Network Attached Storage

Scuderia_Alan · Post by **Scuderia_Alan** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:13 am

I've been looking at this for many months and I figured for some strange reason this would be a good first port of call to ask for a second opinion.

Basically the big attraction is being able to attach it directly to a router so the household has access to it and potentially cut down the need to have duplicates of certain documents etc. as well as not having to have a computer on just to access something stored elsewhere.

Pretty much all the solutions aimed at the consumer level use either usb or firewire. However Lacie for quite a while now have had this model which reading the manual also seems very flexible in doing a few elaborate things such as partioning and passwording sections. They seem to have been building up a big presence and basically it's the only network solution I can find without buying something similar which costs +$1k. Mind you $360 (the cheapest price I could find) for 250gb is a bit dear but moving up to 500 costs $700.

So if anyone has a story to tell about Lacie, NAS or a better solution, it would be much appreciated.

Montey · Post by **Montey** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:05 am

Here's about a hundred answers to your query:

http://www.buyquick.com.au/shop/default ... brandid=-1

Hamal · Post by **Hamal** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:06 am

I don't know about 'better', but I can definitely recommend cheaper.

Find the clunkiest old computer you can find that will accept a 200+ Gig drive (I have a P2 233), download the net install of debian, apt-get install samba and then flip through the awesome documentation.

Mine's decked out with four drives (200GB, 60GB, 30GB and a 2GB install drive) and if I wanted to go stupid I could put even more in.

You don't need any linux experience, just the perseverence to read a little bit (Heck, I'll walk ya through it if need be).

And if you download anything with a passion (my bandwidth waster is TV episodes) then that 250GB ain't gonna last you very long.

Of course, this is making a whole bunch of assumptions that may not be relevant to your circumstances, but you did ask

matticooper · Post by **matticooper** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:24 am

From a seller point of view.. the brand LaCie has been around for a good while now and my ol' customers recommended them higher than the 'known' brand names such as hp etc etc. If it's the right price, I'd say do it...

AstrO · Post by **AstrO** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 9:38 am

Scuderia_Alan wrote:I've been looking at this for many months and I figured for some strange reason this would be a good first port of call to ask for a second opinion.

Basically the big attraction is being able to attach it directly to a router so the household has access to it and potentially cut down the need to have duplicates of certain documents etc. as well as not having to have a computer on just to access something stored elsewhere.

Pretty much all the solutions aimed at the consumer level use either usb or firewire. However Lacie for quite a while now have had this model which reading the manual also seems very flexible in doing a few elaborate things such as partioning and passwording sections. They seem to have been building up a big presence and basically it's the only network solution I can find without buying something similar which costs +$1k. Mind you $360 (the cheapest price I could find) for 250gb is a bit dear but moving up to 500 costs $700.

So if anyone has a story to tell about Lacie, NAS or a better solution, it would be much appreciated.

I've got a LaCie Ethernet Disk mini 250GB due for delivery at work today. When it arrives I'll set it up and let you know how it goes.

pab · Post by **pab** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:53 pm

We got one of these at work recently to backup our machines on to. Holds two standard drives (which can be run as seperate drives or mirrored). Requires software to be loaded onto each computer that will access the drive, but once that is done the drive appears as a drive letter like any other one.

Simpler solution than setting up a dedicated machine (and much more compact), but still expandable/upgradable as bigger drives become cheaper (unlike those with integral drives).

Seems to be working fine here for what we need it to do, runs quite hot with 2 drives in it, but it doesn't seem to be a problem at this stage.

Scuderia_Alan · Post by **Scuderia_Alan** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:23 pm

Nice timing AstrO, thanks.

Thanks for the advice so far. It is probably psychological but the thought of keeping another actual pc going along with the proper maintanence it deserves puts me off aside from I like the small size of it.

I did some more searching and this popped up this year apparently from Maxtor. From the manual it seems a bit more flexible and intuitive to configure plus it has two usb ports which allow you to attach further storage devices if you were to desire more.

Then the curiousity is that it's apparently uPnP enabled which means you can set it up like a media server to stream content off it to something like this without having to install any software onto an actual pc to talk to the wireless media player. As usual though, manuals are never very forthcoming on how feasible it actually is and I'm not diving in to do the whole thing as I have my doubts as to how valuable such a facility is in its present incarnation. I'll see whether the power of email can actually get a good answer from the manufacturers on specifics.

AstrO · Post by **AstrO** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:15 pm

The drive didn't come today, so I gues it should tomorrow.

AstrO · Post by **AstrO** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:02 am

Oh my god Star Track Express are slow!!!! It now says it will be here today.

AstrO · Post by **AstrO** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:08 pm

Ok I've finally got it and it's now setup and running on the network. So far everything seems to be working fine and I'm trashing the crap out of it

What I like:
- Easy to install & setup (hard drive seemed to be pre-formatted)
- Housing is built to last (heavy metal case, no plastic that I can see)
- Has an in-built fan (although I don't think it moves that much air but it seems to do the job at the moment)
- Nice and quiet
- Comes with both USB & Network cables
- Network file transfer speeds seem to be ok (copied 2gigs worth of files to it so far)
- Web interface is easy to use and has all the options I need (might not be enough for everyone though)

What I don't like:
- Web interface is slow to update & navigate (I'm using FireFox)
- Can't add my windows user profile to the user list because it contains spaces in the user name (no auto login for me, but I'll live for the moment)

Post by **norbs** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 5:14 pm

pab wrote:We got one of these at work recently to backup our machines on to. Holds two standard drives (which can be run as seperate drives or mirrored). Requires software to be loaded onto each computer that will access the drive, but once that is done the drive appears as a drive letter like any other one.

Simpler solution than setting up a dedicated machine (and much more compact), but still expandable/upgradable as bigger drives become cheaper (unlike those with integral drives).

Seems to be working fine here for what we need it to do, runs quite hot with 2 drives in it, but it doesn't seem to be a problem at this stage.

Pab, how long you had it? Have a read of the Netgear forums before you do any firmware upgrades or software updates. Mine is sittin on the shelf gathering dust now. They are dog slow and get way to hot for my liking. $90 and anyone can have it.

Scuderia_Alan · Post by **Scuderia_Alan** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 6:33 pm

Thanks AstrO, I'll keep that in mind. I'm just waiting for apparently the only guy who can answer my questions at Maxtor to come back on the 12th and answer my email.

AstrO · Post by **AstrO** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 10:58 am

I just updated the software package of the Ethernet Disk mini to 2.0 and it has even more features. You can now create multiple shares with different user permissions

A.R.S.E.

Network Attached Storage

Network Attached Storage

Re: Network Attached Storage