Maxtor Shared Storage II

Seagate aptly describes the Maxstor Shared Storage II line as "simple shared storage, automatic backup and media serving for small networks." It offers the 320GB unit that I tested, as well as a 500GB and 1TB model. All support Gigabit Ethernet and use 7200 rpm disks with a 3Gbit/sec SATA interface. The product line does not support disk mirroring. It does support UPnP audio visual media streaming.

Unlike other units I tested, when you plug in the Shared Storage II it doesn't automatically appear on your network as a shared resource. You must run the installation utility, reboot, and then run the Maxtor EasyManage utility and set up a user account. The Shared Storage II then creates a public folder and a personal folder space and a drive mapping to it.

EasyManage creates a new personal folder for each user. This administrative tool does not let you configure all user accounts from a single computer, however. You must install the software and configure each new user machine by machine.