WD Sentinel RX4100 review: A rack-mount NAS every SMB should consider - youngallind

At a Carom

Expert's Rating

Pros

• Excellent operation
• Tough construction
• Reasonably priced

Cons

• Needs more USB ports
• Native GMA 3150 driver not installed
• No eSATA port

Our Verdict

Western Digital provides slew of value in this entry-level rack-mount NAS, but the gimmick does have a twain of limited flaws.

Western Member's Sentinel RX4100 is a fast rack-mount, network-attached storage device that runs Microsoft's Windows Entrepot Server R2 Essentials, and it might interchange your mind about how your small business handles repositing.

Rack-climb down equipment is pricier than desktop gear, and IT requires an investing in a rack (if you don't already have same). Along the upside, rack-mount devices are easier to cable television, organize, maintain, and expand. And equipped with antitheft mounting hardware, a rack provides much amended physical security measur. Last but not least, IT'll impress your clients.

ROBERT CARDIN

A dual-lock security bezel prevents unauthorized access to the four drives internal the WD Sentinel RX4100.

The Scout RX4100 is a four-bay, 1U (unit) rackmount, which means it takes up lonesome one standard 2-inch vertical rack space. It houses four quick-change drive off caddies and a double-locking bezel to discourage stealing (it locks down on some the left and the proper). The RX4100 can be coherent with dual, supernumerary power supplies, but our quiz social unit had sole one.

A plural-core Intel Atom D525 CPU powers the RX4100, supported by 4GB of DDR3/800 storage in the motherboard's uninominal SODIMM slot. A twin of gigabit ethernet ports support both failover and aggregation. (In either scenario, you need two separate broadband connections. In failover mode, if you lose one connection to the Internet, the scheme will automatically switch to the other. In aggregation mode, both connections are bonded to double throughput.)

ROBERT CARDIN

The RX4100 has an inside power supply, but you can also plug in an external power brick as a support just in case IT should go.

That's more than adequate horsepower for a small-business NAS, and WD has put a very reasonable price tag along this combined: $1900 with 8TB of storage, $2000 with 12TB, and $2350 with 16TB.

Not plenty ports

One area where WD missed the target is in the meager number—and odd arrangement—of peripheral ports. The RX4100 has two USB 3.0 ports that could be used for speedy local backups; unfortunately, they're on the back of the unit. There's a USB 2.0 larboard in the breast, securely hidden under the protection bezel, but that's a slow way to move a good deal of data. WD should have provided two USB 2.0 ports in the rear, to support a mouse and keyboard. There's also no eSATA port, so you can leave about financial backing up to—or expanding the available storage of—an eSATA stand-mount drive array.

If you want to connect a local anaesthetic display to configure or monitor the RX4100, you'll use the VGA port in the backmost. We found that our screen RX4100 was exploitation a standard Microsoft VGA driver, which maxes out at resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels. PCWorld Lab Manager Tony Leung managed to set up the Windows 7 drivers for the integrated Intel Graphics Media Throttle valve 3150 exploitation Windows 7 compatibility mode, but that required using a device director and crippling what the driver thought was a instant monitor. Even then, closure maxed out at 1600 by 900. This is a nestlin issue, simply computer hardware-specific drivers should come preinstalled.

Backing up and dominant the RX4100 remotely via RDP (Distant Desktop Protocol) is easy; however, any NAS or server mathematical product above the consumer level allows direct use so that you can troubleshoot or configure the device patc the network is down.

Performance

The configuration reviewed Hera includes foursome 2TB, enterprise-class Hesperian Extremity WD2009FYPX hard drives in a RAID 5 align (5TB usable of the 8TB capacitance). Benchmark results identify it as the fastest NAS we've tested on ii counts, and the second-fastest NAS we've tested overall. IT wrote our 10GB mix of files and folders at 41.8 megabytes per second and read them at a speedy 53.7 MBps, the last mentioned earning it a first-place showing. In the real world, that means documents and databases testament bald quicker.

The RX4100's reading of our single king-size 10GB data file proceeded at 96.5 MBps—a polite clipping, but it wrote the same file at a blistering 96.4MBps—another record. The compose speed bodes particularly well for rapidly patronage risen the PCs over your network. Speaking of backups, the RX4100 natively supports bare-metal backup for 25 PCs happening the network, and Western Digital offers KeepVault online backup for storing those backups safely in a remote location. KeepVault costs $300 for 250GB, $600 for 500GB, and $1000 for 1TB on an one-year fundament (monthly rates are also available).

As I mentioned earlier, the RX4100 runs Windows Reposition Server 2008 Essentials. Being a subset of Microsoft's full server operating system, Essentials has a moderately Spartan have settled. But information technology does support Active Directory via joining a domain, it has a Nice dashboard app for PCs that lets you view the current posit of the box, and it requires no Compact disc to fructify up, A older versions did. You channel-surf to the RX4100's IP address (add setup) and get started.

The Sentinel RX4100 is an affordable and fast entry-tied rack-mount NAS. Aside from its port array, its faults are minor. IT's more than suitable for SMB file sharing, and IT's in particular good for backups.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/453131/wd-sentinel-rx4100-review-a-rack-mount-nas-every-smb-should-consider.html

Posted by: youngallind.blogspot.com

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