TLP001 – In the premiere episode of “The tomorrowland.com Podcast” I review the Promise SmartStor NS4600, and discuss setting it up, using it as a media server, and explain how to set up a dynamic dns so that you can access it remotely and stream videos to your iphone over the net. Â Click Podcast in the header bar to watch the episode here in HD!
Great in-depth review. Can you post how their BitTorrent and USB Printer features work?
You know, unfortunately I don't ever use BitTorrent so I wouldn't be the best person to test that. And the printer thing, my printer is already wireless so I'm not sure how that would work. I can say that the Promise NAS does have many features that I didn't have time to get into in the video. (I didn't want the video to be 30 minutes.) Like it has a one touch backup option, where you plug in a USB drive in the front and hit the button and it copies the contents onto the NAS.
Michael,
Can you tell me what wireless router and Mac OS version you are using? I purchased the SmartStor when it became available as my first foray into NAS. unfortunately I have had nothing but problems. The SmartNavi hangs when I try to set up the system but more importantly the NAS is now dropping off of my Network unexpectedly so I am utterly confused. I am running Lepoard 10.5.7 and have a Airport Extreme wireless router. Unfortunately the Promise Support line has been of no use and your review has been far and away the most helpful as to manipulating the boxes capabilities. Thanks, great site!
Thanks. I've been very busy lately and haven't had time to do episode 2, but if you're interested in home media servers you'll want to see it. Your positive comments help motivate me to find the time to keep it up.
Sorry to hear about the bad stuff. I'll pass it along to promise and see if they have any ideas. I have a d-link dir-655. I was thinking of someday switching to an airport. But I'm not sure how customizable they are.
Like I said I don't use smart navi – I use the web based tool. You will want to download the latest firmware and update it. You DO need to log into the box and make sure that all the mac connectivity is turned on. Go in to protocol control and make sure that mac is turned on.
It's refreshing to see a Mac user review a neat new product. I only have 3 Macs to backup here but I am looking to the future, wanting to do Media storage as well. I did not see you mention anything about Leopard Time Machine as being supported. I unfortunately bought a DLINK DNS-321 and it only supports SMB/CIFS, NOT AFP 3.1 so I have to be very careful about file names that have non SMB characters and I need a NAS that has more than 2 or 3 Terabytes since my G5 has 1.5 Tbytes now, and a NAS with only 3 doesn't leave much room for the future. BTW – I too have the DIR-655 with the high gain antenna and the Extreme G connection runs at 130 Mb/sec. Very informative video — looking forward to more from you.. A little info about DLNA might be nice.
Nice review. I've read that all the promised features like Time Machine support and AFP are not working. Any ideas if they have been resolved? I'm thinking of getting this unit as a storage/media streaming device. What really attracts me to it is the fact that it has loads of features like BT/eDonkey support, iTunes server, Time MAchine support etc. However I am pretty apprehensive as there hasn't been much feedback from real world Mac users.
Michael, that was a great video – many thanks! I've been investigating a media server for some weeks now, and was debating NAS versus WHS for a Mac/PS3 house. I saw the Promise DAS on Apple's site, but knew I needed the NAS version. After watching your video, I knew I was sold. Getting it tomorrow!
Quick question – do you know if it's possible to add other software to the NAS, as in extending its capabilities? I know it's got the BitTorrent and iTunes software built in, but I see a bunch of other things that people put on DIY devices that sound interesting. Or is the OS pretty well locked up?
Any advice would be well appreciated, but either way, the first video was great. Looking forward to more!
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