Home NAS servers
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rh100
Well-Known Member
I'm using Windows Home Server now, takes care of media streaming and backups and uses it's own type of drive mirroring and use it as a print server aswell
I used to use a Buffallo thing with an external disk attached for backups - kept locking out - also had a linksys 'slug' before that.
I used to use a Buffallo thing with an external disk attached for backups - kept locking out - also had a linksys 'slug' before that.
meenaghman
Guru
I have a readynas duo. Seems to work fine.. few problems with mtu size on wireless for windows vista and 7 users. (documented solution you need to change on the wireless card ) Streaming server works ok.. I've been able to access files from "abroad" also. uses mirror raid. When I bought mine Netgear were doing a deal where you could claim a 500gb drive (had to send away and it came later) so ordered mine with 2 x 750gig drives and I bunged the 500 into a usb enclosure and it is used off a satellite / freeview boxes I have with USB output for storing some programs on it.
One of the first things I did was open the back and check the memory, and bought another simm for it.
The device is noisy on first boot but very quiet after that. low on electric.. could be even lower if I could get the auto system shutdown to work.. in theory one can have it turned off when you don't need it.
It can also run a printer as a shared network device although I haven't done that yet.. (that's the next project a house laser printer I think). I have wired Gige network around the house and 2 wireless access points (its a big house and concrete / steel and non-ideal placement of BT line (one end of the house). plus I like to roam into the garden on occasion.
One of the first things I did was open the back and check the memory, and bought another simm for it.
The device is noisy on first boot but very quiet after that. low on electric.. could be even lower if I could get the auto system shutdown to work.. in theory one can have it turned off when you don't need it.
It can also run a printer as a shared network device although I haven't done that yet.. (that's the next project a house laser printer I think). I have wired Gige network around the house and 2 wireless access points (its a big house and concrete / steel and non-ideal placement of BT line (one end of the house). plus I like to roam into the garden on occasion.
Davidc
Guru
- Location
- Somerset UK
I have one of the HP docking stations for my laptop, which provides NAS (and includes a built in drive as well), and also a network printer facility.
It's used to keep data copies and drive images. Go for a good NAS device, image your PC system, keep duplicate copies of all data. The first time a drive goes down you'll realise just how well spent your money was
I don't use mirrored drives, but duplication software that makes a copy of every file plus a zipped up copy on a separate USB drive of every file deleted as well (they're auto deleted after 14 days) - it's rescued me many times.
It's used to keep data copies and drive images. Go for a good NAS device, image your PC system, keep duplicate copies of all data. The first time a drive goes down you'll realise just how well spent your money was
I don't use mirrored drives, but duplication software that makes a copy of every file plus a zipped up copy on a separate USB drive of every file deleted as well (they're auto deleted after 14 days) - it's rescued me many times.
the_mikey
Legendary Member
- Location
- South Gloucestershire
I have a Drobo. Really can't recommend it highly enough. True, it's not standard RAID - but it's simple, reliable, flexible, hassle-free, and gives me SSH access to an ash prompt.
I'm just using a pair of 500Gb NAS HDD atm, but I really quite fancy a Drobo, although I'll probably spend the money on a new bike before I ever get my hands of one of those...
That used to be the case, yes (it was when I got mine) but not any more: the newer Drobo FS has the NAS built in - in fact I think it's NAS-only (plus it has 5 drive bays rather than 4).
That won't be a problem: Drobos do network sharing over SMB, which is the lowest common denominator (in much the same way that FAT32 is for filesystems). It doesn't even matter if the drives are formatted for FAT32/NTFS/HFS+ (or ext3?) - they'll be shared over the network using SaMBa. I've used mine from a Mac, a Windows PC, and a Linux palmtop with no problems.
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If you're happy with a bit of faffing to get things working, a SheevaPlug [1] with an external USB drive can make a cheap and flexible NAS, and do many other things too. Being an ARM architecture they draw very little power. The only fly in the ointment is that the power supplies seem to be fragile - I'm now on my second, but it's been boringly stable since I swapped.
[1] http://www.newit.co.uk/
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[1] http://www.newit.co.uk/
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