How to connect NAS directly to Mac Pro (en1)?

[hayduke]

So I just got an 8TB one of these (Thecus N8800) and now I want to configure it locally before I send it off to another building for remote storage and back-up.

The directions say to connect the WAN port to the switch/hub/router, but I was hoping I could just connect it via my second ethernet port (en1) on my Mac Pro and perform the initial data back-up directly. However, I can't get my machine to recognize the NAS. The default IP for the NAS is 192.168.1.100 so presumably it isn't just using DHCP to fetch an IP address from my MP. I did set-up internet sharing over en1, but that doesn't help, but I think it is necessary. I guess I need a way to get the NAS to use DHCP or get my MP to route via the 192.168.X.X IP addresses. I *mostly* know what I'm doing, but I'm a bit stumped here.

Basically, I want to be able to configure the NAS, but I can't configure it unless I can connect to it....and I can't currently connect to it.

Thoughts?

 

[KD7IWP]

From my own experience (with a DLink DNS-323) this is not going to be easy to do because you won't know what the IP address of the NAS is, coming from your Mac Pro. I used a Netgear NAS once and it came with software that would scan the network for the NAS and that was very useful, but I could never connect the DLink directly, it always had to go through a router.

My recommendation is to plug it into your Mac Pro and open your network perferences and see if you have any green lights next to your ethernet connection. If it by chance isn't a 169.x.x.x IP address, you may be able to guess what it could be. ie, if your MacPro has a 192.x.x.2 address, the NAS might be at 192.x.x.1. But that's just a guess.

 

[hayduke]

So I turned off internet sharing over Ethernet2 (en1) and tried to set-up Network.prefpane for Ethernet2 with both "Using DHCP with manual address" and "Manually." If I use either method with an IP of 192.168.1.100 then I get an error message saying "IP Configuration: 192.168.1.100 in use by XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX" where the hex address is *not* one listed in ifconfig so I don't think it belongs to the hardware in the MP.

Any other thoughts? I know it is related to "resolving" the IP address, but I'm not sure what I can do...

 

[hayduke]

So now I've got the NAS plugged into my Time Capsule and the NAS's software can "see" that the NAS is connected (somehow...), but the software for changing the NAS is web based and I still can't get everything on the same network. My TC uses 10.50.25.1 and the NAS wants 192.168.1.1. I can't seem to get the TC to change the IP address it uses for supplying network access to devices that are connected with it. The Airport Utility software insists that the "Router Address" must be similar to the "IP Address" (presumably the *incoming* IP address). Thoughts?

 

[trainguy77]

Since you know the default ip is 192.168.1.100 plug it directly into your second ethernet port. Then manually configure your computer with the ip 192.168.1.99 and just for kicks set the gateway to 192.168.1.100. You really could set the gateway to anything. Then go into your web browser and try typing 192.168.1.100 you might need to put https:// in front. Depends on the unit.

Hope this works. I have never used a NAS before but this in theory should work.

 

[hayduke]

Since you know the default ip is 192.168.1.100 plug it directly into your second ethernet port. Then manually configure your computer with the ip 192.168.1.99 and just for kicks set the gateway to 192.168.1.100. You really could set the gateway to anything. Then go into your web browser and try typing 192.168.1.100 you might need to put https:// in front. Depends on the unit.

Hope this works. I have never used a NAS before but this in theory should work.

Yes, that works. I was able to get into the NAS and change it to use DHCP. My expectation was that if I changed the IP on my MP to something else (192168.14.99) that the NAS would follow suit, but even after a reboot this wasn't the case. I can mostly do what I want to, but when I deploy this to another network I'm still not sure I'll be able to figure out the IP of the NAS. Thoughts?

 

[trainguy77]

Yes, that works. I was able to get into the NAS and change it to use DHCP. My expectation was that if I changed the IP on my MP to something else (192168.14.99) that the NAS would follow suit, but even after a reboot this wasn't the case. I can mostly do what I want to, but when I deploy this to another network I'm still not sure I'll be able to figure out the IP of the NAS. Thoughts?

First it shouldn't follow suit. It just can't work like that. Second you won't want it set to DHCP, because a NAS is something you would want to have as a static. So set it to a static for the network its heading too. However, if you want it to have DHCP you have a couple options. One, go to your DHCP server (router server whatever it may be) and view the IP either by name or by MAC address. This will allow you to find the address. The better option would be to reserve an IP for the NAS by MAC address so that it never changes.