Connecting NAS to home network via Mac mini

[dolphin842]

Hi all,

I've got a FreeNAS box built, and am trying to figure out if it's possible for other devices on my wireless network to see it if I hook up the NAS directly to my Mac mini like so:

NAS <--ethernet--> Mini ( ( wifi ) ) [base station] ) ) ) ) everything else

I'm curious if there is a magical incantation of settings in the Network prefpane that will let the NAS serve all the devices on the wireless network. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[maflynn]

The easiest way to do this, is to hook the NAS up to the router so it gets its own IP address.

You may be able to get it to work if you set up internet sharing on the mini but to be honest, NAS units are designed to be on the router and get their own IP addresses. You're best bet is go that route.

 

[marzer]

Hi all,

I've got a FreeNAS box built, and am trying to figure out if it's possible for other devices on my wireless network to see it if I hook up the NAS directly to my Mac mini like so:

NAS <--ethernet--> Mini ( ( wifi ) ) [base station] ) ) ) ) everything else

I'm curious if there is a magical incantation of settings in the Network prefpane that will let the NAS serve all the devices on the wireless network. Any help would be appreciated!

Connect the box to the local router, a NAS is inherently a standalone device, then ensure file services are enabled, AFP and/or SMB at the least for OS X and Windows (if needed) compatibility.

 

[dolphin842]

Connect the box to the local router, a NAS is inherently a standalone device, then ensure file services are enabled, AFP and/or SMB at the least for OS X and Windows (if needed) compatibility.

I was planning on doing this initially, but since throughput to my Mac would be limited to ~50mbps or so over wireless, I was hoping to get take advantage of a gigabit ethernet connection directly to the NAS while serving the rest of the computers via wireless. That way, the NAS would be able to replace the FW400 external disks I currently use.

 

[marzer]

I was planning on doing this initially, but since throughput to my Mac would be limited to ~50mbps or so over wireless, I was hoping to get take advantage of a gigabit ethernet connection directly to the NAS while serving the rest of the computers via wireless. That way, the NAS would be able to replace the FW400 external disks I currently use.

Does your router have multiple ethernet ports? You could connect the NAS and your primary computer directly to it. Let the other client battle it out over wifi

 

[dolphin842]

Does your router have multiple ethernet ports? You could connect the NAS and your primary computer directly to it. Let the other client battle it out over wifi

Aye, it does, but unfortunately the router has to stay in a different room (it has to feed ethernet to a number of home theater devices).

I've currently got the NAS box working locally on my mini. I think I will just use the wired connection to put the initial load of data on it, then just stick it on the router and access it via wifi. I'll have to make do with maczfs/zevo and external cases (or a new Mac Pro ) for protecting my local data.

 

[blevins321]

You can do this, yeah. It's a slight roundabout route, though. Enable Internet Sharing in Settings to share your Airport connection to the Ethernet. I'm not 100% sure whether the NAS would be visible to the other computers via this method though. If it's not, you could enable File Sharing on the Mac and point them to the NAS folders that way.

 

[dolphin842]

If it's not, you could enable File Sharing on the Mac and point them to the NAS folders that way.

I was thinking of taking this route, but it just adds another layer of complexity.