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Network Attached Storage or a Time Capsule?
- Thread starter uncleMonty
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I have this also.
I agree about Smallnetbuilder.com. Useful for all stuff wrt networking. I have used this for routers and switches also.
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OK.
I don't have my HDDs hooked up to a router. What I have is the following :
Modem>Airport Extreme router>LAN>Switch>LAN>Switch>ReadyNAS with 5 drives + ReadyNAS with 2 drives.
Accessing the ReadyNAS by LAN are 2x Win7 PCs, 3x NeoTV video streamers and 6x Sonos audio streamers.
Accessing the ReadyNAS by WiFi through the AExtreme are 2x iPhones, iPad and MacBook Air.
Guess I read it wrong, sorry.
Can I just get this?
http://www.netgear.com/home/products/wirelessrouters/work-and-play/wnr3500l.aspx#two
With like a USB Hub, and connect it to the USB on the router?
Yes, I would think so. You would then be able to access each drive separately. I have no experience of USB drives connected to a router, so can't advise on what performance etc you would get.
I've got a DS212j and it's great. No issues, fantastic OS.
FYI the benchmarks on SmallNetBuilder for high end NAS's like the ReadyNas Ultra 6 plus use Link Aggregation and Jumbo frames. That requires dual GigE Ethernet cards on your PC (possible) or Mac (not likely). You also need a managed GigE switch. Without Link Aggregation you're transfer speeds are limited to about 70Gb. Jumbo frame support was sketchy on some iMacs YMMV.
FYI the benchmarks on SmallNetBuilder for high end NAS's like the ReadyNas Ultra 6 plus use Link Aggregation and Jumbo frames. That requires dual GigE Ethernet cards on your PC (possible) or Mac (not likely). You also need a managed GigE switch. Without Link Aggregation you're transfer speeds are limited to about 70Gb. Jumbo frame support was sketchy on some iMacs YMMV.
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Since actually I have an Ultra6+ (better than the Ultra6), I might be qualified to pass some actual judgement on ReadyNAS performance. I also have 2 ProPioneers (previous name for the same hardware).
A real world example is to/from my MBA through the TB/GbLAN adaptor and the ProPioneer. Data rates above 100MBps are normal. These rates are using a 1GB test file through a GB switch - GS108tV2.
My transfer speeds are without Jumbo Frames and without Link Aggregation.
Further rates through this Gbit switch between 2 Win7 PCs come to about 100MBps. When I am doing some real world work with varied file sizes, then the rate falls to 80+MBps. This is data transfer up/down the chain : ProPioneer>Switch>Switch>Win7 PC>Switch>Ultra6+. Rates also vary if I am Reading or Writing. Curiously for RAIDX2, Write rates are higher than Read rates. Transfers to/from 5 or 6 drive arrays are faster than between 5/6 drive arrays and 2 drive arrays.
Yes I put Gb where I should have put MBps. 70MBps to 80MBps are typical for decent NAS's using a single GigE port. 100MBps is exceptional.
If we look at the OPs post they're unlikely to need anything so powerful as a quad bay RAID NAS. A single bay NAS like the DS112j ~$150 plus a 3TB HDD (why not they're cheap) would probably fit the bill.
PS drsox any reason you're not using Jumbo frames? I don't because my old iMac doesn't support it.
If we look at the OPs post they're unlikely to need anything so powerful as a quad bay RAID NAS. A single bay NAS like the DS112j ~$150 plus a 3TB HDD (why not they're cheap) would probably fit the bill.
PS drsox any reason you're not using Jumbo frames? I don't because my old iMac doesn't support it.
I agree. A 2 bay NAS will be sufficient if RAID is required. Less if no RAID is desired.
I looked at Jumbo Frames for some time, but I have such a wide variation of stuff on my network I found that sometimes it was an actual hindrance. I have Gbit enabled and FastEthernet enabled devices trying to access the same data. Plus most of the time I'm dealing with small files where Frame packing/unpacking is a real overhead.
When I did test it between 100% compatible devices (Switch also), it didn't make much difference. The avoidance of aggro. made me decide to eliminate JF completely.