Lenovo/EMC 2-bay PX2-300D ($99.99), IX2 ($59.99) and 4-bay IX4-300D ($109.99) NAS units @ Newegg (Sold by Centrix Intl.)

[BenJeremy]

Good news! I fired up the PX4-400D, with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse attached. Four 8TB drives inserted (after I deleted the existing partitions on them) and a host of warnings and confirmation boxes on bootup... and finally, everything booted up. I created a storage pool from the 4 disk slots, and I had to delete the default "Shares" volume, which did not want to be adjusted to the full capacity, but I was able to add a new volume with "All available Space" for 29+TB of storage online.

So yes, the PX line supports volumes larger than 16TB. Anybody want to try this with 16TB drives?

 

[|JosephB17331|]

That is great news!

 

[BenJeremy]

Also, this unit is maxxing out the available gigabit network speeds as I load up the store. I have no complaints about this unit (other than the Transmission torrent client, which can't handle proxy services like BTGuard)

 

[BenJeremy]

I did have a glitch last night on my PX4-400D... I was moving some stuff to the unit, and it crashed, apparently losing the store. Rebooting via the web interface did not resolve the issue. I finally unplugged the unit, popped each drive out and reseated them, booted back up... everything came back up just fine. Still not sure what happened, but I wasn't planning on putting anything important on this that hadn't already been backed up. It's working fine now. I've seen reports of heat issues, but the unit is in my basement, and running 37C CPU/38C Drives as it writes data. I'm not seeing any temperature issues. Everything green.

 

[mikeford]

Kind of likely these were built years ago, so I would have them "busy" for at least the length of the warranty, 30 days I think, to let them burn in, before depending on them to keep data safe.

 

[mikeford]

Checked the PM site just now and the IX2-DL is showing up as $34, site also shows it as $44, but seems like the same unit to me.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Someone stop me from ordering a bunch of IX2-DL units for $44 ea., and stuffing them with shucked 8TB WD Red drives from EasyStore units.

If I had more clients, that's what I would do, and set them up with Macrium Reflect Free edition, which does allow scheduled backups from within Windows (*using Windows VSS). Basically, until you need to do a restore, it's basically fire-and-forget, get daily or weekly backups of your system to a NAS unit (have to configure usernames and passwords and shares on the NAS, and then your backup program). Bonus is, you can back up your laptops and PCs, all of them on the LAN connected to your wifi router, all to the NAS unit. (Downside, backups and restores over wifi don't go so well, maybe Macrium has made some accomodations for that, but mostly, it prefers a wired network.)

Edit: Looking on ebay, some of the listings are tagged "EU/UK", and as we know from that blurb that was posted, Centrix Intl., bought out the Lenovo/EMC stock, both from their NA and Netherlands warehouses.

Also, note that the IX2-DL on PM has a tag under it, "EU/UK".

That's not horrible, I bought some IX2-DL from a dealer in Hungary a while back, I just had to get some plug adapters, like $1-2 ea., on ebay, to use the "Euro-style" plugs. They worked fine otherwise.

 

[mikeford]

The $44 ones are the EU/UK, the $34 are US, I think. https://www.parallelminer.com/produ...ached-storage-nas-2-bay-2tb-4tb-6tb-diskless/

What is tempting is the 2x 1TB version is $55, while its not too likely I will have much use for a 2TB NAS, its dandy for initial testing and then I can pull out the drives for internal PC use where $11 shipped for a 1 TB drive works fine.

 

[VirtualLarry]

My problem is, I've got two IX2-DL units deployed (pulled the drivers out of one of them, thought I was going to be able to sell a pair of 2TB HDDs to someone in FS/FT, oh well), and two more sitting NIB. More than I'll probably need in this lifetime, especially since support (security patches!) has ended.

To top it off, I was temped to buy an IX4 model, too. Sheesh. I wanted the six-disk model, but NOT if it was going to be permanently limited to 4TB HDD sizes, who knows if you'll even be able to get HDDs that small, when my current batch of 2TB and 4TB HDDs croaks.

 

[mikeford]

Having a NAS I don't see the need for more than 1 or 2 TB local storage. Something like a 256GB SSD and whatever 500GB or larger drive I have handy is plenty for local storage.

I'm actually thinking about using a cheap 4 bay JBOD using all the larger drives I have already, upgrading to larger as drive prices drop and storage needs increase.

 

[chiquito3]

This is what the seller informed me on eBay when I had asked if the PX6's were "new":

"

​

New message from: centrix-intl.com (95,368)

Hello, You would be surprised how often we get asked that question. We bought out all of Lenovo's EMC NAS stock here in the US and another warehouse over in the Netherlands. I have attached a few pictures of our warehouse stock. If you had any doubts that these were not new, the pictures should bring some assurance. Also we have a mixture of stock between US marketed products and European marketed products depending on the model you are interested in. There really is no need to worry about that though because we make sure to include the US plug or EU>US adapter tip to convert the cable for US outlet compatibility. Other than the included power cords being different, the specifications are identical between the EU and US marketed products. Please let me know if you have any other questions or if you are interested in a specific model/capacity.

I can confirm that Centrix is selling new Lenovo NAS units. I have 2 of them PX4-400D and IX4-300d. I'm actually using the PX4-400d but the IX4-300d is still new in box. The IX4 is more difficult to set for first time but because of how the firmware is installed in it but at the same time the IX4 has more support all over the internet. I managed to set the IX4 and put it back in the box with just one 80GB drive so that when I decide to use it or maybe sell it I wont have to deal with the whole setting process again.

 

[mikeford]

IX series I think uses drive space for the OS, and PX does not.

Double edge of support on the net, things that are common and NEED support often have it, things that don't need support often don't. OTOH IX is consumer line so less experienced users is to be expected who would need support pro users would not.

 

[mikeford]

Still kind of dragging my feet, but dipped a toe in the water and ordered one of the IX2 2TB at $55, one of the Kube speakers at $6.49, and a couple Lion batteries, CA tax, but shipping was free. Can't make up my mind on a PX, but plenty in stock. For now didn't want to let the free shipping slip away. From Parallel Miner.

 

[mikeford]

I'm not seeing any support, even basic files etc on the Lenovo site, so I started this thread in the memory/storage forum. https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...ware-type-support-for-lenovo-eol-nas.2581894/

I was able to register my IX2 2TB NAS on the Lenovo site, but it insisted my actual purchase date of 6/11/2020 was "out of the grace period", so be sure to leave that field blank, you cannot clear it without cancelling registration and starting over. Home page showed my unit as sold on 9/24/2014 iirc, and out of warranty 3 years later in 2017. Selecting files and drivers results in zero files found. Google searches turned up a few conversations in the Lenovo forums, but nothing recent or that useful.

I do have some stuff from my 5 year old IX2-DL purchase, but I rarely if ever applied or maybe even downloaded any patches etc.

 

[mikeford]

When I setup the new IX2 part of I think it was the quickstart had a link to the Lenovo EMC download page, with non ancient firmware "latest" and client software etc. Some links and included apps don't work, but overall I have it running OK, with I think just Win10 issues still a bit whack a mole.

I only looked briefly, but seems like Parallel Miner is playing with raising some prices, maybe just some up and down to make a "sale" more sale like, but effectively preventing my from wanting to buy those items until prices drop again.

 

[SamirD]

Awesome thread on these units and grat to hear they can use the >8TB drives. The limit on the Intel SS4200-E that shares an earlier version of the same EMC software is 4TB, which is the same as some of these units that must share the same ext2/3 limits:

ext2 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The versions that can use 6TB+ drives must have different kernels that fixed these limits, and it's great to hear that even the cheap $34 unit (with free shipping!) has the ability to run large drives.

Lenovo Iomega IX2-DL 70A69003EA RAID Network Storage - Centrix Intl

Lenovo Iomega IX2-DL 70A69003EA Diskless 2-Bay Desktop Network Attached Storage. Offers content sharing, data protection, & video surveillance capabilities.

www.centrix-intl.com

I'm tempted to get one of these even though I don't need any more nas units.

Well, scratch that--I just pulled the trigger directly through Centrix for $34. Main reason was because these units have a built-in rsync server. This is very handy for fast nas to nas duplication.

I have a Seagate exos 8TB coming next week so I guess that drive will be tested in the Lenovo as well as the Netgear I was originally going to put it in. Might just have to pick up another big drive too...with 6 nas units and parts for one more, I think I'll have some data redundancy.

 

[Scavenger07314]

I have the PX4-400D. Does anyone know how I can factory reset it without any drives installed?

 

[mikeford]

I have the PX4-400D. Does anyone know how I can factory reset it without any drives installed?

I think the PX4-400D has firmware in flash, not on a drive ike the IX, but a quick look says factory reset is only from the web interface. OTOH it should be starting from factory, and what would be the point of changes prior to installing any drives?

*** NOTE *** I would strongly encourage ASAP downloading all potentially useful files, as the Lenovo web support area is deteriorating fast, some links work, lots have permission errors.

Which units have the lower drive size limit, using the Intel SS4200-E ?

 

[mikeford]

Worth noting, check all the sites these are sold through, ebay and newegg seem to always have added shipping costs, vs at least sometimes free shipping from https://www.centrix-intl.com/ and the parallel miner site.

 

[Scavenger07314]

I think the PX4-400D has firmware in flash, not on a drive ike the IX, but a quick look says factory reset is only from the web interface. OTOH it should be starting from factory, and what would be the point of changes prior to installing any drives?

*** NOTE *** I would strongly encourage ASAP downloading all potentially useful files, as the Lenovo web support area is deteriorating fast, some links work, lots have permission errors.

Which units have the lower drive size limit, using the Intel SS4200-E ?

My worry is that if my drives ever failed to the point that I cannot access the web interface, then there's no way to factory reset it. I've tested just switching out a drive and rebooted. Subsequently, I couldn't access the web interface ...

 

[mikeford]

If you don't have a recoverable raid, where you replace a drive and it rebuilds itself, the data can't be accessed and the web interface the least concern. On the IX series factory default is I think a raid mirror, and changing it loses all existing data, so how would a factory reset help?

Link I found has...

Using the device reset button Posted by SIA Support on 20 November 2014 03:21 PM

The device reset button enables you to regain use of your network storage device if you are locked out due to a network configuration issue or because you have forgotten your administrator password for the web management interface. Using the reset button results in the following changes: •Removes all configuration files •Deletes temp files and running PID files •Reverts network configuration to DHCP mode •Resets the system name to the default name (typically, the device model name) •Changes all administrator users to non-admin, so you can create a new admin password NOTE: Secured shares remain secured after the reset. The first time you access the device interface after the reset, you will be required to re-enable security on the device and create a new admin user. A recovery reset using the reset button is not data destructive, but it does remove all LifeLine and kernel logs. It does NOT initiate a full factory reset to system defaults; this level of reset is available only from the LifeLine management interface. You do not need to use the reset button if the web management interface (device console) is available for your device. If the management interface is available, you can use it to make any necessary adjustments to the device configuration. Follow the instructions below to use the reset button. 1.Power on your network storage device and wait until it completes the startup sequence. (All front panel LEDs will stop blinking once startup completes.) 2.Press and hold the reset button for about 15 seconds until the front panel power button begins blinking. NOTE: On most ix and px network storage devices, the reset button is located on the back panel. For the px4-300r, the reset button is located on the front panel. If you are unable to locate the reset button, refer to the section "About... Components" in the User's Manual (User Guide) for your device. 3.The device will restart automatically. Wait until system restart completes. 4.Once restart completes, you can use the Storage Manager client software to discover the device, or you can manually connect to the web management interface by entering the model name in the web browser on your client computer. 5.Re-enable security and adjust network configuration settings as needed.

 

[aigomorla]

EVERYONE WHO BOUGHT A UNIT PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT STATEMENT

A hacker gang is wiping Lenovo NAS devices and asking for ransoms

Ransom notes signed by 'Cl0ud SecuritY' hacker group are being found on old LenovoEMC NAS devices.

www.zdnet.com

 

[BenJeremy]

EVERYONE WHO BOUGHT A UNIT PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT STATEMENT

A hacker gang is wiping Lenovo NAS devices and asking for ransoms

Ransom notes signed by 'Cl0ud SecuritY' hacker group are being found on old LenovoEMC NAS devices.

www.zdnet.com

Old news from last year.

• The problem requires you to enable the Personal Cloud Feature and Expose it through your Router
• Hackers can delete your files and write new files. They cannot read the files.
• The claim that they are "holding" your files for ransom is a scam, if they wiped your files and left a ransom note, your files are gone.
• The May 2020 Firmware fixed this issue
• Equally, simply don't use the Personal Cloud feature
  • I personally use OwnCloud on separate Linux Server, and I can access my NAS shares through that.

I'm not sure why this story suddenly has new legs. Lenovo issued the new firmware just after the EOL date for these units.

I updated my PX4-400D unit online, after I had formatted my 32TB volume (4x8TB drives) and already loaded some files on them. It updated without issues, and with no data loss.

 

[mikeford]

Lenovo support page on this issue, https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/LEN_11575

TLDR: Update to current firmware which sets secure features as defaults, instead of options. Applies to all the NAS in this thread plus the media drive.

Securely Configuring LenovoEMC NAS Devices
Lenovo Security Advisory: LEN-11575

Potential Impact: Access to stored data if security settings have not been configured

Scope of Impact: Lenovo-specific



Summary Description:

In light of recent work by a security researcher, Lenovo would like to remind owners of older LenovoEMC consumer Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices of a firmware update issued in 2014 that enables “security by default” for these devices instead of requiring users to manually configure security settings. This firmware update requires users to configure passwords to secure all data. Without such updates, or the owner configuring their devices securely, the devices can be accessed and data can be exposed.

Lenovo highly recommends customers update to the latest firmware version (4.1.102 or later) or enable security on their devices by following the steps at the links below.

These devices were initially developed and sold by Iomega. In 2008, Iomega was acquired by EMC, which formed a joint venture with Lenovo in 2013 and sold these products branded as LenovoEMC. Lenovo implemented the “secure by default” shortly afterward.

 

[SamirD]

Okay, so I finally got a chance to open up my $34 box special and it's like it's brand new. Too bad I don't have time to mess with it right now.