G5 as network attached storage?

[Beliblis]

Hi,

My main machine at the moment is a 15" MBP, which I'm very happy with in terms of speed.
Besides that, I've got an old G5, which gets hardly any use at all these days.

Is it possible to use that G5 as a network attached storage? How would I go about that? Mac OS X Server + faster ethernet PCI card?

I know, NAS enclosures are getting cheaper and cheaper – but I don't want to sell the G5, and would prefer to do something with it...

 

[Nameci]

You'd be better with a NAS. The PMG5's would eat up much electricity. Though it would serve the same purpose it would consume more electricity than a real NAS.

 

[Beliblis]

I was actually wondering about that. Do you know how much electricity an average dedicated NAS solution with 2 or 4 drives (set to raid) uses?

 

[kbfr08]

We have a readyNAS pro 6 in our office, and it uses about 90 watts of power, while the G5 at idle will use about 160w. I'm not sure which one is faster, although I'd imagine it's the dedicated nas.

If all you have is the G5, then go for it and make it a NAS, it's not like the difference in power consumption is going to cost you a ton of money.

 

[Cox Orange]

A PowerMac G4 with 500MHz and without additional drives uses around 45-60W (depending on load). You can use a SATA-PCI Card, but will get lower speeds than with a G5.
Ethernet ports: keep in mind that the first PowerMac G4 models did not have Gigabit Ethernet (Mbit instead), but you can use a "PC" Gigabit-ethernet-PCI-Card.
You may want to ask for info about realistic Gigabit Ethernet speeds in G4s and G5s and cheap and costlier NASes.

 

[Frost7]

It'll give you a lot of bang for your buck as far as capability, but... the heat and electrical draw are insane compared to a decent NAS. A G5 has two hard drive bays. I get as many bays from my Synology DS213+, it runs at pretty much full speed during transfers, and offers many of the same capabilities Leopard Server would on a G5 except it's more up to date. It produces almost zero heat, it's nearly silent even at full load, and power usage is slightly above 10W at idle and slightly above 20W at full load.

And to top it off it runs off a Freescale PowerPC.

I really don't think a G5 is worth using to pull NAS duty unless you're intending for it to be a full-fledged heavy duty server as well; then it starts making more sense.