network + filestorage

[ndmccormack]

Ok, please excuse my ignorance, but I know sweet FA about networking, but I was looking for some info about my following setup.

I'm planning on buying a new MacBook Pro in august and convert my current Powermac into a wireless fileserver so I can store all my work, photos, music, videos etc on it. I also want to set up a mirrored raid, so that these files are pretty secure incase of disk failure.

wha's the best way to do this?

Wireless:
a: get an airport base station to connect to my cable modem.
b: connect my PowerMac to the cable modem and share the internet connection wirelessly

fireserver:
a: buy 2x500Gb hard disks and set up a software raid via osx
b: buy a NAS or similar with a RAID 1 setup, and use my PowerMac as a spare computer...


or c: something else entirely...


I know this is pretty simple stuff, but I'm not too sure on the best way to do this.

Cheers
Niall

 

[emw]

I suppose there's the best way and the affordable way.

You can fairly easily add wireless to your existing router by adding an Airport Base station, or simply by replacing the router with a wired/wireless combo router.

Don't share the internet connection with your PowerMac, just hook it up either wired or wirelessly to the router, and also connect your MBP wirelessly to the router and they'll be able to see each other.

I think the idea of setting up a RAID via OS X's built-in software is a reasonable plan for home use, but you may also want to consider buying some sort of external drive for weekly backups just in case.

How much are you planning/willing to spend?

 

[Krevnik]

I actually have a similar setup to what you are looking at investing in.

Now, the advantage of using the PowerMac to share the files is the lower initial cost, and being able to have the Mac process any files while you walk away from it. The catch is that you suffer CPU overhead from the software RAID on anything that touches the array, and that if the PowerMac dies... you might have some difficulty getting at your information and wind up having to delve a little deeper than you might like.

The advantage of using a NAS (I use one from Infrant) is that even if your PowerMac dies... you still have access to your files while the system is getting repaired. If the unit itself dies... in the case of the Infrant model... you don't have to do anything special to get the replacement working, just plug in the drives and boot it up. And some NAS models are better-designed towards letting a user replace drives than a PowerMac, unless you plan on using Firewire drives. The downside is the initial cost, which can be as much as 600$ for a diskless unit like the Infrant ReadyNAS NV.

As for the wireless, I like the router approach, simply because a router uses less power than a PowerMac. I can turn off the Mac, use the wireless, and save some energy in the process.

 

[ndmccormack]

Cheers for the reply's

I don't want to spend a whole lotta cash, but if I can spend a little bit extra and get a significant advantage then I'm willing to do that.

The NAS option does sound the best but, as you said, a little expensizve. Would a firewire RAID drive be better? if I can get a basic one where I can swap the drives in/out incase they die then I would be ok. Do you guys know of a decent firewire RAID enclosure? I really don't want to lose transfer speed because of a software raid either.

As for the wireless, I guess an airport base station would be best. Does the Airport Extreme base station have an ethernet port that I can connect my PowerMac?? or should I go for third party solution?

Cheers
Niall