Review: HP Media Vault mv2020 network hard drive

The demand for domestic data storage is ever on the rise. As householders acquire digital cameras, camcorders, music files and video downloads, finding room for all the data involved becomes a problem, as does sharing it efficiently between machines.

The elegant solution is to hook a large hard drive to the router and make it available to all the users on the network, which is what HP’s new Media Vault mv2020 is about.

Available in both 300GB and 500GB versions, the vault connects to a DHCP router via a supplied Ethernet cable and, after about a minute of initialisation, its folders can be seen under the default Mshome network.

As shipped, the Media Vault is configured with three top-level share folders: MediaShare, FileShare and Backup, all of which can be mapped to drive letters with a bundled, Windows-only drive-management utility. The software package also features NTI Shadow and NTI Drive Backup 4 by which to back up selected files or the entire system. A bootable restore disc is supplied should things go awry.

The vault is well-made, if rather sizeable for a 500GB enclosure, but it does host an empty bay into which you can insert an extra 3.5in drive, taking capacity up to a maximum 1.2TB. It’s also possible to configure the expanded vault as a mirrored Raid 1 array to ensure backups are that much more secure.

Naturally, because the vault is attached to the router, any other device on the network, be it via wired or wireless connection, can use it for file sharing, including Linux, OS X and Windows boxes. Only the latter, however, is catered for by the supplied backup software.

In use, the vault is no slouch - 10MB worth of data reads and writes in approximately nine seconds, which is sprightly enough.

Aside from the presence of three USB ports for hooking up extra devices, that’s about it. The Media Vault is just a big, fast, Ethernet-equipped hard drive, albeit one that is set up for media streaming via UPnP if required.

The suggested price is on the high side for the capacity offered, but will doubtless be discounted at retail. The drive looks designed to last and, provided DHCP is enabled on your router, is a breeze to set up and use.

Also consider:
Packard Bell Store & Play
Packard Bell's media savvy external hard disk drive for your PC and TV

Iomega Storcenter
Always on storage for your home network

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