[Macworld]

Post your comments for LaCie intros Network Space media server here

[flybynight]

If it can be an iTunes music server, can it be an iTunes video/TV show/movie/etc server? Wondering if this would work to stream to an AppleTV?

[hoju]

I bought one of LaCie's Ethernet Home Edition hard drives, and let me tell you, it is one of the worst gadgets I've ever purchased (I use a lot of LaCie drives in my work in post production, and generally like their products).
What they don't tell you in any of the product information is that it uses a web-based interface, as well as third-party software (Hipserv, made by Axxentra) that you have to go through in order to do anything.
It is slow as molasses, the disk hangs for no reason, and never stops spinning, all of which are admitted problems by the Hipserv people. Their forums are filled with frustrated customers (kudos to Axxentra, though, since they're actually providing a forum for said customers, whereas LaCie just links to a bunch of outdated files as their version of "customer support").
Anyway, LaCie hasn't done anything to deal with the issues of this drive. Hope they're not on that slippery slope of churning out crappy product after crappy product with no consideration for their customers.

[hoju]

Just to clarify:
My comments above aren't about this new Network Space device, but are about another model that touted similar features.

[bartonb]

Let me just say that Lacie will have to have a pretty special drive to match that of the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo. Netgear really hit the mark for a Media Server/NAS for Mac OS X. Never hangs, lightning fast transfer rates (Gigabit), and optional redundency for a complete Disaster Recovery solution for your home.
Regarding the iTunes question: I'm sure they use the same Firefly service to be able to setup the Server to be used with iTunes, which works really nice, however, AppleTV will not talk to the Firefly service, or at least nothing I can Google or are aware of.
P.S. ..and no I swear I don't work for Netgear, just a Mac Addict and one that rejoices when a product is as perfect as the ReadyNAS Duo.

[folklore]

When these hit market, it'd be nice to see Macworld do a NAS roundup - Airport Extreme/Time Capsule v. NetGear ReadyNAS v. LaCie's new thing v Drobo (maybe, its sort of a different device).

[dfs]

One thing you have to watch out for with LaCie network devices. I had a 1-TB network Big Disk. Worked great until we had a power outage which corrupted the directory. Even after discussing the problem with LaCie's tech.support I couldn't get their maintenance/software to be able to reformat or fix the problem, so I'm stuck with a pretty expensive paperweight. Moral of the story: it's not enough just to discuss and review NAS devices as pieces of hardware. You have to consider the associated software that comes with them. In LaCie's case, it's woefully inadequate (and there was no offer to replace the unit, needless to say). Be warned.

[lumpo]

As mentioned by DFS, I have a 1-TB network Big Disk and it has never worked and the support is worse than useless. It was my last LaCie drive because of that (and we buy quite a few drives on an ongoing basis).
Try before you buy with this one!

[dfs]

Lumpo is a bit too harsh. I also have a LaCie three-way Big Disk which works just fine. The problem is the software (and LaCie tech support, which indeed was "worse than useless" in my case), not the disk itself. In the case of a networked drive this is crucial because Disk Utility and the other disk management/repair utilities we all normally rely on don't work with these devices. So (unless there's some piece of software out there of which I don't know) you're pretty much entirely at the mercy of whatever the manufacturer gives you. LaCie's is bad, but that supplied by some other mfrs. may be no better.That's why, as I say, it's vital to have a close look at the software ANY manufacturer provides bundled with the device before buying (I wish reviewers would get this through their heads).