A client of mine has an iomega NAS 150d RAID box. He bought it to use as a network storage device, and since it was advertised as a redundant RAID, he felt that it was a sort of "built-in" backup. I questioned the strategy, and suggested that a different approach might be better, as well as provide faster access to his files. He rebuffed my suggestion, probably because he paid nearly $1,000 for the device, and truly believed that it was adequate for his needs. I didn't push the issue further, and figured I'd address it again at a later time.
A few months later, he moved his office, which necessitated a change the IP addressing of his network. Since it's configured using a built-in webserver, the directions clearly say the device must be reset to factory settings. Okay...
The device was configured by the client to have four named folders, each with their own permissions. Again, according to iomega, when you reset such a device to the factory settings, all you have to do is "re-create" the folders and you'll be able to access them.
Unfortunately, the firmware on the device was 4x.xx, and the current firmware is somewhere around 8X.XX. This is significant. With the older firmware, when you try to "re-create" the folders, you have to click "browse" to get to them. When you click browse, the subsequent window never populates. So normally, the answer would be to update the firmware so that it functions properly. However, to go from 4X.XX to 8X.XX would erase all data on the device. In order to keep your data when doing a fimware update, iomega recommends using the device's built-in backup function. You hook up an external USB hard disk to the box, and use another "browse" button to tell the box what folders you wish to back up. That function doesn't work either.
Iomega's telephone support took days before even getting a return phone call to me, and by that point they told me there was nothing that their tech support could do. However, they also were quick to inform me that they have their own in-house DATA RECOVERY SERVICE. Hmmm... Let's build a device that's horribly flawed and overpriced considering those flaws. We can then charge THOUSANDS of dollars to recover data from a device we built - data that is only inaccessible due to OUR OWN DESIGN FLAWS.
During the whole process of contacting iomega for the client, I gave one of the phone reps my email address. I got various boilerplate/automated messages from the support department, but none of them were helpful. The client also mentioned that he dutifully registered the device, but never heard anything from iomega about updating the firmware. He and I both, however, have been receiving plenty of advertising emails from iomega.
In the end, rather than sending the box via fedex to iomega and spending at least $3,000 to have the data retrieved, I personally took the device to a local data recovery service that I had used in the past. The owner of the lab (with over 30 years experience in the field) described NAS devices in general as a "bad idea". He and his staff spent several days hacking into the Linux-based device, and eventually were able to recover the client's data. The final cost for that service was $1,000. It's a significant discount over iomega's data recovery service, but it's still a bitter pill to swallow.
What's worse from my perspective is that because it happened on "my watch", I felt partially responsible, despite the fact that I followed iomega's instructions and did nothing wrong. I "ate" a significant portion of my fees, and did a lot for the client without charging him. I also believe the client feels that it's my fault that he had to spend $1,000 to recover his data.
In short, I will never buy or recommend another iomega device. Their device (and apparently all similar iomega NAS devices in the product line) shipped with such serious flaws, and rather than HELPING me, they added my email to their marketing list.
Can you tell I'm upset by this??? ;)
by Nicholas Negroponte. Negroponte is the founder of the MIT Media Lab, as well as the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) Project.
