over several hours 4 a large backup or perhaps streaming video. I tried & returned (Best Buy, excellent sale price) a Seagate/Maxtor Central Axis Ethernet 1 TB drive because it lacked any fan, & the vents at the top of housing & the fact that it was made mostly of conductive aluminum did little 2 nothing 2 keep it from getting extremely hot over just a few or more hours. The Lacie has a smart fan which ramps up or down 2 adjust speeds 2 maintain control of internal temperature of the drive enclosure. In using it 4 over 10 hours the first day & backing up 450Gb or more of video & photos, it only got mildly warm. The housing does not get hot nor even close 2 any alarming temperature no matter how long the drive has been running, period. I'm still measuring maximum transfer speeds, but, so far on my Gigabit router, I'm getting speeds that certainly exceed the limits of my old 10/100 router & 10/100 desktop switchers. (make sure you have 10/100/1000 desktop switchers as well 2 get the benefits of a 10/100/1000 network). I've tested the system 4 an upcoming wireless video streaming set up & it works flawlessly. Front Row & my Mac works perfectly with this drive, it even sees this server drive & includes it in Front Row's menu (of course there's other ways 2 get this drive displayed on Front Row's menu when it opens using aliases of your external drive locations). Bottom line, 4 me, this drive is a keeper. It does everything well, is very stable 2 use & needs no software 2 install (shows up on your servers as long as you've set up the drive correctly as "administrator". The Central Axis drive I tried requires software 2 be installed on each Mac/PC) & I wasn't happy with that process. It's very reassuring in that the Lacie runs extremely cool (and fan is whisper quiet) & that translates into long life 4 the drive. I haven't tried the drive's external USB connection 4 other USB2 devices, but, expect that 2 perform just fine. The box was labeled "1TB" all over as Lacie also sells a 1TB version of this drive, with a blue oval adhesive label affixed 2 the front of the box which stated "1.5TB". Presumably Lacie is still updating packaging from it's current 1TB version, but, the newly released 1.5 TB capacity is certainly what you'll get in the box & another 500 Gigs of storage over 1TB is always better! Also, the drive enclosure is BIG & solid as well as heavy. The enclosure is much larger then a 3.5 drive would require & larger then any other external drive enclosures I've used, but, no matter, the drive is built like a tank & I have no issues with it's size. If you need lots of storage room 4 backups or 4 video streaming & want a stable & easy 2 use external device 2 store it all on, this is absolutely the way 2 go.

I've been the happy owner of a string of Lacie Big Disks, & been very happy with them - the form factor is convenient, they run fairly quiet (though the noise level does seem 2 increase with capacity) & I've had no problems with reliability (touch wood). This is the first NAS I've bought from them - I wanted it as a more portable backup 4 my Buffalo Terastation.


The drive seems 2 have been a good purchase so far, though it is noticably slower than the Buffalo, especially the web interface, which is therefore a bit of a chore 2 use. I had 2 disable the UPnP media server functionality 2 get decent browsing & file access speeds, though it may have settled down once it had finished indexing the content... it made the drive unusable when I had it on though, & I have no real need 4 it, so I haven't tried it again. I've had no problems with reliability or speed since.

Once I had my users & shares set up & my data copied from the Terastation though, it's done a fine job as a server, packing 2TB into a small enough package 2 carry around with you (though the weight means it'll be a good workout!). I use it mainly 4 holding music in large, lossless FLAC files, 4 which it works fine. It seems fast enough 2 play DVD files from too. If you need 2 take 2TB of NAS on the road with you, this seems 2 be your best choice.

The LaCie Ethernet Big Disk is the essential storage solution 4 home & small business networking. This is the simplest way 2 share files between Windows, Mac & Linux computers. It can be used as a shared central repository via Gigabit Ethernet or as a personal hard drive off-network via USB. The second USB port can be used 4 connecting an additional hard drive 2 expand capacity over the network. A quick & simple installation wizard will have even novice users up & running in minutes on any wired or wireless network. The user-friendly web-based administration enables quick creation of shares & user profiles. When connected 2 a home network, the LaCie Ethernet Big Disk can stream multimedia content 2 UPnP-compatible AV adapters.