Java based NAS drive discovery coming to the Simpleshare

STORAGE COMPANY Simpletech seems to have realized that making things easier also for customers who don't use the Windows operating system also makes sense for them. When I reviewed their Broadcom "Nas-on-a-chip" based STI-NAS/160 fast ethernet network attached storage appliance last year, I concluded that it was "almost" a cross-platform panacea. The only problem with Simpletech's NAS drives was that the initial "automatic discovery" of the unit, is handled currently with an Active-X object loaded by Internet Explorer via the drivers CD auto-run process.

Several Linux and even Solaris users wrote back, asking for assistance in manually configuring the Simpleshare unit -it's simple really, just assign it an ip address with a DHCP server on your LAN and then point your Firefox/Mozilla linux/unix browser to the unit's IP address-. But every time, I forwarded the users' pleas for help to Simpletech. It worked. They have acknowledged there's life outside the Windows, and appear to be doing the right thing: a cross-platform "unit discovery" utility.

Verbatim from the company's spokesperson: "Here's the information I received from the product manager: 1) We are developing a Java Applet (equivalent to the ActiveX one) for Apple Mac. It should function the same way under other Operating Systems supporting Java. This Java Applet would be available in early March as part of 500GB SimpleShare 1.1 product release".

But the good news don't stop there: "2) UPnP, Bon Jour and Rendezvous are all supported for discovery as part of the SimpleShare 1.1 product release". The company is also touting its new "iShare" feature in the new firmware release, which will allow users to to upload files to your home drive over the Internet and to access all the drive's contents not only on the local home LAN but over the internet WAN as well -with password protection of course.

When asked if owners of old NAS drives will be able to get the new iShare features, the company spokesperson told the INQ: "For previously purchased SimpleShares, the new functionality of SimpleShare with iShare is enabled by downloading new firmware. I am not aware of any plans for charging additional fees for the upgrade. However, we will post the firmware on the SimpleShare Firmware web site when the documentation for the new firmware is released". So there you have. Perhaps it will be a complete cross-platform panacea, after all. µ

See also:
Simpleshare ethernet drive almost a cross-platform panacea