NAS - Another thing I don't really 'need' but just gotta get

[GZeus]

Infrant ReadyNAS NV+

NewEgg Link

This sucker looks so sweet! I know I'm going to break down eventually and pull the trigger, meanwhile...
What others I should be looking at? Cheaper solutions? Is it difficult or expensive to build your own?

Edit: AnandTech Review

 

[Kaervak]

I built my own, which is rather nice because it's my print server, VPN server & file server. Price wasn't all that much, everything except the HDD I bought used and I got the HDD for -$10 after a price match and two MIRs. IIRC, it ran me either $70 or $80 for a 160GB setup. With my setup it's a plain Windows 2000 install with VPN/printer drivers added and a VNC client so I don't need a keyboard/mouse with it.

 

[b0mbrman]

NAS - Another thing I don't really 'need' but just gotta get.mp3

 

[kalster]

I use a linux box with 4 ide drives in raid for my file server/web server/voip server, works great

 

[GZeus]

Originally posted by: Kaervak
I built my own, which is rather nice because it's my print server, VPN server & file server. Price wasn't all that much, everything except the HDD I bought used and I got the HDD for -$10 after a price match and two MIRs. With my setup it's a plain Windows 2000 install with VPN/printer drivers added and a VNC client so I don't need a keyboard/mouse with it.

I would prefer to build one but just stumbled across this one today. The 'easy way' out looks so tempting...
I've checked out a couple of the web guides for building one and from the hardware side it looks as easy as a PC. I don't have any experience with the software set-up though so I'm a little hesitant to take it on. I thought you had to use newer Windows for this? Would any post ME version of Windows be good enough to run it? Any problems using 1G Ethernet on older versions?
I guess I'll do some more reading and go with my original plan of building one. If this was half the price I'd snap it up though.

 

[Imdmn04]

Install Linux on it, it is the more natural platform for storage servers.

 

[777php]

i've been eyeing that for months now....i'll buy it when i set up my home theater. I've also been looking at the Thecus line of NAS's

 

[Kaervak]

Originally posted by: GZeus

Originally posted by: Kaervak
I built my own, which is rather nice because it's my print server, VPN server & file server. Price wasn't all that much, everything except the HDD I bought used and I got the HDD for -$10 after a price match and two MIRs. With my setup it's a plain Windows 2000 install with VPN/printer drivers added and a VNC client so I don't need a keyboard/mouse with it.

I would prefer to build one but just stumbled across this one today. The 'easy way' out looks so tempting...
I've checked out a couple of the web guides for building one and from the hardware side it looks as easy as a PC. I don't have any experience with the software set-up though so I'm a little hesitant to take it on. I thought you had to use newer Windows for this? Would any post ME version of Windows be good enough to run it? Any problems using 1G Ethernet on older versions?
I guess I'll do some more reading and go with my original plan of building one. If this was half the price I'd snap it up though.

2k Pro works fine, turn on the server service, computer browser service & set your shares and permissions. That's it. I don't know about gigabit ethernet as I'm using 10/100 but I highly doubt there would be a problem.

 

[GZeus]

Originally posted by: 777php
i've been eyeing that for months now....i'll buy it when i set up my home theater. I've also been looking at the Thecus line of NAS's

Actually, its my slowly coming together HTPC that has spurred me into looking at NAS too.

The Thecus line looks good but some of the reviews have put me off.

One of the features of the Infrant models that I like is the ability to swap drives - for expansion - in an active array without having to off-store the files.
If I read the product sheet and the reviews correctly, you can hot-swap a drive of a different size, wait for the array to rebuild and move on to the next one, etc. I shudder to think about trying that with a home built - well built by me anyway!

 

[pray4mojo]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
NAS - Another thing I don't really 'need' but just gotta get.mp3

thats what i was thinking

 

[fs5]

I have a file server, old P4 underclocked and under volted so it can run fanless. Problem is that it's noisy, takes up a lot of space, and probably a lot of power.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822165009

that one comes w/ 1 TB of storage for the same price and RAID 5 and gigaethernet.

 

[GZeus]

Originally posted by: fs5
I have a file server, old P4 underclocked and under volted so it can run fanless. Problem is that it's noisy, takes up a lot of space, and probably a lot of power.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822165009

that one comes w/ 1 TB of storage for the same price and RAID 5 and gigaethernet.

I hadn't seen that one, but I have looked at some of the other Buffalo NAS setups. That price is pretty good too. Hmmm...
I'm not knocking it, but two things that give me pause: (1) the reviews at NE and the reviews of Buffalo's other products, like TerraStation - they seem hit or miss (2) I can't find anywhere that it says what kind of drive are in it, other than SATA (WD? Seagate? 7200RPM?)
The Infrant one will take a pretty good variety of drives, including Seagate .10's! Plus, the ability to expand is a nice touch. Hmmm....

 

[randomlinh]

I want one too. Mainly because it's a smaller footprint than a normal PC fileserver. But it's way too costly. And then I have to worry about backing it up.

 

[pulse8]

I have an external case with 8 drives in it and connected via multilane sata interface. It's connected to my old P4 computer for about 1.8TB of storage.

 

[jtusa]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
I want one too. Mainly because it's a smaller footprint than a normal PC fileserver. But it's way too costly. And then I have to worry about backing it up.

Why would you have to worry about backing up the RAID NAS?

 

[KoolAidKid]

I bought a linksys NSLU2 off of ebay for $30. Hooked up a USB external drive that I had sitting around. I hacked it so that you can install a bunch of extra linux apps on it (xbox media streaming, mail server, print server, etc.). See www.nslu2-linux.org for more info. I like the NSLU2 option because it uses a whole lot less electricity than a DIY linux-based NAS.

 

[ebaycj]

best way to do it if you have (a) gigabit ethernet, (b) vlan capable gigabit switches, (c) iSCSI enabled OS's, is to create your own iSCSI target with linux/bsd + big ass sata raid.

then if you want more machines, buy dual-core boxes with smallish mirrored hd's, run ubuntu 64bit, and vmware server. use iscsi to give the vm boxes storage.

 

[jtusa]

Originally posted by: KoolAidKid
I bought a linksys NSLU2 off of ebay for $30. Hooked up a USB external drive that I had sitting around. I hacked it so that you can install a bunch of extra linux apps on it (xbox media streaming, mail server, print server, etc.). See www.nslu2-linux.org for more info. I like the NSLU2 option because it uses a whole lot less electricity than a DIY linux-based NAS.

Does the hacking fix the NTFS on one USB port only? What about backup options (can you hook up two drives and have one mirror the other, like a poor man's RAIDed NAS)? NSLU2 kind of caught my eye, but was wondering about those things.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: jtusa

Originally posted by: randomlinh
I want one too. Mainly because it's a smaller footprint than a normal PC fileserver. But it's way too costly. And then I have to worry about backing it up.

Why would you have to worry about backing up the RAID NAS?

RAID is not a backup solution. It's an availability one.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: randomlinh

Originally posted by: jtusa

Originally posted by: randomlinh
I want one too. Mainly because it's a smaller footprint than a normal PC fileserver. But it's way too costly. And then I have to worry about backing it up.

Why would you have to worry about backing up the RAID NAS?

RAID is not a backup solution. It's an availability one.

What the hell are you backing up, top secret CIA documents??

For home use RAID is an excellent backup solution.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Specop 007


What the hell are you backing up, top secret CIA documents??

For home use RAID is an excellent backup solution.

yes. I've come across the zap, my computer is gone senario before. I don't like the all my eggs in one basket. The only reason I wanted one was to convert my DVDs (especially TV series) so I could easily browse and play them. And it'd take a lot of time doing it, so I wouldn't want to do it again.

But the cost would be more than it's worth it to me... so I haven't really bothered.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: randomlinh

Originally posted by: Specop 007


What the hell are you backing up, top secret CIA documents??

For home use RAID is an excellent backup solution.

yes. I've come across the zap, my computer is gone senario before. I don't like the all my eggs in one basket. The only reason I wanted one was to convert my DVDs (especially TV series) so I could easily browse and play them. And it'd take a lot of time doing it, so I wouldn't want to do it again.

But the cost would be more than it's worth it to me... so I haven't really bothered.

As have I.

Want a simple backup solution to prevent against that?
Removable HDs with mirroring software. I plug in my HD, sync the primary (live) data drive with the removable then unplug the removable and set it in a AS bag in a drawer.

Problem solved.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

i bought a freecom NDAS 400gig drive


you can plug it in via usb, or if you install their tiny little software on your computers you can hook it to your router and it automagically mounts the drive in windows for you. works a treat i tell ya

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Specop 007

Originally posted by: randomlinh

Originally posted by: Specop 007


What the hell are you backing up, top secret CIA documents??

For home use RAID is an excellent backup solution.

yes. I've come across the zap, my computer is gone senario before. I don't like the all my eggs in one basket. The only reason I wanted one was to convert my DVDs (especially TV series) so I could easily browse and play them. And it'd take a lot of time doing it, so I wouldn't want to do it again.

But the cost would be more than it's worth it to me... so I haven't really bothered.

As have I.

Want a simple backup solution to prevent against that?
Removable HDs with mirroring software. I plug in my HD, sync the primary (live) data drive with the removable then unplug the removable and set it in a AS bag in a drawer.

Problem solved.

that's what I do now essentially... if you don't count the video media, I don't have too much. But the only reason for me to get huge 750GB HDDs would be for video. Ah well, can't have it all.. I'm just going to play with my Wii.