Iomega StorCenter px2-300d 2TB review

Inside, the px2 has a dual-core Intel Atom D525 CPU running at 1.8GHz and 2GB of DDR3 RAM, allowing fast transfer speeds. In our large-file transfer tests, the px2’s speeds rivalled those of Synology’s outstanding DS713+ enclosure, although performance in our small-file test was disappointing. We tested the NAS configured as a RAID1 array, and with its storage set up as both an SMB share and as an iSCSI target. The latter lets you donate part of the NAS’s storage capacity to the sole use of a specific PC. The PC can format and mount the space as though it were a local drive, which results in faster transfer speeds.

When testing the I/O performance of the SMB share, the px2-300d averaged 69.2MB/s for large files, with a write speed of 80.3MB/s and a read speed of 58MB/s. We saw a write speed of 11.2MB/s, a read speed of 14.5MB/s and an average of 12.9MB/s in our small-file test. If need a NAS to back up large numbers of small files, this px2-300d isn’t your best bet.

Many NAS devices show significantly faster throughput when configured as iSCSI targets, as this offloads most of the processing to the PC that’s mounting the target. In our large-file tests, we got a write speed of 135.7MB/s, which is one of the fastest we’ve ever seen, and a read speed of 80.1MB/s, producing a 107.9MB/s average. Small file transfer speeds were a little disappointing compared to similarly priced business NAS devices, but were a significant improvement on those of the SMB tests. Small-file throughput averaged 37.6MB/s based on a write speed of 49.2MB/s and a read speed of 26MB/s.

The Iomega StorCenter px2-300d Pro 2TB costs a similar amount to the Synology DS713+ enclosure with no drives. It’s easy to set up and is a good option for users who just want to carry out the bare minimum of configuration before they’re up and running. The Iomega Personal Cloud, although it has its limitations, is great if you want to make your storage accessible to users off-site without having to set lots of options. However, rather slow small-file transfer speeds and a limited range of features mean that the px2-300d isn’t ideal for power users, who’d be better off spending a bit more to buy a Synology DS713+ and separate hard disks.