Network Attached Storage

Imagine3 · 11-04-2006, 05:42 PM

I have 3 computers at home that I use for different purposes, I am tired of having a file on computer and needing it on a another. I have been looking into getting a NAS (network attached storage) device to solve this problem. I am not looking for a $1000 setup that is expandable up to 100 TB. This is only for personal use (not company). I would love it if I could get a good enclosure that can support at least 2 IDE drives (both being about 300-400 GB), but 1 400GB would be ok. I already have 1 400 GB IDE drive but want the option to add another if I need the extra storage.

I have been looking around and only find $70 enclosures that support 1 IDE drive. I can get by with this, but I see mixed reviews on most of them. I have always thought that on sites like newegg and tigerdirect, that the bad reviews are normal people like you and me, and then the glowing reviews are employees of the company that are trying to get more units sold. That is why I am asking all of you.

What do you think? any suggestions?

lee101 · 11-04-2006, 05:45 PM

this looks exactly what you want:
http://www.netgear.com/Products/Stor...age/SC101.aspx
upto 2 ide drives, and raid support, although not 100Tb, i hope you were meaning 1 tb, for home use. You just need to supply the drives for that, then away you go

tlarkin · 11-04-2006, 05:50 PM

well, I am not a fanboy of any OS, but a very cheap and easy plus extremely stable solution would be

Get a cheap desktop, load linux on it, set up a samba server, toss in a few striped drives for storage, back up linux server to an external device. Which would allow you to share access securely over your network to each work stations, every platform is able to acces SMB shares (macs, linux, windows), Linux is free, and hard drives are cheap. This also doesn't require a killer system hardware wise.

Imagine3 · 11-04-2006, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlarkin

well, I am not a fanboy of any OS, but a very cheap and easy plus extremely stable solution would be

Get a cheap desktop, load linux on it, set up a samba server, toss in a few striped drives for storage, back up linux server to an external device. Which would allow you to share access securely over your network to each work stations, every platform is able to acces SMB shares (macs, linux, windows), Linux is free, and hard drives are cheap. This also doesn't require a killer system hardware wise.

I have one extra computer that I am not using. It is a pentium 4, 2.6 ghz, 2 GB RAM. I would be willing to use that, I have the room for up to 4 hard drives in that. I have setup Linux on 1 computer before, but I am a little unsure of the samba server. I have never tinkered with that before so if you know of a relaly good HOWTO or tutorial on it, that would be great.

As for the Netgear NAS, I have seen mixed reviews on it, eventhough it is netgear and I konw they are a qualit company, im still a little unsure.

tlarkin · 11-04-2006, 06:01 PM

I can walk you through it, I just got done setting up a SAMBA server for an AutoCAD lab doing network rendering (via back burner) to a samba share, then shared to a mac to compile the frames into final cut studio to render it into a movie, and post edit.

What distro of linux are you using?

Imagine3 · 11-04-2006, 06:03 PM

Ubuntu 6.06 but i was about to upgrade it to the 6.10

Jet · 11-04-2006, 06:04 PM

Why can't you just make the files shared on your computer?

tlarkin · 11-04-2006, 06:08 PM

ok, I am somewhat familar with ubuntu, I had it on my laptop but took it off and put SuSE 10.1 on it.

I would first download and install this package, called webmin. It allows you to configure and set up your servers from one simple web based interface

www.webmin.com

During the installation of ubuntu did you opt to have samba installed, or is it installed by default, I can't remember....

Once webmin is installed we will use your web browser to configure samba, set up a samba user, then enable that samba user. Then we will make a directory on the linux box and give owership to that samba user, so anyone who has the samba user log in can read/write/execute files from that share, but can not access anything else on the linux box. If you are hooked up to a router give the machine a static IP, or use static DHCP if your router enables this.

Then all you have to do is connect to the IP, map the share and authenticate, then you can read/write data from any work station all day long. The linux box will be safe and secure because no one has permission to access anything else (except the linux admin, and that is you), and it will be stable because linux has a reputation of not crashing.

Imagine3 · 11-04-2006, 06:14 PM

lot easier than i thought it would be. lol

THat will be my project for next weekend. this weekend I had planed on researching it and getting the stuff to set it up, but since i already have it, I can take the rest of the weekend off and just chill out all day today, and then watch the Bears dominate Miami tomorrow.

Thank you for you help. seeing how easy it is, there is really no reason to even consider buying a NAS enclosure.

tlarkin · 11-04-2006, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jet

Why can't you just make the files shared on your computer?

Having a dedicated file server takes the load off the machine you are using. Running Linux bypasses the need to buy another license for windows. Also having a dedicated machine means you can toss tons of HD space on there and keep all your data in once place, making it easy to make redundant back ups.

All file storage on one file server, then back up that file server with an external back up device (tape, imaging, or external HD) gives a user a good solid set up with not spending lots of extra money.

This also puts them in a good place for future file sharing. Say backing up a 20 gig music folder, or whatever.

11-04-2006, 05:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
Imagine3 New Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 20	Network Attached Storage I have 3 computers at home that I use for different purposes, I am tired of having a file on computer and needing it on a another. I have been looking into getting a NAS (network attached storage) device to solve this problem. I am not looking for a $1000 setup that is expandable up to 100 TB. This is only for personal use (not company). I would love it if I could get a good enclosure that can support at least 2 IDE drives (both being about 300-400 GB), but 1 400GB would be ok. I already have 1 400 GB IDE drive but want the option to add another if I need the extra storage. I have been looking around and only find $70 enclosures that support 1 IDE drive. I can get by with this, but I see mixed reviews on most of them. I have always thought that on sites like newegg and tigerdirect, that the bad reviews are normal people like you and me, and then the glowing reviews are employees of the company that are trying to get more units sold. That is why I am asking all of you. What do you think? any suggestions?

11-04-2006, 05:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
lee101 VIP Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Age: 17 Posts: 1,150	this looks exactly what you want: http://www.netgear.com/Products/Stor...age/SC101.aspx upto 2 ide drives, and raid support, although not 100Tb, i hope you were meaning 1 tb, for home use. You just need to supply the drives for that, then away you go __________________ My PC: Core2Duo E6300 @ 1.86 Ghz, Asus P5v-VM DH , 200 GB Maxtor SATA ,2GB (21GB Kingston DDRII), Radeon x1650 Graphics (256 mb), 2 Acer 17 inch TFT's, Windows Vista Home Premium Server: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ 256 Mb Ram, 8Gb IDE for o/s, 2 * 250GB SATAII for storage, Ubuntu Server 7.10

11-04-2006, 06:04 PM	#7 (permalink)
Jet Diamond Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5,288	Why can't you just make the files shared on your computer? __________________ Macbook/Intel Core Duo 1.83Ghz/2GB DDR2 667/60GB HD/OSX 10.4.11/160GB 3.5" Firewire External/160GB Maxtor One Touch 4 Mini External/

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11-04-2006, 05:50 PM	#3 (permalink)
tlarkin VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 6,424	well, I am not a fanboy of any OS, but a very cheap and easy plus extremely stable solution would be Get a cheap desktop, load linux on it, set up a samba server, toss in a few striped drives for storage, back up linux server to an external device. Which would allow you to share access securely over your network to each work stations, every platform is able to acces SMB shares (macs, linux, windows), Linux is free, and hard drives are cheap. This also doesn't require a killer system hardware wise.

11-04-2006, 06:01 PM	#5 (permalink)
tlarkin VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 6,424	I can walk you through it, I just got done setting up a SAMBA server for an AutoCAD lab doing network rendering (via back burner) to a samba share, then shared to a mac to compile the frames into final cut studio to render it into a movie, and post edit. What distro of linux are you using?

11-04-2006, 06:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
Imagine3 New Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 20	Ubuntu 6.06 but i was about to upgrade it to the 6.10

11-04-2006, 06:08 PM	#8 (permalink)
tlarkin VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 6,424	ok, I am somewhat familar with ubuntu, I had it on my laptop but took it off and put SuSE 10.1 on it. I would first download and install this package, called webmin. It allows you to configure and set up your servers from one simple web based interface www.webmin.com During the installation of ubuntu did you opt to have samba installed, or is it installed by default, I can't remember.... Once webmin is installed we will use your web browser to configure samba, set up a samba user, then enable that samba user. Then we will make a directory on the linux box and give owership to that samba user, so anyone who has the samba user log in can read/write/execute files from that share, but can not access anything else on the linux box. If you are hooked up to a router give the machine a static IP, or use static DHCP if your router enables this. Then all you have to do is connect to the IP, map the share and authenticate, then you can read/write data from any work station all day long. The linux box will be safe and secure because no one has permission to access anything else (except the linux admin, and that is you), and it will be stable because linux has a reputation of not crashing.

11-04-2006, 06:14 PM	#9 (permalink)
Imagine3 New Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 20	lot easier than i thought it would be. lol THat will be my project for next weekend. this weekend I had planed on researching it and getting the stuff to set it up, but since i already have it, I can take the rest of the weekend off and just chill out all day today, and then watch the Bears dominate Miami tomorrow. Thank you for you help. seeing how easy it is, there is really no reason to even consider buying a NAS enclosure.