And last, Support is where you manage the device firmware and check system logs.
Remote Access
Let’s go ahead and turn on remote access. We’ll try using UPnP to manage the router here, so no setting a static IP this time. Go back to the Dashboard and click on Network. On the Standard tab, click on the Remote Access drop down and choose LaCie MyNAS. Enter a name to use for your customized URL.
Click Apply. The CloudBox attempts to set up remote access. Assuming success, you’ll see a confirmation screen.
Note the URL as this is the address on the internet for your CloudBox. Copy the URL and paste it into your browser in a new window, then click on Close. You’ll see a login screen. Use the user name Admin and the password that you used when setting up the device. Here is what you see when you log in.
Your content is available in this interface, in this case under Family since that is where I put the data. This is a nice and convenient way to have access to your data, and works very well. In fact, the app is smart enough to redirect to a local IP in my case, since I was logging in from the same network as the CloudBox is on. Nice touch!
If you add users, they will each be able to save data to the CloudBox in their own secured area.
Content downloaded rather than streamed, which might be an issue for you. Content streamed without issue to my PS3 and Android tablet from inside the network, so you can indeed use this as a media server once you load it with content.
Performance Testing
In response to some reader feedback on this review, I have added a formal performance measurement section to this review. Happyman, thanks for the question! The Cloudbox performs slowly compared to some other RAID0 and RAID5 devices; this is due to the fact that it is a single spindle/drive product and has limited onboard flash memory. I ran the Cloudbox through the Intel NAS Performance suite of tests, running each test 5 times and reporting the average of the result. I also added a file copy from a RAID5 to the tested device test in place of the Intel file copy test that returned nonsensical values. The Cloudbox performance is roughly 50% of the performance of the Lacie 5big Office + that we reviewed recently. Here is a graph that shows the throughput in MB/s for each of the tests that I ran:
File copies to the Cloudbox ran at about 30.3 MB/s.
Overall Assessment
The Good
The CloudBox is easy to set up. You can be up and running in 10 minutes flat, and setting up remote access won’t take you much longer. The styling is really attractive; you can leave this out in plain sight in your office or living room (as long as your router is there) without issues. Remote access works well and gives you access to your data while on the road. 10GB of Wuala storage is bundled with the device, and Wuala is a very robust and useful storage service. At $119 for a 1TB model, it sure won’t break the bank!
The Bad
File transfer speeds are a little slow. The remote access feature does not offer media streaming over the internet. There is no bundled client backup tool similar to what you would find in an external hard drive.
The Verdict
Lacie’s CloudBox promises one-click configuration for easy storage and file sharing inside the network and it delivers. Bundled with an easy-to-configure remote access solution, this is a nice product that should be on your radar screen if you are shopping for an external hard drive. You will need to manually copy what you want stored on it, and you will not get scheduled client backups, but the remote access solution may be worth the tradeoff. I give this a 5/5 Gold Award.
FULL DISCLOSURE NOTICE
LaCie provided the 1TB model to me for review purposes, free of charge. This had no impact on my assessment, but I thought you should know.
LaCie CloudBox Product Page
Great job Jim, thanks for all the details.
Sure, John, my pleasure!
Thanks for the review. Are there some other solutions for DIY remote network storage that we should check out in addition to the Lacie Cloudbox?
I like the Seagate Central announced at CES2013 https://moviesgamesandtechcom.wpcomstaging.com/2013/01/11/ces2013-seagate-announces-new-seagate-central/ and also full-on NAS units from QNAP/Synology/ASUSTOR/Buffalo are interesting options. It really depends on how technical you are, and what your exact requirements are…this is a simple product aimed at people who want minimal setup required…full-on NAS units add complexity, but deliver RAID speeds and other bells and whistles. If you can provide some additional data on exactly what you are trying to do, I might be able to be more helpful in recommendations.
Thanks for the review. I am looking to buy this box (3TB) but haven’t been able to find a good review. You have one of the first one. Thanks for that.
The transfer speed you have is quite slow compare to spec speed – up to 60MB/sec. I am wondering what is your setup and if what you have may contribute to the slow transfer speed. Thanks.
Happyman–This is a single spindle product with minimal flash onboard, so it won’t be speedy. As far as network specs, this was connected to a Netgear gigbit switch, and the content was being copied over a wifi connection. You are correct in that this will under report the speeds if the entire pipe is gigabit ethernet, and I can update this to reflect all-wired speeds soon. Keep in mind that the target customer will often be connecting via wireless to the device, which will be slow. Thanks for the feedback/question!
Jim, thanks for reply. It makes sense that it was over wifi for the speed you have. Please let me know when you have the transfer speed over Ethernet. Thanks again.
Stay tuned…and thanks for the question. I will add that test as soon as I can.
Happyman, thanks for the question. I ran the Cloudbox through the Intel NAS Performance suite of tests, running each test 5 times and taking the average result. The sole exception to that is the Intel FileCopyToNAS test, which returned very high values due to the fact that my testbed machine has 24GB of RAM and the test can’t factor that issue out. To replace the Intel file copy test, I moved 42.1GB of data from another NAS with a RAID5 to the Cloudbox, which should give you a best-case real world throughput measure; this was about 30.3MB/s, roughly half of what I have seen in the Lacie 5big Ofiice+ with a RAID5.
I intend to use this approach on all future articles, and appreciate your question as it motivated me to standardize our speed testing methodology.
Jim, I have been researching simple methods of backing up mulitiple PCs on my home network for some time. I have read tons of comments on this and it seems there are no 5 star solutions. However this product seems to have fewer issues and complexities than other drives. Adding the sharing features and more that are available on this I am almost sold. One sticking point is that it doesn’t come with backup software to perform auto backups of client PCs on the network. I definitely want this. Any recommendations on good software for this purpose and compatible with this box? Thanks.
Automated backups are not in this product’s feature set. If you need that, look at a traditional external drive that bundles backup software.
Very good review – thanks! Any experience how to backup the cloudbox in the network? Solutions like the LaCie Big series do offer an USB to do scheduled backups of the NAS source. Thanks for some feedback, PM
You can use rsynch to back this up to another unit on the network. Speeds will be a little slow but it can be done. And of course it bundles with Wuala for secure off-site backup; getting your backup into the cloud with Wuala may be the easiest if you can afford the cost for the Wuala data plan.
Hi not sure if this thread is still active. I was hoping you could advise me on which nas device to purchase, lacie cloud box or seagate central 4TB. I can’t see the difference , does the central allow streaming media over the internet, I think the cloud doesn’t. My requirements are ease of use, able to stream to my Xbox, family to access all data, reliable and as fast transfer as possible in this price range. I travel a little so would like to stream movies to my tablet smart phone over 3G/4G. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have, or you may recommend another NAS in this price range.
Great review by the way.