Data Center
A revised review, the aftermath of real life
We recently ran several columns about a network back-up appliance called the Intradyn RocketVault, and we concluded by saying we really liked the product even though it "has a few rough edges."
We criticized the setup process and the documentation and mentioned Intradyn's claim that the RocketVault is usually "set up by a dealer so the majority of users never will have to wrestle with these issues."
But our biggest complaint was reserved for RocketVault's e-mail reports: "The reports are gobbledygook - unremittingly techie and full of extraneous detail that make them look more like debug traces designed by a committee of engineers who obviously had never met a live end user."
Since we wrapped up the review the RocketVault has been sitting in the secret underground Gearhead test bunker doing its thing, and we've got a better appreciation for what this device really is and does.
One of the first things we discovered about the system actually had nothing to do with the RocketVault. Our hosting provider, Easycgi.com, dropped us a note to say that we were violating the terms and conditions of its service.
Of course, we had just glanced at the fine print in the company's Terms and Conditions so we missed the bit that says, "Web space is not to be used as an image, sound, or file library, repository, or any other backup or storage solution."
As we had tested the RocketVault's ability to store backups on a remote FTP site using our Easycgi account, we had unwittingly run afoul of the agreement. Given that Easycgi charges for disk space and traffic, it seems odd that such restrictions, particularly specific to "backup and storage solutions," would be placed on hosting accounts. Oh well, there's no accounting for business decisions.
Anyway, it might be a clue to the Intradyn's engineering philosophy that when we selected RAID Status from the management interface (something we hadn't done before, as our machine doesn't have RAID) we got a message that read, "Why are u [sic] here . . . you have no raid controller." We don't think we need to comment on this any further.
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