WD Sharespace, the NAS you DO NOT want to rely on.

[Woody3366]

I recently purchased a WD Sharespace NAS with a whopping 4TB of RAID 5 storage, given the size of the files from my newly acquired Beyonwiz I figured an off-pc store would be ideal. Three weeks into service one of the HDD's failed and the RAID continued to perform in "degraded" mode pending the defective drive being replaced. After several emails to and from WD support (staffed by Kindergarden dropouts) in which they were/are clearly on their own learning curve, I finally reinstalled my brand new HDD into the unit and performed a recovery in accordance with the WD tech support instructions - the unit recovered the full RAID array and presented me with a fully restored and ready to go unit sans data.!!! That's right, if you have a drive failure and then replace the drive the unit will restore the datastore to the factory state - blank! The unit deletes all user created shares as part of the recovery process, so if you have created a custome share or folder and placed data in it, then backup first, because the idiotic WD coding will zap everything. The point of RAID is redundancy, but not if its a Western Digital, they have their own idea of what the RAID5 specification is all about, there you go - backup your redunant device - what is the point (I think the concept is lost on the boffins at Western Digital)

Bottom Line: If you value your data - do not use Western Digital.

Looks like the official response from Western Digital is to hide and say nothing. A great way to treat a customer that has just spent over $1000+ on their product.

Lab test: To be sure it wasn't me, I have just finished trying to repeat the error by reinstalling the drive, syncing and then creating shares "Upload" and "Cabinet" - I populated the shares with a few hundred meg of files and pulled drive #3. The NAS then dropped into "degraded mode", I reinstalled the drive (after formatting) and then selected the "clear drive" option from the NAS control interface, the drive then presented as "new", I then re-synced as per the instruction from the WD support team, and hey presto - exactly the same result, a perfectly clean and blank drive, all shares deleted by the OS.

DUMB, DUMB, DUMB - Bad Firmware, Bad Coding. Violation of the RAID-5 specification (see re-sync).

I doubt WD will ever formally respond, but steer clear of this unit if you need a truly redundant NAS, get something else.

[thiggins]

Thanks for the post.

I am asking WD for comment on your findings. I'll let you know what I find out.

[claykin]

Sounds like WD decided to beta test with the public. Nice!! This is exactly why I'm not an early adopter!! I've been burned too many times.

Sorry to hear about your WD disaster. While I can understand your concern, I'm quite sure WD will fix something as severe as this. probably sooner than later.

[Woody3366]

thiggins: Thanks for the response. Forgive my cynicism but dont hold your breath. I just got a note back from WD support letting me know that my issue has been escalated to WD in the US office for further review and I may expect to hear in a few days as it is thanksgiving holidays right now and they will response after the festivities. Fortunately all WD Raid-5 units are pre-programmed not to fail during thanksgiving so my data will remain safe for now.:confused:

It seems this may not be the first time this type of problem has surfaced on this site: I re-read an article by TIm Higgins at this url:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30586/75/1/2/
and it appears Tim had a similar issue that required additional undocumented support from WD. Tim doesn't say if he actually tested the late advice from WD on inserting a clean-new drive to overcome his initial difficulty, however I can confidently say it would not have made a scrap of difference. Tim's data would be lost. He may wish to update his review.

Another point: The undocumented assistance from WD that Tim refers to in his article is still undocumented. You'd think that if WD were even slightly customer focussed, they'd update the WD KB with a post addressing how to replace a failed drive in a WD SS NAS RAID-5. Well they have not. Maybe WD think that Tim is the only person in the whole world that will suffer a HDD failure in a NAS unit? Silly boys and girls at WD aren't they.

claykin, Thanks for your response: You said "While I can understand your concern, I'm quite sure WD will fix something as severe as this. probably sooner than later." I'd love to agree, but I am not so sure and dont share your confidence. Apart from the above comments that put WD in a certain box concerning customer focus, WD recently removed the user feedback forums from their support site because users were voicing too many negative comments and flaming WD.!!! Now, if that isn't stuffing your head in the sand I don't know what is. Hey WD guys - the user community is giving you feedback and railing your quality for a reason. I doubt the quality is any better or worse than most other offerring from your competitors, the difference is that your technical support and consumer management systems are woeful.

I feel that WD technical management suffer from primadonna syndrome, the conceit is palpable. Do WD actually believe there is nothing to be learned from the user community? It's bad enough that we are treated as guinea pigs, it's something else to be then treated as idiots and somewhat ignored. I have offerred suggestions for updated FW and front end features - silence is the response, at least have the strength to tell me I'm off the rails if you dont like my ideas! Better still, have the strength to recognise that if your product is less than ideal, to accept constructive criticism and improve, before the constructive criticism becomes negative. (Consumer Managment 101)

McDonalds has better systems for dealing with bad fries.

[claykin]

Well, if you really have such little confidence (and maybe I can't blame you) its best to take the bull by the horns and see what dirt you can stir up.

Below is WD's corporate office info. Ask for John Coyne, its CEO and President. I shouldn't have to tell you that you get a lot further with honey than fire.

BTW, if they won't connect you, ask for the President's office or their escalation team. Tell them you've worn out all support options.

Good luck to ya!

Corporate Headquarters
Western Digital
20511 Lake Forest Drive
Lake Forest, CA 92630-7741
Phone: 949.672.7000
Toll Free: 888.935.8893
FAX: 949.672.5408

[Woody3366]

Here is the latest from WD on this issue...

I wanted to take a moment and thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have created a new knowledge base article that will be release in the next 1 to 2 business days addressing this issue.

[Woody3366]

Update from WD.

They have finally posted a "fix" on the WD KnowledgeBase.
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2746

Sadly it's wrong. What WD do not tell you is that the unit will now boot into a completely pointless UI blank white screen, with a small green dot in the corner, and the words "Starting up" in the middle of the screen. Somehow, you are supposed to understand that the unit is actually doing something.

This is what the screen should say:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Progress Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello there user, the system has detected a new drive has been installed and is now re-syncing the RAID-5 array. The useless green dot you see in the top corner is actually a progress bar, that will slowly grow across the screen as the RAID array rebuilds. Please do not interrupt this process.

If you are rebuilding a large array this may take up to 16 hours before the dot becomes a line, patience little one :-)

This is what is does say:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
.


Starting up...





--------------------------------------------------------------------
Did you find the green dot?



All of the above is not documented and the update in the KB is next-to-useless, I have informed WD of this, it seems the update to the KB may take another week to fix. The quality assurance and sanity checking process at WD don't seem to extend to the KB support group (sadness)....

[thiggins]

Did you use a WD drive as the replacement drive?

Aside from not informing you as to the progress of the rebuild, if you replace the drive and wait, does the array successfully rebuild?

[claykin]

It sounds like your unit does not have a fault, aside from the piss poor rebuild screen that WD provides??

The Sharespace appears to have some LED's on the front panel. What were they telling you during the rebuild?

[Erik]

I own a WD NetCenter and want to remote access it outside of my network. It has been designed more as just an external hard drive that can share folders and files within your network. It is not equipped with any sort of additional software for remote access and the only file that was on the NetCenter when I bought it was the default .html file, which is used as the admin settings page. However, you can not see the shared folders or their files from this area. I was wondering if there was a way to add html code to the .html file or add an additional file to be able the view the shared folders and files. I have already assigned a static IP address to the NetCenter and opened the port on my router, and can actually access the admin settings page from outside my network, but as I said, I can’t view the shared folders and files from this page. If anyone has any ideas it would be appreciated. Thanks.

[joshb]

Thats not the only thing that is broken. It seems Active directory support doesnt quite work either. It "joins" the domain, but there is no way to specify users or groups from the AD for permissions.

[Unregistered]

Hi Guys,

I'm selling a Western Digital ShareSpace 2TB 4-Bay NAS Raid on ebay

I've had a question asked of me to which I don't know the answer.. Can someone help??

Q: "hello will this work with 4 WD 2tb hard drives or with just the 1tb hard driver and is it sata hd it work with thanks"

Thanks guys!!

JSoloman

[thiggins]

It might or might not. See Is That an Approved Drive In Your NAS? Or Are You Happy To Risk Your Data? (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30750/79/)

If I were you, I would not promise that it does.

[Unregistered]

Hi Guys,
Q: "hello will this work with 4 WD 2tb hard drives or with just the 1tb hard driver and is it sata hd it work with thanks"
JSoloman

It is SATA II (and I).

About size: I'm wondering abouth the same thing.

1. Can I put 1.5 TB or 2 TB WD disks in the ShareSpace NAS (and exceed the "4 TB")?
2. If yes, do the disks have to be of same size? Even in a two RAID1 volume configuration?

Thanks for a very interesting review!

br
Rune, Norway

[Andy]

I own one of the ShareSpace for about a month now and was disappointed to see it doesn't support AFP and HFS+ even though they claim on their website it works with Mac OS X, well it does, but not 100%.

I just read the review of the MBW (White) edition and it seems this one has the same firmware loaded but with some additional features (AFP, HFS+ & SSH access) i would be really interested in.

I emailed WD and ask if those features would be coming to the Sharespace but haven't gotten any reply from them (couple of days now).

Have the users on this forum any insight if this might or might not happen in the near future? It would seem to be a straight forward thing to update the ShareSpace firmware, but not sure if there are any technical limitation due to the different hardware?

Many thanks!

[Unregistered]

Few weeks ago I got my brand new 2TB ShareSpace box which is foreseen to store all my media files (video, photo, music). My decision was driven by the need of a reliable archiving system (RAID-based) and a DLNA media server capability.

One having installed the box (I had to upgrade to the latest firmware 2.1.3 first and set-up RAID 1), I copied all my media data onto the box. Media playback with my Samsung TV LA40B650 worked fine for 3 days ... until twonky media server on the WD box seems to quit it's service and even worse overwriting WD config and operating files (at least my guess).
Since then no access to WD ShareSpace was possible - even reset and support did not help.

I decided to return the box for advanced replacement. After one week I got a brand new box (now 4TB) with fw-version 2.1.3 already pre-installed.

But installing my media data and operating the box with DLNA caused the same damage after a few days. I can not access my data nor the config-portal of the box any more !!!

Several call to WD support are indicating a systemic problem on WD ShareSpace.
My eMail requests to WD headquarter / support are not answered since 2 weeks.

Thus im considering to return the box to my dealer for a credit voucher.
But what to buy ??? Buffalo, Linux based PC system + SW RAID + DLNA server.

[Paul]

I am truly disappointed in my 4TB Sharespace that I recently purchased.
1. Would not perform firmware upgrade
2. Can't access your files unless you screw around with the settings and change them from one setting back to Share
3. Drives constantly lost volumes after transferring data to them
4. Technical Support ís terrible. Your write EXACTLY what is wrong and send descriptions and tere email system deletes the attachments and then you are asked the same questions that you have already detailed in emails..
5. Try getting throught to Technical support(in my case Singapore) what a joke....

Overall, this is my 2nd WD device, the other one was a Worldbook 1TB, that also crashed and no one can work out WHY..

I am sorry but I thought that WD had finally got there act together, obviously NOT

[Unregistered]

Hello guys.

All these negative experiences don’t sound any good at all. I really thought that WD was a serious, respected company producing high quality storage equipment. After purchased a WD ShareSpace 4TB RAID 5 NAS, I’m not so sure anymore...

I've now used hours trying to get the Active Directory integration / user authentication to function. The AD-integration itself seems to work, - the unit register in AD but I have to manually register it in DNS. About the user authentication, I successfully manage to access one of my custom data shares using UNC-path in Windows Explorer and copy data to and from the unit, but I am NOT ABLE TO DELETE or RENAME any files on my custom made data shares. (If I i.e. try to delete a Word-file, it’s just saying “Access denied” and the file copies itself into some kind of temp file.) Pretty weird! (Of course I have assigned myself “Full access” to the actual share.) Anyone else then JOSHB experienced issued with the AD-integration and user authentication?

[Unregistered]

We used the WD sharespace (4TB) for some time now. The ADS did not work properly (groups like domain Admins were not selectable) and we i asked about this they told me it was only for small workgroups????

With some work-arounds it worked. This morning i did a firmware update (2.1.9.2) and again problems with security. I reconnect to the domain controller and now it seems that the problems we had before are solved....

The next NAS i buy will not be a WD, but a Qnap/Thecus/Readynas. The price is higher, but they work (fast)

[Feudal]

Hi guys,

I've had similar problems with this unit, currently I have no way of accessing the Web interface as there seems to have been some error with the configuration files the error message I get is:

XML error: no wixnas object found!

I can see the data on my folder shares and can access the twonky media server, but can't get to WDSharespace interface. After backing up all my data (and waiting for over a week for a response from WD) I decided that I would try a soft reset in case this cleared the problem (along with clearing the media server database etc etc...) the problem persists (the 3rdand most terminal I've had since I got the box 8 months ago in January 2009) - . I think this is probably something VERY simple since the unit for the most part seems funtional - with no loss of data - I just can't find a way to reset the user interface.

Anyway - Thought I'd add this post here to warn folks that from everything that I've learned you REALLY need to get the most up to data firmware, and not demand too much from this unit for the time being - my impression is that the problems all relate to poorly thought out firmware. rather than the hardware (which as far as i can see is solid)

Feudal
PS - Any suggestions to help fix my problem more than welcome!! :o)

[Unregistered]

Warning Mac users! This device will not accept certain file names containing some characters you can use on a Mac. Result= WD will change your file name after copying to something unidentifiable or worse - skip it during the copy.
There is nothing you can do to fix this, WD tech support told me it is Apple's problem.

The Remote access for Mac users is still in "Beta" (as of 09.20.09) . And is "single" file web based access.

I was prepared for slow, but not this SLOOOWWW.

[tom]

I have exactly the same problem like Feudal. Did anyone found the way to get back access to the device using web GUI?

Thx Tom

[Unregistered]

I've had the 4tb unit since January and it functioned rather flawlessly. a couple of weeks ago i decided i needed more space, so i grabbed four 2tb WD Green drives from the office, and replaced all four drives in my unit (after backing up of course). It immediately began "resyncing" with a estimated completion time of 69 hours. So i let it run.
2 days later, it completed, i now have a 6.39tb RAID 5 volume. Woo hoo! It worked perfectly I migrated the data from the backup. No problems. I setup the usernames, admin password, etc. Everything works great. I updated the firmware to the latest edition, just for good measure.
Within 24 hours, all passwords no longer work. All data is still accesible, but FTP and Sharespace manager all claim bad passwords, including the default "Admin" account. I've tried the 'email WD' route which takes 4 days to get a response just for standard troubleshooting q&a. I'm supposed to call in and ask for level 3 tech support next.

So you're not alone out there.

[ginandan]

I too have this problem...

I have been doing some reading in various places and see that it has something to do with spce running out on the linux system partition, most likely due to twonky filling it up. There is even a series of steps to take to clear the problem on wd support pages if you still have access to the Web front end.
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3659&p_created=1248822198&p_sid=9QuilEJj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_srch=1&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX 3Jvd19jbnQ9MTIxLDEyMSZwX3Byb2RzPTI0NywyNDQmcF9jYXR zPTEzMCZwX3B2PTIuMjQ0JnBfY3Y9MS4xMzAmcF9zZWFyY2hfd HlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9mbmwmcF9wYWdlPTE!&p_li=&p_topview=1

The probelm for me is that I no longer have access to the Web utility (all I get is the XML error) and all of the fixes I can find mean following complex procedures first of all to set up telnet and then other processes to clear sufficient space to allow it to function.

I am not a linux guru and dont stand a chance of being able to complete the processes successfuly.

Does anyone have a 'simple' answer to this issue to get me going again?

You are not alone out there...

[Unregistered]

I own "two" wd sharespace 4 tb drives both in Raid 5

I did have one fail (I purchased it in 2008)

I called WD tech support they sent me a label for RMA and shipped me out my replacement

I got my new drive and put it in the unit and it automatically began the resync process - The process did take quite a while (Which is typical for a raid 5 with a large quantity of data and I have almost 2 tb filled up on the unit in question) but I did 'not' lose any data.

I will agree that the tech support person was not a technological genius but I did not need a genius only a drive replacement so I did not really care to be honest.

For the $ of the WDSS versus other redundant NAS' out there I am quite pleased with mine and my restore of the bad drive.

I see that your problem occurred in 2008 so perhaps (the units were quite new still) you encountered an issue that they just had not come to in testing. Being a DBA I know that it is not impossible for something to slip through the cracks in testing (not saying it is right but it can happen)

So would I buy another WDSS - you bet I want the new 8 TB unit :)

Susan
mydanes@me.com

[Unregistered]

hi, guys.

I'd like to upgrade firmware on WDSS, but i do not understand where to get . WDSS tells me that it can upgrade automaticaly, but it does not. It downloads something, but then happens nothing. i waited a "miracle" for 2 hours - nothing.

I find and download file WD-ShareSpace-v2.1.92-GPL.tar.gz. From WDSS product page.
Is it a firmware?
This hellbox dont accept this file.

Where i can find firmware update (links)?

And YES, it do not let to delete files from root.

Thanks.

PS: please, forgive my english,i am from Russia.

[thiggins]

It looks like the only way to get firmware is via the built-in firmware update function. The latest version is 2.1.92, released in August 2009. (Release notes (http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/fattach_get.php?p_sid=OafyuwQj&p_li=&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_tbl=9&p_id=2744&p_created=1259081884&p_olh=0)).

If that's not working, contact WD Support.

[Venne]

I have this problem too, nothing flashes on my ShareSpace 4TB, but I can't access anything. It shows up under tthe 'Network' tab in Windows explorer, but when i double click it to connect, it says that the drive cannot make connection. I also cannot access the html configuration page, so there isn't anything I can but wait for the response of WD...

Do you guys have found a solution? because there was some precious data on those disks, who I hope to be able to retrieve... Is there any way to just put those disks in another system, also with RAID 5, and just access my data on those disks?

I am very worried that I might lose those files, I thought my RAID 5 config was safe... So far goes my trust in WDC...

Sorry if my English is a bit bad, but I'm from Belgium :)

[thiggins]

Have you tried contacting WD support?

[Venne]

Yes, i did contact them, but I haven't heard from them since. My reseller says I should return my drive to him, so he can send it back to WD. But I am almost sure to lose all my data that is on that disk, so do any of you guys know how I could retrieve my data? It's configured in RAID-5 With 4 1TB disks...

[thiggins]

Yes, i did contact them, but I haven't heard from them since. My reseller says I should return my drive to him, so he can send it back to WD. But I am almost sure to lose all my data that is on that disk, so do any of you guys know how I could retrieve my data? It's configured in RAID-5 With 4 1TB disks...Unfortunately, that's not a simple task, even for people comfortable with Linux.

[Venne]

I found a tool that says it can reconstruate a raid 5 on windows machine, from *.img files from 3 of the 4 disks. I hope it works, I am now taking those images. I had a reply from the WDC support that they have to much work, so their answer will be delayed. I will post my results if the program works or not :) (It's named Runtime Raid Reconstructor)

[thiggins]

Hope it works. Let is know if it does.

[Venne]

It didn't work, All I recovered were half of the files (even with the 4 drives) all named like numbers (123123.jpg and so on). I had much trouble to find the RAID config parameters, so I will post them here, that people can find them.

SHARESPACE 4TB RAID parameters

Raid Type : Raid 5
Disk Order : Make it the same as in your device (numbers are besides the disks)
Block Size : 512K
Block Order : Left Asynchronous

The WDC support people have contacted me, but so far without results. They said it was because I was running Windows 7, and the Sharespace is incompatible with that.
(As far as I know http is platform-independent, but I can be mistaken)
So I tried both with XP and Vista PC's, but without any luck. I'll keep you posted if any solution comes up.

[thiggins]

Thanks for posting the config parameters and for letting us know how you did.

You're lucky that you recovered anything at all.

This is why it's important to not rely on RAID as backup.

[Venne]

I just have e-mailed the WD support my last try to save all my data. I asked them if the NAS has the OS installed on the disks or on the device itself, and aparantly the OS is installed on the device itself. So I will ask my reseller if I can swap drives with another device and see if I can access my data that way. Saddly enough, this is my last chance at a full recovery I think. I will post the results as soon as I get them.

[Unregistered]

You know, sometimes when you research a product you intend to buy and there are some neg reviews (largely vehement and abusive) you ignore them and go ahead and shell out the cash...

I bought the 4TB mid last year after 2mths of ummming and ahhhing... For the last six months I have been delighted by it - mostly. I couldn't get the iTunes thing to work and the backup software was weird and did what IT wanted to do and not what I wanted. But, with 100gb+ music, 1Tb photographs and 0.5Gb of underwater video I've recorded to make movies, I had no choice but to get something!

However Last Christmas (there is a song title methinks there) I switched everything off whilst we did the Europe Family Tour, for 12 days... I came back eager to do a complete archive onto BluRay and then rebuild everything as I was upgrading all machines from Win 7 RTM to full products... But guess what... The NAS failed to wake up and I think I have now lost all my data (including my business archive)...

Don't get me wrong: I am an experienced IT Consultant so I didn't do anything rash. I even checked the manual for a 'reset' process (duly followed) and that did not help.

I emailed the 'support centre' only to get automatic drivel in return obsessing about MioNet (which I had never installed, let alone used)...

After 3 wks of this (and the WDC system auto 'solving' the cases) I got through on the phone line and I am still waiting for a replacement RAID ctrlr - which apparently they still have to call me about...

Still waiting, dreading the awful realisation that I truly can't recover my data...

The lesson: Buy a NAS by all means - but buy two and ensure you mirror them!!!

[Raja]

Boy 'o boy! Am I in trouble for transfering TB's of my valuable data to WD ShareSpace!

I experienced the exact frustraction Woody3366 had when he originally started this thread. My 8TB ShareSpace is less than 2 months old. Earlier this month I started transfering all my data from all systems (I had since last 12 years) including all my music/movies/finance/projects - everything into this box and I was still in the process of data transfer mid-month, when this volume started failing. The huge mistakes I had made, besides bying a WD ShareSpace 8TB, were deleting my source files after moving data from each machine and deciding to put off backup until I finished transfering all data from all machines and removing some duplicate data and pictures (which was another 3-4 days away). For that I now feel as dumb as WD folks.

At first the drive manager started claiming random disks as 'unassigned' every time I rebooted - sometimes a disk or two even said 'not installed'. After 2-3 reboots, it consistently started saying Disk3 was 'good' but unassigned. Even though Raid 5 can be accessible in 'degraded' mode, I couldn't access any folder - the entire volume and all shares were unavailable.

I reported this to WD and had them send me a second ShareSpace (by holding $1850) just to ensure the enclosure is not the issue. When I moved all disks to the new enclosure I faced the same issue. Then I pulled the Disk3 and inserted a brand new 2TB disk - but the system maintained the same status, which was very confusing to me. They could have made the system identify a new drive and offer me the option to rebuild right there - but no, I had to figure out what to do next myself, which wasn't documented very well.

Eventually I had to click on the 'clean' icon to clean the third disk. Then the next reboot identified the new disk as 'new' and started rebuilding the array, which took about 40 hours. I was so happy that at least the array is being rebuilt and I can soon recover my data.

But my excitement was shortlived and such illfated I felt to find that the DataVolume wasn't accessible. Looking at the logs, right after the log that said "DataVolume works normally (resync 100% completed)", there was this log that said "DataVolume doesn't exist".

I think as Woody3366 believes, the recovery pretty much wiped all disks? That is outright stupid of WD. What kind of recovery process is that? I am pretty sure it came up with a clean slate after 40 hours - since now I see both 'remove' and 'clean' icons against each of 4 disks, meaning it thinks all 4 disks are used by unrelated to 'DataVolume'.

I think by trying to rebuild the array WD's way I entirely screwed up any chance I had of recovering my data. I have to now wait until Monday to talk to them again - but having talked to their support for a while, I have no hope of getting any meaningful support from them. As Woody3366 correctly pointed out, the support guys do sound primitive and in their learning phases. One guys I had talked to had put me on hold 5 times in 10 minutes to "... just check with his colleague..." for anything I asked of him.

Such a worst experience and loss of sleep - guys, please don't buy these ridiculous systems. I was trying to decide between readyNAS and ShareSpace and somehow fell for ShareSpace. As an unregistered user pointed out above, you often ignore generic feedback from consumers on the web and never hear about specific issues until you have one and google around regarding that issue. :-(

Raja.

[Unregistered]

Just spoke to WD reagrding the inability to rename or delete files that other and I have experienced. It's because we're in an Active Directory Domain and it will only (consistently) work when the number of AD users is less than 32! We're currently at 37. WD's tech support solution? Remove 6 AD users!! "Okay, you six employees... sorry, but I need access to my files, so you'll need to go". Seriously!?

Of course on their site and on the product marketing they tout "Can Join Active Directory Domains". But only in the newer manuals (older manuals do not mention the limitation) do they mention is has to be less than 32 users.

According to WD, I should have read their knowledge base BEFORE having purchased the item!! Who does this?! So they're answer in a nutshell is, "congratulations on your successful, growing business and thanks for the hundreds of dollars; sorry about your drive no longer working for you as stated."

They're marketing slogan should be "Western Digital... helping you realize your businesses limitations".

[Unregistered]

I had a similar problem - not being able to access the web config interface from a Mac. I found a workaround. Browse (or "Find") to the device and open the Configuration share. Then double-click on the enclosed file called index.html and accept the certificate. You should be presented with the web config interface.

[Unregistered]

It didn't work, All I recovered were half of the files (even with the 4 drives) all named like numbers (123123.jpg and so on). I had much trouble to find the RAID config parameters, so I will post them here, that people can find them.

SHARESPACE 4TB RAID parameters

Raid Type : Raid 5
Disk Order : Make it the same as in your device (numbers are besides the disks)
Block Size : 512K
Block Order : Left Asynchronous

The WDC support people have contacted me, but so far without results. They said it was because I was running Windows 7, and the Sharespace is incompatible with that.
(As far as I know http is platform-independent, but I can be mistaken)
So I tried both with XP and Vista PC's, but without any luck. I'll keep you posted if any solution comes up.

I am having problems with the "not compatible with Windows 7" part of this. One of the basic reasons for using NAS is to distance from the clients. As long as you are using a compatible file system it shouldn't matter what OS the clients are running.

I suspect that WD support is giving you some of the grainy lube.

This thread tells me that I won't be getting this unit. Hope it works out for you.

[Unregistered]

Hey there,

same problem on my side.
Can access all the files, can access via ftp,
even vie web to the twonkey on port 9000.
But i can not access the web access.
Unfortunately I reset the box and not ssh
is not available anymore.....

Anyboy found or learned a solution?

Thanks,

Christian

[Unregistered]

Hey there,

still don´t know what exactly went wrong so that the http connection error
occurs but at least there is one way to solve the problem more or less:

If the system crashes or if you crash the system by playing with the linux
system just format the hard drives, all four of them and put them back into
the system. Restart and the system will start to build up itself from the flash
memory, works like a charm afterwards. Draw back is that it puts the system
back to RAID 5, takes 15-20 hours until its done.
Not really comfortable if you play around and end up crashing the system time
by time....

Cheers,

Christian

[Unregistered]

I know a lot of people are having problems with this product. My question is, which other product out there are you guys buying instead?

[Raja]

I know a lot of people are having problems with this product. My question is, which other product out there are you guys buying instead?

I've recently bought a readyNAS - bought another 8TB HDD for that and is working great so far. Apparently readyNAS configures you with XRAID by default.

One lesson I learnt over the past year or so is to not buy HDD from online stores such as Amazon and TigerDirect - their packing sucks; apparently they (and most buyers too) don't realize that HDDs have couple of pretty fragile parts and the life of HDD can be drastically reduced by the time it reaches you. Amazon had shipped my 8TB ShareSpace within 2 additional boxes (on top of the WD's box for the unit itself); and due to lack of padding inside the 3rd and outermost box, the 2nd box within was rattling inside. I can only imagine what the unit might have gone though the 5 days of ground-shipping - everytime the trucker hit the break and accelerator, probably the unit kept hitting the walls of larger outer box :-(. These days I buy HDDs from local stores - they at least have good shipping till the store and manual handling of HDD by store employees is the only thing to worry about; but they are mostly professional in stores like Fry's and Best Buy.

So, my advice is to just buy the enclosure online - most of the time you get great deals online; and then buy the disks in a local store..... Just my thought....