Linksys home NAS gateway for USB hard drives

[LeadMagnet]

I thought this was a pretty cool little device for sharing out a USB hard drive. (without building a bigger, louder, more expensive PC running Linux or Windows)


Linksys NAS gateway for USB hard drives $75

Now you can quickly and easily add gigabytes of storage space onto your network with the Network Storage Link from Linksys. This tiny network appliance connects USB 2.0 hard drives directly to your Ethernet network. You can connect up to two stand-alone USB disk drives of any size, and access them from anywhere on your network. You can even plug a USB flash disk into the Network Storage Link, for a convenient way of accessing your portable data files. The Network Storage Link can also be set up so that your storage devices are accessible from the Internet -- files can be easily downloaded via your web browser. Your files can be available publicly, or create password-protected accounts for authorized users.

Installation of the Network Storage Link is simple -- just plug it directly into your 10/100 Ethernet network, and attach your USB 2.0 hard drives or flash disk. It can self-configure to your network via DHCP or you can use the built-in utility to manually configure it. With the speedy USB 2.0 interface, you'll get quick response times with even your largest files.

The Network Storage Link features built-in disk utilities, accessible through your web browser. You can format new disk drives, and scan drives for errors. The built-in backup program lets you schedule full, incremental, or synchronization backups of your network drives to the Network Storage Link, or vice versa. It will even send you an email message when a hard drive gets nearly full, completely full, or has an error.

The Network Storage Link is a fast, simple, flexible and economical way to add storage to your network.

 

[WHipLAsh13]

A wireless version of this would be real cool.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: WHipLAsh13
A wireless version of this would be real cool.

so attach it to a wireless AP.

 

[LeadMagnet]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: WHipLAsh13
A wireless version of this would be real cool.

so attach it to a wireless AP.

you beat me to it Pepsi90919.

Thats is all I would do - plug it into my wireless router.
or if you already have a wired router and a WAP, just plug it into the router.

 

[0roo0roo]

ah, thats better then the ap with a hd built in. more expandable.

 

[LeadMagnet]

The only things I do not like about it.

1: You cannot plug the USB drive into a Windows box and read or import the filesystem.
2: You cannot export a NFS filesystem for a Linux box to use.
3: It cannot act as a FTP server - just a Windows CIFS share.
4: You cannot mirror 2 drives pluged into the differnt ports

However I supose you would really need to have a PC to do most of that stuff.

 

[dquan97]

nice device! I'll probably get one of these soon

 

[Liviathan]

Linksys NAS gateway for USB hard drives $75

Where is it for $75?? Buy.com has it for 99, can't find it anywhere else.

 

[LeadMagnet]

Originally posted by: Liviathan
Linksys NAS gateway for USB hard drives $75

Where is it for $75?? Buy.com has it for 99, can't find it anywhere else.

That is the price TomsHardware is quoting

The Network Storage Link is available immediately at street pricing as low as $75. Linksys is also running a $20-off promotion for U.S residents who purchase a Maxtor OneTouch USB drive with the Linksys Network Storage Link.

Here it is for $74.65 + shipping

It's available here for $78.10 w/ free shipping

 

[0roo0roo]

does it connect to the uplink port, or does it take a normal port

 

[LeadMagnet]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
does it connect to the uplink port, or does it take a normal port

Normal port - the Uplink port is for you Cable/DSL modem

 

[ElFenix]

this... couple USB enclosures... porn drives that i can instantly take on and off line! (as long as it is PW protected!)

 

[LeadMagnet]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
this... couple USB enclosures... porn drives that i can instantly take on and off line! (as long as it is PW protected!)

ahhh - yes PORN the engine that drive computing technology

 

[Childs]

You have to turn the whole thing off if you want to remove one of the USB drives, which is a dealkiller IMO. Its pretty cool though...too bad they couldn't do raid too!

 

[Amorphus]

Originally posted by: Childs
You have to turn the whole thing off if you want to remove one of the USB drives, which is a dealkiller IMO. Its pretty cool though...too bad they couldn't do raid too!

Think about it. It's Linksys. The best networking Wal-Mart has to offer. What will RAID do?

btw, taking out the USB hotplug-ability really detracts from the whole thing.

 

[FoBoT]

nifty

 

[Childs]

Originally posted by: Amorphus

Originally posted by: Childs
You have to turn the whole thing off if you want to remove one of the USB drives, which is a dealkiller IMO. Its pretty cool though...too bad they couldn't do raid too!

Think about it. It's Linksys. The best networking Wal-Mart has to offer. What will RAID do?

btw, taking out the USB hotplug-ability really detracts from the whole thing.

Just thinking out loud. If you should stripe the two drives together it could lessen the crippled speed that comes with USB2. Its not bad, but if you put this on the network you want read/write performance as fast as possible, because of the expectation that more than one person will use it at the same time.

But the lack of USB hotswap kills this thing. At least we're seeing these types of devices now.

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: LeadMagnet

Originally posted by: ElFenix
this... couple USB enclosures... porn drives that i can instantly take on and off line! (as long as it is PW protected!)

ahhh - yes PORN the engine that drive computing technology

that's only funny because it's true

I work at a dedicated server hosting company... I'd say that almost 3/4 of our clients are porn sites.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: LeadMagnet

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
does it connect to the uplink port, or does it take a normal port

Normal port - the Uplink port is for you Cable/DSL modem

isn't that the wan port?

 

[sygyzy]

How do conventional NAS's work? It's a machine with a bunch of hard drives that is connected to the network right? So what makes that any different than any standard computer hooked up to the network with folders/drives shared? Are those all NAS?

 

[JoeKing]

uhh the 10/100 network would complety kill performance. USB 2 is more than enough bandwidth wise

 

[iwearnosox]

It only has two usb ports, can you plug a hub into it as well? If not you'd just as well get an ximeta netdisk for less.

 

[nageov3t]

isn't there another router that allows you to use an external hard drive as an FTP server accessible outside of your home network?

I forget who makes it, but that sounds like a much better project (IMO).

 

[iwearnosox]

All I know is that I'm getting tired of all these clusterfvck add on boxes, I wish someone would build something that handled NAS, router, 802.11g and modem, or something.

Thumbs down to linksys as well for designing yet another oddly shaped peripheral that not only doesn't match their other crap (I sure love my blueberry and black two-tone router) but won't stack or fit in a normal spot. Way to go, Stinksys!

 

[Goosemaster]

cooler