External USB HDDs as NAS?

B

bemymonkey

New Member
Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if I can use a regular external 3.5" USB HDD as a NAS with my router (which has a USB port that works with mass storage devices...). I've tried this out with a USB case for regular internal 3.5" PATA HDDs that I had laying around, and it worked fine - but I'm not sure if the drive will actually power down when idle to save power and increase the drive's lifespan.

Any thoughts on the subject? Is it a good idea to use regular USB HDDs as NAS? Or would I be better off getting a real NAS device? I'm assuming those will all have proper power management built in already?
 
I would say a dedicated NAS would be better but if your current setup is working then why spend more than you need to. NASs generally aren't cheap.

I don't know if it will let the external power down when not in use for a certain period of time, your router may have a setting for that.
 
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