EtherFast 10/100 Instant GigaDrive (20GB) w/ Print Server [Mo.# EFG20]
Retail Price:
$1,100.00
Online Price:
~$578 [Buy.com]
This is a basic overview of the Administrator Configuration Utility and Advanced Features of the unit. I ended up with screenshots of most major Administration sections with comments and explanations.
Administration / Advanced Features:
To enter the Administrator Utility, you can either type in the direct URL, or click on the Advanced Configuration icon in the Instant GigaDrive Utility. Immediately, a password window will appear. There's no default password (something I didn't like). You only have to type 'admin' into the User Name cell and click 'OK'.
After entering a correct user name and password, key information on the drive is displayed. You also have the option to change to other Instant GigaDrive's by means of a drop down box that contains a list of all the Instant GigaDrive's drives on your network.
When the 'Administration' button is pressed, an index of the Advanced Configuration will appear.
CONFIGURATION GROUP Network Section:
You can choose between a static, or dynamically assigned IP. The gateway setting will be necessary for any outbound e-mail alerts sent by the unit.
If you want the unit to act as a DHCP server for your network, this is where you would turn on the DHCP service. The unit can provide DHCP IP addresses to 253 clients.
Under the Microsoft Tab you can turn Microsoft networking support off. Some businesses use a few Apple machines for specialized work. This could be useful to isolate the unit only to Apple systems.
System Section:
Under the General tab, you can: Change the units name, change the comment (appears under 'detailed' view of Network Neighborhood), and change the date and time. As I said earlier, it is VERY important that the date and time be correct.
This is an excellent feature to include. E-mail alerts about the units status can be sent out. You can have the unit send out alerts to three separate e-mail accounts. If you are a network administrator, you could use this to send out alerts to your home and work addresses.
SYSTEM MANAGEMENT GROUP Groups Section:
This is where you manage groups. You could make it so only people in Accounting have access to the Payroll folder, etc. It works the same way as controlling individual users. You can specify which files a group can access, and how much room they can use on the drive.
Here's an example of the built in help file in action
Shares Section:
This screen allows you to manage the Shares which exist on the Instant GigaDrive. A "Share" is a folder (directory) on the Instant GigaDrive which a User Group can access. Only the Instant GigaDrive Administrator can create Shares. However, within a Share, users who have access to that Share can create other folders (directories) as well as files. A Share can only be accessed by 1 User Group, but a User Group can access many Shares. If a folder within a Share is also a Share, then all users with access to the outer share will ALWAYS have the same access to the inner share.
Users Section:
This following windows allow you to manage the Users who exist on the Instant GigaDrive. You can add, delete and modify users. You can give them 'shares' or rights to certain folders and even specify how much space they can use on the drive
