Configuration:

  As you know, the NexStar LX is different from most other enclosures, in that it also offers NAS support in addition to the typical USB 2.0 connectivity. This should allow it to operate as a fileserver of sorts on a network, enabling many computers or people to access it, not just one computer.

  It achieves this through the use of a 100 Mbps Ethernet port, which can be used instead of the USB 2.0 port. (But not at the same time) Note that while using this as NAS will make it more accessible, it will also make performance slower. 100 Mbps translates into 12.5 MB/s, assuming you get the full transfer rate, (which is not so, due to network overhead and other inherent factors that detract from this theoretical maximum), and 12.5 MB/s is far slower than the sustained transfer rates of HDDs nowadays.

  Compare this with the speed of USB 2.0, which is rated at 480 Mbps (60 MB/s). Though you will probably not get this full speed, it certainly will be faster than anything 100 Mbps Ethernet could offer. However, if you intend to share this enclosure with multiple users, especially those with older computers that may not have USB 2.0, the Ethernet connectivity may be a better choice.

  However, I ran into problems when I attempted to use this enclosure to share the contents of my old Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 80 GB HDD over the network. I had previously been using this HDD in my old enclosure, and had formatted it as a single NTFS partition, since NTFS is superior to FAT32, and since WinXP doesn't let you make a FAT32 partition bigger than 32 GB.

  It turns out that when operated as a NAS server, the NexStar LX doesn't support NTFS partitions. This information was not readily available, and instead was a sort of anecdote in the manual under the section about the NAS server's disk formatting tool. Here's what it said:

If you create other partitions when connected through USB or choose a different file system, keep in mind that the LAN disk is only able to recognize the first partition and it has to be FAT32. [emphasis mine]

If you don't use the disk utility to format the drive, make sure that you choose the FAT32 file system, otherwise it won't be recognized on the network.

  I think this is significant because NTFS is the filesystem of choice for almost all Windows XP users. Microsoft is trying to move people away from FAT32 for obvious reasons, since, among other things, it's less reliable than NTFS; that's why they've intentionally made it so Win2K and WinXP can't make FAT32 partitions larger than 32 GB. If you want to do that, you need a third-party app.

  However, note that this problem may not be unique to Vantec. Due to how NAS works, NTFS may not be a viable filesystem for some NAS enclosures because of the added complexity with permissions, etc. in an NTFS filesystem. Because NAS servers have some sort of OS running in order to setup shares and permissions, it may be this OS doesn't have support for NTFS. Some more complex and costly NAS solutions do support NTFS, but the cheaper, consumer ones don't seem to. See this Q&A forum thread I found via Google. Also note that many other NAS solutions use a different filesystem than NTFS or FAT32 because of the OS that is in use on them.

Note that this NTFS incompatibility is only for the NAS server. If you use the enclosure as a USB 2.0 device, NTFS partitions are detected just fine. The problem probably stems with an incompatibility of the onboard OS to work with NTFS.

Main configuration.

Time server settings.

SMB share settings.

  Above you can see some of the configuration screens available when the device is setup as a NAS server. As I mentioned before, I wasn't able to share the contents of the drive since it was NTFS, but you can see it was properly detected by the enclosure and connected to the network fine. The device by default uses DHCP to acquire an IP address, so it works great if you already have a router sharing the Internet connection in your home. (The NexStar LX can also provide its own DHCP server if need be, or it can be configured for a static IP.)

  Once connected, you can connect to it by either IP address or its network name, which by default is STORAGE-XXXX, where XXXX are the last 4 digits in the MAC address. If you connect by IP address, you may need to poke into your router's settings (if it's the DHCP server) to find out which IP address was assigned to the Vantec NexStar NAS server. Once a folder is shared, it will show up just as it was a shared folder on another computer in your network name, that is, you could access it by the convention "\\STORAGE-XXXX\sharedFolderName".

  If you wish, you can also enable the FTP server on the NAS server for another way of sharing files. For each account, you can specify the folders that access is allowed to, and whether that access is read-only or read/write. FTP is a good, standard way to access files if for some reason SMB isn't supported. Additionally, if you configure your router's firewall, you can allow outside access, so you can get at your files from work or outside the home. You'll want to make sure things are secure before doing this, of course.

  Other settings you can configure via the web interface include running a scan disk, or setting the number of minutes of idle time before the enclosure goes into sleep mode.

Testing

  I tested this enclosure against my old, no-name one, using the same HDD (of course), which was a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 80 GB unit. Not the fastest or the newest (Maxtor doesn't even exist anymore), but it should serve as a decent test unit. My tests included two "real-world" situations, one timing the transfer of a ~700 MB contiguous file, and the other timing the transfer of 6092 files in 234 folders totalling close to 490 MB. Both sources were located on the local HDD, a Seagate 7200.10 320 GB model. These tests, while simple, attempt to simulate the typical workload you'd subject an external HDD to - the transfer of data.

  Testing was conducted by doing a total of five runs for each test setup. The lowest and highest scores were dropped, and the remaining three were averaged. As you'll see, there was little variation among the remaining three in any situation, so I'm fairly confident in the consistency.

  Note that because the Vantec enclosure didn't support NTFS partitions, I didn't test it across the network - I regret this. I thus ended up comparing only USB 2.0 performance. Expect performance over a 100 Mbps network to be far slower, for obvious reasons.

Large File Transfer Test

  This consisted of copying over the Ubuntu 6.06 desktop i386 ISO, a 697 MB file, a typical ISO file size and perhaps typical of what large files you might store in an enclosure.

  I was a little surprised at first by the NexStar's superior performance. After all, I expected the HDD to be the limited factor, or maybe the speed of USB 2.0. After all, if they're both on the USB 2.0 bus, they should both be limited to 480 Mbps? Well, perhaps theoretically. I suspect that the NexStar uses a better IDE-to-USB 2.0 bridge chip that's able to sustain a higher transfer rate, and this was probably why it outperformed my generic 3.5" HDD enclosure, which probably skimped on using quality hardware.

Small Files Transfer Test

  This test aims to emulate the large transfer of a bunch of smaller files, say a bunch of documents, images or other data that you're transferring over for whatever reason. (Backup, etc.) The load consisted of 6092 files that totalled 488 MB.

  Again, the Vantec NexStar beat out my generic HDD enclosure, though this time the margin was not so large, providing only an 8 percent improvement vs. the close to 45 percent improvement in the large file test. This may have been due to the large number of files being fragmented across the source drive, thus acting as somewhat of a bottleneck. Both of these test results were consistent as well, since all the times used to compute the average were within one second of each other, indicating a low variance.

Conclusion:

  Overall, the Vantec NexStar LX is a decent, feature-rich HDD enclosure that performs great, but has a few drawbacks. Firstly, the plastic top cover doesn't feel all that sturdy, and I'm left to worry as to whether it'll break if something heavy is placed on top of it, or if the tabs holding it in place will last. I'm also not that fond of having to pry it off to install a HDD.

  Secondly, the inability of the NAS server to support NTFS partitions really limits it, in my opinion. While I know that many other consumer-level NAS solutions also do not support NTFS, in this day and age, FAT32 is really a remnant from the past. However, at least a common filesystem like FAT32 is supported, as some NAS servers will use a completely different and uncommon filesystem. However, since most people are using NTFS nowadays, I was a little disappointed.

  However, this doesn't mean the NexStar LX isn't a good enclosure - it is. Its performance was great, and installation of a HDD into this unit is easier than with most enclosures, since the entire top comes off. The addition of a blower fan also increases the cooling ability and makes this enclosure stand out from the rest of them. If you're looking for a good USB 2.0 HDD enclosure, the NexStar LX won't disappoint.

Pros:

• Fast USB 2.0 performance

• Active cooling/Temp controlled fan

• Easy installation

• Ethernet/USB 2.0 connectivity supported

• All connectivity cables included

• Good design/looks

Cons:

• Top cover is plastic

• NAS server doesn't support NTFS for network connectivity

  Thanks to Vantec for making this review possible!