5. Fun with NFS

I was also interested in trying out NFS because it is more of a native file system than SMB for my Linux and OS X systems. The initial setup was fairly simple and was just a matter of selecting the correct protocol from the options (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Share setup
(click on image to enlarge)

Once I set it up from the web interface, I was able to mount an NFS share from both my Linux and my OS X boxes. But while I could NFS mount the share, any attempt to access it resulted in an error. After double-checking my settings, thumbing through the documentation, and getting no further, I called in assistance from a helpful Iomega contact.

My contact knew that my NFS problem was due to the fact that Windows Server 2003 no longer allows anonymous logins, even for the Everyone group. He sent along instructions on how to change a number of additional settings available only in a Windows control panel via Remote Desktop. Once this was done, I was able to use the NFS mounted share normally. Although this worked for me, making the changes and understanding their ramifications might be a bit of a stretch for users with limited (or no) Windows server administration experience.

I found a few more options that required Remote Desktop and standard Windows tools for configuration. Restricting share access to particular users or groups required the standard Windows sharing tools, as did setting up an external disk plugged into one of the 200d's four USB 2.0 ports. (Once set up, the external drives can be managed via the web interface.) I also found formatting a drive required using standard Windows formatting tools via Remote Desktop. By the way, these external drives can't be used in the RAID array, but instead appear as independent shares.

On the other hand, user quotas (Figure 6) can be managed from the web interface. Why quotas ended up in the web interface and permission setting requires using Remote Desktop is anyone's guess.

Figure 6: User quota management
(click on image to enlarge)

As I worked with the unit, I found myself bouncing back and forth between the web interface and Remote Desktop, which tells me that users of the 200d will need to be familiar with standard Windows configuration tools. This is in contrast to consumer-level NAS devices where the Web interface is the only way to do configuration. In general, the options, menus and log entries on the 200d appeared to be geared to a fairly sophisticated user.