Deal Hot Stuff

Tag : 500gb media, vault, hp mv2120

Company : Hewlett-Packard List Price : $349.99 Amazon Price : Too low to display Used Price : Average customer review :

Features

• 2 Drive Bays/ Accommodates Any 3.5 Inch SATA HDD
• 2 USB 2.0 Ports/ 1 Front/ 1 Rear/ Gigabit Ethernet Port
• 500GB/ 7200 RPM SATA Internal Hard Drive Plus One Available Expansion Bay
• Marvell ARM Processor/ SoC/ 128MB DDR2 DRAM Memory
• Smart Energy Saving Hard Disk Drive Spin Down and Exceptional Power Consumption

Product Description

HP Media Vault 500GB network storage with remote access and HP photowebshare -Expandable network storage for the customer requiring robust data protection and remote access to their most important files and media. The easy to install and use HP Media Vault can be set for continuous file backup. In addition it provides remote access to content and robust media and document sharing. The HP Media Vault is best suited for the home home office or small business that requires a central location for files that devices on the network can share. Multiple computers in your home and home office or small business often means files documents photos music and videos are scattered everywhere and difficult to locate. The HP Media Vault provides a central copy of all your media and files for easy access from any computer in your home home office or small business network. And with remote access your HP Media Vault provides anytime anywhere access to your most important files from any internet connected computer. Your HP Media Vault allows you to grant file access to specified people outside your home home office or small business. Using HP Photo Webshare you can even create a photo website on your HP Media Vault.

Customer reviews

HP Media Vault MV2120
Excellent value now that the unit is under $300. Setup was very easy and operating system is intuitive for a novice user.

Great set of features for the price.
I wanted to move my music collection off my laptop but be able to access it via my home network. I also wanted the capability to have a mirrored backup in case the hard drive fails. I had looked at the Windows Home server version of this box but the $500 price was too much. This machine does everything I wanted at a much more affordable price.

I ordered it from Amazon and have had a great experience with it so far. Streams perfectly, even streams video to my TV via Xbox.

Don’t buy it (yet….)
Got the unit yesterday at Fry’s.

I set it as a mirror disk (2×500GB.)

Seems to work fine, so we started loaded files into the unit…. until we reached 64GB and then the system stop with the error that we have no more disk space. When you look at the system control panel, it says that we have ~400GB available disk space….

Call HP support, spent about 2 hrs over the phone with two guys and eventually they told me that this system is one month old, clearly they are clueless regarding the problem and suggested:

(a) exchange the unit where you purchased it

(b) they will send a replacement system disk (you pay for it…)

(c) wait until they release a fix at unknown date in the future

Bottom line, pre-mature version. don’t touch it

This Little Linux Box Packs a LOT
I haven’t had much experience with the Windows Home Server version of HP’s MediaSmart servers, but the HP MediaVault seems to offer a good deal of its functionality at HALF the cost.

True, you can’t stuff as many hard drives in this unit as a MediaSmart server but the typical home, the environment that this product was designed for, 1 extra HD bay for upgrades is plenty. The greatest feature of the upgradeable HD bay is the easy, pull out tray.

The Linux system on the MediaVault is very user friendly unlike a lot of hardcore Linux environments and is very reminiscent of Windows. The best part is that you can use macs with this product to use as a basic backup drive and to browse files. Something Windows Home Server cannot do (surprise).

Another list of pros and cons that helped me a LOT when deciding on this product is the following from Gizmodo:

What’s not as good as MediaSmart Windows Home Server:

* Won’t do multiple streams of video like WHS

* Only two drive bays (a fixed and a spare) instead of four

* Lets you backup multiple PCs, but only one at at time from the PC itself, not through a WHS-style master control

What’s the same as MediaSmart Windows Home Server:

* iTunes music aggregation

* Photo webshare

* Remote access and web-based file browsing (1-year free)

* Connect via Mac for basic use as a shared drive

What’s better than MediaSmart Windows Home Server:

* Web-based remote controls work great on Macs

* Quieter, with less drive noise on a regular basis

* Easy to back-up the server itself to a USB drive

* Easier to access Windows backups, especially from a Mac

* Probably does not share the same data corruption bug as WHS

An Excellent Network Storage and Backup Solution!
The Media Vault has made it very easy (finally) for me to put all my files in one place that everyone on my home network can access. Here’s what’s great about it:

1. It’s very easy to install. Just plug in the power supply, plug the included ethernet cable into your router, turn it on, and it’s ready to go. The Media Vault is one of the more attractive techno doo-dads out there, so you’re not forced to hide it when entertaining guests. If you do want to get it out of the way, its small enclosure allows it to fit nicely in a closet or cabinet.

2. It’s easy to configure. The interface is simple, even for regular folks who are new to administering a home server or shared storage device (technically, the Media Vault is a NAS, which stands for Network Attached Storage). The included software, which is PC-only, works as advertised, giving you control over user accounts, backup schedules, sharing, and other functions.

Fortunately, if you’re not on a PC, or if you don’t want to install yet another piece of software on your computer, you can easily control the router via your Web browser. Just type in the Media Vault’s address on your network and configure to your heart’s content. As far as I could tell, most of the features of the PC software are available via the Web interface. Mac users will need to opt for this method.

3. Sharing is easy. The Media Vault is set up to share videos, music, photos, and documents right out of the box. You can open, edit, and save files that live on the Media Vault just as you would with a file that lives on your computer. Another plus: the Media Vault is immediately recognized by streaming media devices such as an xbox 360 or other network-connected media players. That means you can enjoy videos and photos from the comfort of your TV room. The Media Vault also comes with a built-in iTunes server. It’s great having all my music ready to play in iTunes, no matter which computer I’m using.

4. Remote sharing is surprisingly simple. The Media Vault sets you up with your own custom Web address, which people outside your network can visit to browse your files. Don’t worry, they have to be authorized to do this! It’s a great way to share photos and files with friends and family far away. There’s even a function called “Photo Webshare” that organizes and displays photos stored on the Media Vault via the Web.

5. Backups are a snap. I configured the Media Vault to automatically back up the contents of the user folders on my PCs (My Documents, My Photos, My Music, etc.) This way, my most important files are always getting backed up to the Media Vault and I don’t have to think about it. Another great feature of the Media Vault that I plan to take advantage of is the hard drive expansion bay. I can easily add another internal hard drive, allowing me to make automatic backups of the Media Vault itself. You can also back up the Media Vault by hooking up an external USB drive and copying your data to it.

And what about negatives? It would be nice if the device were a bit quieter when in use. The internal fan is a little distracting. That’s why I would recommend placing the Media Vault in an out-of-the-way part of your home, or in a closet or cabinet with good ventilation. That’s my only nit-pick for now, but I’ll see how it goes as I use it more!