WD Sentinel DX4000 and Windows Live Mesh
Many of you know I am a big supporter of Windows Live Mesh. Mesh works great on the WD Sentinel and I found myself using the system with Mesh quite often.
Windows Live Mesh can be installed on computers running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Mac OS X version 10.5 or later. It cannot be installed on computers running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Home Server v1, or on PowerPC-based Mac computers.
If you have not tried Live Mesh on your Windows 7 machines I would highly recommend checking it out!
WD Sentinel DX4000 WD Guardian Services
Western Digital offers standard customer support and warranty to all WD Sentinel owners. WD Guardian Services provide additional support and warranty options for small business customers.
Choose from the following technical support plans and extended warranty services that work best for your business. Check with the WD website for more information on these services.
Two Things That Bug Me
I was not sure what to call this section. “Two things that bug me” will have to work for now:
- The drive fan is loud and is not controlled by the power supply. This means that when you power down the unit the drive fan still spins. According to WD, this was done by design but still bugs me. Businesses will probably never have their server off so it may not be an issue to most users.
- The USB backup has been disabled. This means you cannot backup the drives or OS to an external device. Again, WD did this by design, to avoid issues with the VHD limits on the RAID drives, but it still bugs me I cannot backup at least the OS. WD suggests using the Keep Vault Add-In for common practice for OS backups.
WD Sentinel DX4000 Overall Impressions
The WD Sentinel DX4000 is a great device with a solid legacy of WD hardware and Microsoft software. Although the $949 price tag is higher than other devices that may have similar functions, the WD enterprise class drives and the robust Windows Storage Server OS justify the cost. I would recommend the WD Sentinel DX4000 to any small business, tech guru or large household with large storage and client backup requirements.
Check back with Using Windows Home Server for future posts on the WD Sentinel DX4000 and for everything in the connected digital home.
Timothy Daleo
