Alessandro Rossini’s Web Site

Lately my home folder began to run out of space, so I started to look around for an external hard drive. I wanted a solution comprising at least 1TB space, RAID 1 support and USB connector (since the last NAS I tried did not transfer more than 10Mbit/s). Obviously, the drive had to work out-of-the box with GNU/Linux.
The most popular solution seemed to be the WD MyBook Mirror, but various GNU/Linux forums including the Ubuntu ones counted many posts regarding compatibility problems. The RAID control software is Windows-only, and under GNU/Linux the drive tends to spin itself down, causing the kernel to give up on it and disconnect the device.
It seemed almost like there was no other solution but I found out that Iomega produced exactly what I was searching for. The Iomega UltraMax Plus includes eSATA, USB, FireWire interface connections plus RAID 0, 1 , and JBOD features. And it even looks cool! I could not find any information about possible compatibility issues with GNU/Linux, but I decided to buy it anyway. I have not been experiencing any issue since I received it one week ago. The RAID configuration is chosen via a hardware switch on the back of the drive, and GNU/Linux seems to handle it properly. I recommend it to anyone.