Price : Too low to display
The Mirra M-120 Personal Server is the always-on data protection system that automatically and continuously backs up multiple networked PCs. Mirra does all the work, all the time, without the hassle of shuffling hard drives between PCs, setting up complex backup software, or burning DVDs. This all-in-one system includes the Personal Server appliance with high-capacity 120 GB drive, Mirra Backup software for each of your PCs, and free Mirra Web Services for anywhere access and secure file sharing. It’s the ideal solution for home office and small business professionals who need a simple, affordable way to protect, remotely access and share their important digital files. In addition to safeguarding against hardware failure, Mirra prevents accidental overwrites or deletions by automatically saving up to eight versions of every file. Mirra even guarantees the safety of your data with its exclusive MirraGuard Data Guarantee. If you have more than one PC, you need a Mirra (www.mirra.com).
This review is from : Mirra Personal Server M-120 Version 2
Simple reliable and feature-rich . Can't speak to prior reviewer's problems, my experience has been very positive. Within an hour of opening the box, I had two PCs connected to the Mirra and backing up files; a couple hours later, I had full web access to both systems, synchronization between the two PCs enabled for a few key folders, and complete backups generated. File versioning is impressive, and best of all the thing just works in the back-ground. I bought this after several enthusiastic reviews from friends who owned one, so far I'm very impressed. Compared to external hard drives (where you do a lot of the work, the backups aren't real-time, and there's no versioning, web-access, or internet-based file sharing), this thing is a steal at $300.
Simple reliable and feature-rich . Can't speak to prior reviewer's problems, my experience has been very positive. Within an hour of opening the box, I had two PCs connected to the Mirra and backing up files; a couple hours later, I had full web access to both systems, synchronization between the two PCs enabled for a few key folders, and complete backups generated. File versioning is impressive, and best of all the thing just works in the back-ground. I bought this after several enthusiastic reviews from friends who owned one, so far I'm very impressed. Compared to external hard drives (where you do a lot of the work, the backups aren't real-time, and there's no versioning, web-access, or internet-based file sharing), this thing is a steal at $300.
Mirra Personal Server M-120 Version 2 Reviews
Great Backup. Weak documentation . I first installed the Mirra in my home for a home office computer and two networked computers. Initially, after installing the software my mouse froze, and I needed to power down to clear the computer. After this continued to occur I found that I had a corrupted obscure graphics file the Mirra was bogging down trying to copy which froze my entire computer. Since deleting the file the server has worked perfectly. Installed a second Mirra in my work office which has also worked without a hitch. I love the instant backups which don't require monitoring.
My biggest complaint is the poor simplistic documentation online which does not cover extensive issues of operation. You can only upload 5 files at once to a remote computer, but this doesn't pose much of a problem for me. Downloading files from a remote computer can only be done one at a time which is fairly time consuming, but having the access to my work server from my home office is worth the wait. All in all, an excellent backup system at an inexpensive cost.
Great Backup. Weak documentation . I first installed the Mirra in my home for a home office computer and two networked computers. Initially, after installing the software my mouse froze, and I needed to power down to clear the computer. After this continued to occur I found that I had a corrupted obscure graphics file the Mirra was bogging down trying to copy which froze my entire computer. Since deleting the file the server has worked perfectly. Installed a second Mirra in my work office which has also worked without a hitch. I love the instant backups which don't require monitoring.
My biggest complaint is the poor simplistic documentation online which does not cover extensive issues of operation. You can only upload 5 files at once to a remote computer, but this doesn't pose much of a problem for me. Downloading files from a remote computer can only be done one at a time which is fairly time consuming, but having the access to my work server from my home office is worth the wait. All in all, an excellent backup system at an inexpensive cost.
Mirra Personal Server M-120 Version 2 Opinions
Best Back-Up System on the Planet . I write for a living, so backing up my work is important to me. Given the creative nature of my work, I needed something that would back up what I was writing as I wrote it. That's what I love about the Mirra Personal Server. It does just that and then some. It even backs up my revisions so I can go back and check what I've written! That's just half of what sold me on Mirra over other back up solutions. What's more, because it plugs into my wireless network adapter, all of my computers can use it to back up files. And because it's a part of my network, I can actually log into my files any where in the world via the internet. Mirra even lets me share files with friends via the internet, too. All I have to do is send them an email and give them a password. When you add everything up, you get real time back up, wireless and internet access, and file sharing all for all your home PCs. Compared to a vanilla back up drive, this is way cool.
Best Back-Up System on the Planet . I write for a living, so backing up my work is important to me. Given the creative nature of my work, I needed something that would back up what I was writing as I wrote it. That's what I love about the Mirra Personal Server. It does just that and then some. It even backs up my revisions so I can go back and check what I've written! That's just half of what sold me on Mirra over other back up solutions. What's more, because it plugs into my wireless network adapter, all of my computers can use it to back up files. And because it's a part of my network, I can actually log into my files any where in the world via the internet. Mirra even lets me share files with friends via the internet, too. All I have to do is send them an email and give them a password. When you add everything up, you get real time back up, wireless and internet access, and file sharing all for all your home PCs. Compared to a vanilla back up drive, this is way cool.
Cons Review
Good in theory but doesn't work . I've had a Mirra server for just over two years and it's been a love hate relationship - mostly hate. I have a 55GB music collection that I back up to my Mirra. I learned the hard way that hard drives fail when I lost my entire MP3 collection. After the icident, I ripped all of my CDs (again) and bought a Mirra to keep my music, photos and other personal data backed up. The Amazon product description pretty much covers what the Mirra is supposed to do. Here's what else you should know:
1) The software is really flakey and resource hungry. The Mirra software seems to often get confused about what is backed up and what is not - you really have to wrestle with it to get it to work (files you may have marked for backup may not actually be backed up). Resource-wise, it's a hog - When you reboot, the Mirra software launches immediately - basically monopolizing your PC's processor for about 2 minutes, while it completes its initial background scan (the windows task manager shows Mirra as the culprit). My wife still complains that the PC freezes up for minutes after she reboots (rebboting is often required after antivirus updates, software installation, etc). In the name of keeping our data backed up, we lived with it.
2) When it's show time, Mirra fails - BADLY. Yes, it happened again... The hard drive that houses my music collection and other important data failed. When it happened, I was actually pretty excited, because I had everything backed up! The cost of the Mirra and my patience with the crummy software paid off! OR DID IT? After installing a new hard drive on my PC, I was stunned to see that the Mirra had incorrectly assumed almost all of my backed up data had been deleted (I'm guessing that the Mirra software tried to scan my failed drive, which still appeared as a drive but could not read/write - when the Mirra software did not see the data, it probably assumed I deleted it and markede the files as deleted). Normally, you would use the Mirra software to simply "save" the backed up data back to the new hard drive.... In my case this would not work because about three-quarters of my data was marked deleted by the Mirra software. I could only automatically "save" about one-quarter of my data back to my new drive. When Mirra thinks a file is deleted, it still saves the file, but you have to go into each deleted file and manually "restore" the file. I spent almost 2 days manually recovering over 6000 files. To make matters worse during this manual recovery process, at times the flakey Mirra software would not even give me the option to "restore" a "deleted" file - I had to reboot my PC until the option magically re-appeared. The biggest problem - apparently Mirra does not actally back up every file in a directory that you designate/mark for backup. For example, Mirra does not back up "hidden" files - unfortunately album art files are stored as "hidden" by Microsoft's OS. I spent months updating my music to have album art (I have a media center pc and it's really nice to see the album art when playing a song) - all that work was lost. I'm still recreating the album art for all of my CDs months after the crash. You get the idea - when it came to doing what it's supposed to do, Mirra fumbled BIG TIME - files that were supposed to be backed up by my Mirra were permanently lost - unforgivable.
3) The Mirra hardware is nothing special - it's an off-the shelf PC (Mini-ITX motherboard/form factor) running Linux. The back panel offers all of the normal PC connections - some are hidden - peel back some of the backing and you can see the PS2 Mouse and Keyboard ports. Do a search for FIC Falcon and you'll find the hardware readily available. The most important part of what I just told you is that the OS is Unix.... I didn't realize what a bad idea this was until my hard drive failed and my Mirra was refusing to give me back my files (by not offering a restore option) - I had NO way of simply taking the hard drive out of the Mirra to recover the files via MS Windows. With Mirra, the files are stored on a PC running a completely different OS that uses a files system that can't be read by Microsoft's OS - this seems like a really bad idea for casual PC users (target user for Mirra). Also, be warned that the cooling fan SCREAMS (and I mean SCREAMS)- my Mirra is in my basement - anywhere else and it would keep the kids awake at night.
4) Yes you can access your files remotely, ovver the internet. However, remember that most ISPs (Comcast, AOL, etc) limit "upstream" bandwidth - when you remotely retrieve files from your Mirra, they are uploaded from your network and are subject to much narrower bandwidth. Don't expect speeds faster than 100Kbps when retrieving files remotely. That's really slow. If you want to access a large file, I hope you're patient.
Bottom line: Stay away from this solution - a cheap off-the shelf PC paired with really flakey software. You'd be better off getting an external hard drive and using Window's built in backup software or third party backup software (You'll end up paying half of what a Mirra would cost you).
1) The software is really flakey and resource hungry. The Mirra software seems to often get confused about what is backed up and what is not - you really have to wrestle with it to get it to work (files you may have marked for backup may not actually be backed up). Resource-wise, it's a hog - When you reboot, the Mirra software launches immediately - basically monopolizing your PC's processor for about 2 minutes, while it completes its initial background scan (the windows task manager shows Mirra as the culprit). My wife still complains that the PC freezes up for minutes after she reboots (rebboting is often required after antivirus updates, software installation, etc). In the name of keeping our data backed up, we lived with it.
2) When it's show time, Mirra fails - BADLY. Yes, it happened again... The hard drive that houses my music collection and other important data failed. When it happened, I was actually pretty excited, because I had everything backed up! The cost of the Mirra and my patience with the crummy software paid off! OR DID IT? After installing a new hard drive on my PC, I was stunned to see that the Mirra had incorrectly assumed almost all of my backed up data had been deleted (I'm guessing that the Mirra software tried to scan my failed drive, which still appeared as a drive but could not read/write - when the Mirra software did not see the data, it probably assumed I deleted it and markede the files as deleted). Normally, you would use the Mirra software to simply "save" the backed up data back to the new hard drive.... In my case this would not work because about three-quarters of my data was marked deleted by the Mirra software. I could only automatically "save" about one-quarter of my data back to my new drive. When Mirra thinks a file is deleted, it still saves the file, but you have to go into each deleted file and manually "restore" the file. I spent almost 2 days manually recovering over 6000 files. To make matters worse during this manual recovery process, at times the flakey Mirra software would not even give me the option to "restore" a "deleted" file - I had to reboot my PC until the option magically re-appeared. The biggest problem - apparently Mirra does not actally back up every file in a directory that you designate/mark for backup. For example, Mirra does not back up "hidden" files - unfortunately album art files are stored as "hidden" by Microsoft's OS. I spent months updating my music to have album art (I have a media center pc and it's really nice to see the album art when playing a song) - all that work was lost. I'm still recreating the album art for all of my CDs months after the crash. You get the idea - when it came to doing what it's supposed to do, Mirra fumbled BIG TIME - files that were supposed to be backed up by my Mirra were permanently lost - unforgivable.
3) The Mirra hardware is nothing special - it's an off-the shelf PC (Mini-ITX motherboard/form factor) running Linux. The back panel offers all of the normal PC connections - some are hidden - peel back some of the backing and you can see the PS2 Mouse and Keyboard ports. Do a search for FIC Falcon and you'll find the hardware readily available. The most important part of what I just told you is that the OS is Unix.... I didn't realize what a bad idea this was until my hard drive failed and my Mirra was refusing to give me back my files (by not offering a restore option) - I had NO way of simply taking the hard drive out of the Mirra to recover the files via MS Windows. With Mirra, the files are stored on a PC running a completely different OS that uses a files system that can't be read by Microsoft's OS - this seems like a really bad idea for casual PC users (target user for Mirra). Also, be warned that the cooling fan SCREAMS (and I mean SCREAMS)- my Mirra is in my basement - anywhere else and it would keep the kids awake at night.
4) Yes you can access your files remotely, ovver the internet. However, remember that most ISPs (Comcast, AOL, etc) limit "upstream" bandwidth - when you remotely retrieve files from your Mirra, they are uploaded from your network and are subject to much narrower bandwidth. Don't expect speeds faster than 100Kbps when retrieving files remotely. That's really slow. If you want to access a large file, I hope you're patient.
Bottom line: Stay away from this solution - a cheap off-the shelf PC paired with really flakey software. You'd be better off getting an external hard drive and using Window's built in backup software or third party backup software (You'll end up paying half of what a Mirra would cost you).
I've had plent of aggravation too. . The unit becomes overwhelmed if you try to back up too many files and a lot of the initial problems I experienced got better when I reduced the number of files I was backing up. The system can also slow your computer speed down very substantially as it backs files up. I like the ability to look at files off site. However, after wiping out my hard drive, when I tried to restore my files the server kept cutting off. I could not find a way to get telephone support; Mirra appears to supply email support only. So it's now been 5 days since my drive died and I still have no resolution and no backup from the Mirra server. Seems like support is in no hurry to help. So far the only thing support has suggested is that the files I'm trying to restore are too big. Let's run through that one again: I'm trying to restore my hard drive and customer support writes that the unit is crashing because there are either too many files or the files I'm trying to restore are too big. Am I missing something here? Isn't this supposed to be a hard drive backup system? You can buy this thing; it works pretty well when you don't need it. But if you buy this unit, I would suggest having another backup system available in the event of a computer crash, because you may not be able to recover your data from this unit when you need it!
I have it & I hate it . The Mirra backup we bought was a huge waste of money. Making files accessible from the server to web access has been problematic and spotty. Recovering files that were backed up and show on the Mirra always fails. We have not had to use it for a big system failure, but based on the performance in these first 2 areas.... I will not be holding my breath counting on it to save the day... and support is nonexistant.
Not a backup and it doesn't restore! . This is a good sounding idea that doesn't work in practice due to poor design decisions. If you need to retrieve just one file (or folder) that you accidently deleted, then it may work okay. But if your hard drive fails and you need to try to restore all your files you are not going to like the result. When the Mirra restores a file to a computer other than the one it originally came from, it resets the "date modified" to the current date. If you are like me and you use the "date modified" to find the most current version or oldest version of a file, you are SOL. This would seem an easy fix, but the non-existent customer support seems to function in some language other than English and insists that this is a feature, not a bug. As you can see from the other reviews, this is the wrong answer the backup question.
Feature Mirra Personal Server M-120 Version 2
- Guaranteed Backup For Multiple PC's.
- Automatically Back Up All the Computers on Your Network.
- Access Your Files From Anywhere. For Free
- Prevent Data Loss From Hardware Failure or Human Error.
- Just set-it-and-forget-it
Product Details
EAN : 0895710000057UPC : 895710000057
MPN : M020120
Brand : Mirra
Color : Grey & Black
Weight : 11 pounds
Height : 8 inches
Length : 15 inches
Width : 14 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Manufacturer : Mirra
Model : Mirra Personal Server M-120
Platform : Windows 2000
Publisher : Mirra
SKU : DHM020120
Studio : Mirra
Where To Buy
You can buy Mirra Personal Server M-120 Version 2 on Amazon . Click here to Read More
