Buffalo Forums
Products => Storage => : JonHodgson August 17, 2013, 11:22:44 AM
-
I wanted to share my experience with my new LinkStation 421e (LS421DE), and WARN potential buyers of some issues.
Although the LinkStation 400 series is basically the new improved version of LinkStation Pro series, the LS400s actually have LESS FEATURES than the LS-Pros do (as of firmware 1.01-0.53), even though Buffalo's website leads you to believe that both series share the same "LinkStation NAS System (http://www.buffalotech.com/resource-center/nas-system/linkstation-nas-system)" with the same features.
So far I've identified 4 features missing from the LS400s which are in the LS-Pros
- Power Management / UPS Synchronization via USB - This is important if you have a long-term power outage and want your NAS to gracefully shutdown before the UPS battery runs out. Without this you risk a hard shutdown, and once the power returns your NAS will be offline for a day or more while it checks the RAID's consistency.
- Sleep Timer - If you use the LinkStation for backups, this is a nice feature to have the NAS power up before the backup starts and shutdown a few hours later. It's not a critical feature, but it helps you save power.
- & 4. HTTP Web Server w/ PHP support & MySQL Server - You can use this to host your own custom apps. This is great on the LS-Pros as I was able to decommission some old PCs by moving their apps over to the LinkStation. Since the LS400s have beefier processors, they'd be even better suited for this, but alas, the feature is missing.
The following 4 menus from the LinkStation Pro Duo (LS-WVL/E) are completely missing from the LS421de
- System\Power Management (UPS Settings & SleepTimer)
- Network\Web Server
- Network\MySQL Server
My guess is that these regressions are due to the brand-new simpler UI on the LS400s. They probably didn't get around to building the UIs for those features yet in this early v1.01 firmware (vs the LSPro's more mature v1.65), so hopefully a later firmware will restore the missing functionality. My guess is the underlying system supports these features, so my guess is they'll eventually return.
In summary, if you don't care about those 4 features, consider this unit to have 5 stars. The setup was super easy, and it's chocked full of great features for the price. It's only slightly more expensive than a 2-bay dumb external drive enclosure, but can do so much more. Buffalo's products are very reliable, my TeraStation Pro from 2007 is still going strong after running 24x7 for the last 6.5 years.
If you do care about those features, and are ok with slightly lower (but still great) performance, get the LinkStation Pro Duo instead. A bonus is that it's cheaper!
I've contacted support who was surprised to see the features were missing. They're escalating to a senior engineer and if I learn anything new i'll update this.
-
Your title is misleading, reading it you would think that the LS400 series is missing advertised features, it is not.
-
I expected to find these facilities in my new Linkstation 420. If you read the user manual, it states the functions exist.
Ian Lawrence
-
I can confirm this one. The manual states LinkStation LS421DE *does* support UPS:
http://manual.buffalo.jp/buf-doc/35013107-04_EN.pdf
This is not true. Web GUI does not show anywhere this possibility.
This is a major issue for a device supposed to run when no one is in place.
Have you received any news about a fix for this?
-
You can sync the Linkstation with another UPS that is connected to a different Linkstation on the network, this option is available on the management tab.
-
This implies having 2 devices for an actually basic feature every NAS should have. And so far, there's no "UPS Sync" option in web GUI so I cannot configure to use another device. Last but not least, the other LinkStation should, of course, support UPS too... And if it is another LS421DE...
As stated on the manuals, the LS421DE support plugging the UPS into the back USB port, so it must be supported, otherwise you're cheating your customers:
If a UPS (sold separately) is attached, the LinkStation can be automatically shut down for protecting data in the event of a power outage.
1 Plug the power cable of the UPS to a wall socket.
2 Connect the AC cable of the LinkStation to the UPS.
3 Connect the UPS and LinkStation using a USB cable or serial cable.
4 Turn on the UPS, then the LinkStation.
...
If the LinkStation is connected directly to a UPS, select “Sync with UPS connected to this LinkStation”. If a different LinkStation is connected to the UPS, select “Sync with UPS connected to another LinkStation on the same network”. After making this selection, enter the IP address of the LinkStation that will be the sync source in “Other LinkStation’s IP Address”.
...
I wrote an email to the Italian customer support, but got no response. I'll try to call them in a few hours hoping this is a firmware bug that will be fixed very soon.
Is there any Buffalo representative in the forum I can contact?
-
This implies having 2 devices for an actually basic feature every NAS should have. And so far, there's no "UPS Sync" option in web GUI so I cannot configure to use another device. Last but not least, the other LinkStation should, of course, support UPS too... And if it is another LS421DE...
As stated on the manuals, the LS421DE support plugging the UPS into the back USB port, so it must be supported, otherwise you're cheating your customers:
If a UPS (sold separately) is attached, the LinkStation can be automatically shut down for protecting data in the event of a power outage.
1 Plug the power cable of the UPS to a wall socket.
2 Connect the AC cable of the LinkStation to the UPS.
3 Connect the UPS and LinkStation using a USB cable or serial cable.
4 Turn on the UPS, then the LinkStation.
...
If the LinkStation is connected directly to a UPS, select “Sync with UPS connected to this LinkStation”. If a different LinkStation is connected to the UPS, select “Sync with UPS connected to another LinkStation on the same network”. After making this selection, enter the IP address of the LinkStation that will be the sync source in “Other LinkStation’s IP Address”.
...
I wrote an email to the Italian customer support, but got no response. I'll try to call them in a few hours hoping this is a firmware bug that will be fixed very soon.
Is there any Buffalo representative in the forum I can contact?
Best to contact EU support Id imagine. Since these are US forums there is no alot they can do about EU device. I dont know if the same happens on US devices.
-
I spoke with the HelpDesk and seems like this function should be indeed supported. They requested me informations, but right now I've no access to the device, so tomorrow I'll manage to gather all the required informations and send back to them.
I'll let you know, of course we've to wait for monday, I'll keep this thread up to date at least for the UPS part. I'll try to ask for the sleep timer too, but I'm do not really care about PHP WS and MySQL.
PS: I must say the HelpDesk is really nice and professional :-)
-
The sleep timer was added to the unit already via a firmware update. Since the 1.30 update.
-
Solved. So far it was a firmware problem. The LinkStation was saying the firmware was at the very last version, but the support pointed me to the 1.31 download page. Installed and rebooted I'm able to see the same interfaces and procedures stated on the manuals.
Excellent!
To stay on topic, I can see the sleep timer too, but no trace of WebServer and MySql. These are not a problem for me, Just the UPS support was the feature I was missing.
Thank you all!
-
Is there any chance that Buffalo will add PHP and MySQL support in a firmware update? Would be very helpful for me (could eliminate the need for a separate server.)
-
Is there any chance that Buffalo will add PHP and MySQL support in a firmware update? Would be very helpful for me (could eliminate the need for a separate server.)
MySQL is installed on the device, but not enabled for some reason.
[root@LS421DE2F1 ~]# mysql
mysql mysql_find_rows mysql_secure_installation mysql_waitpid mysqlbinlog mysqld_safe mysqlimport
mysql_client_test mysql_fix_extensions mysql_setpermission mysql_zap mysqlbug mysqldump mysqlshow
mysql_config mysql_fix_privilege_tables mysql_tzinfo_to_sql mysqlaccess mysqlcheck mysqldumpslow mysqlslap
mysql_convert_table_format mysql_install_db mysql_upgrade mysqladmin mysqld_multi mysqlhotcopy mysqltest
[root@LS421DE2F1 ~]# ls /etc/apache/
access.conf httpd.conf httpd.conf.default magic mime.types server.crt server.key server.pem srm.conf ssl_crt_key.tgz*
[root@LS421DE2F1 ~]# dumpnf | grep MYSQL
SUPPORT_MYSQL=0
[root@LS421DE2F1 ~]# dumpnf | grep APACHE
SUPPORT_APACHE=0
-
Interesting. I wonder if there are any files missing from those directories compared to a Pro Duo... maybe that would enable management. I figure they're probably using some form of MySQL + Apache to run the admin and webaccess sites.
-
For some reason, the cheaper model Link Station Duo (LS-WXL) supports MySQL. Let us compare the hardware on LS-WXL and LS421DE.
LinkStation Duo (LS-WXL)
CPU Type: Marvell 88F6281 ARM
CPU Speed: 600MHz
RAM DDR2: 128MB
LinkStation LS421DE
CPU Type: Marvell ARMADA 370 ARM (Dual Issue)
CPU Speed: 1.2GHz
RAM DDR3: 512MB
LinkStation LS421DE is a competent NAS, but the lack of some features may prevent people from buying it.
-
I purchased it precisely because of those better specs. In retrospect, I didn't do enough homework, and so didn't realize that the web server functionality would be crippled. Oh well. Right now, though, I'd be happy if I could consistently log into the UI and run a RAID 1 (see my other thread.) But, assuming that all gets worked out, a mySQL server would still be nice :)