NAS options

[cardsdoc]

My setup consists of the following:

New SR MPB for me
Dell desktop running WinXP that I was hoping to retire soon
Asus laptop running WinXP - my wifes computer
Networked HP AIO printer
Verizo FIOS supplied wireless router (Actiontec)
Vonage device

I wanted a large external drive that can be shared by all on the network but also have firewire 800 and maybe eSata available for fast direct connections for backups and large transfers. To be able to use the drive on any computer, avoid file size limits, maintain high transfer speeds, and have time machine work when available it seems that the only practical option is to have an HFS+ formated drive and install Macdrive on the WinXP machines. However this significantly reduces NAS options. The Lacie NAS drives can do HFS+ but they have no firewire and I've heard the transfer speeds are not great even with direct connections. I can use an airport extreme base station + external drive which would probably work well (I know it will be a little slow on the network) but it is very pricey. The third option is to keep my WinXP desktop networked and use it to share the external drive. The last option is what I'm currently planning on doing with a Samsung 500gb SATA HD + OWC Mercury elite usb 2/fw 800/esata enclosure. Anyone have any other recommendations?

 

[janey]

doesn't that completely defeat the purpose of a NAS?

regardless, http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=124&name=Network-Storage

if you look on the left there's options where you can select the ports you're looking for.

 

[cardsdoc]

doesn't that completely defeat the purpose of a NAS?

regardless, http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=124&name=Network-Storage

if you look on the left there's options where you can select the ports you're looking for.

Yes and no. It's certainly not ideal, but in essence the winxp box is being used as a network storage adapter. I'll probably not have it connected to a monitor,keyboard, mouse, etc and just remote desktop when needed. Thanks for the newegg link. There are no FW 800 options and those with FW 400 are very pricey and too big. I don't think they support HFS+ either. I might as well splurge for the airport extreme which I may do in the future unless a cheaper option comes along.

 

[brbubba]

doesn't that completely defeat the purpose of a NAS?

regardless, http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=124&name=Network-Storage

if you look on the left there's options where you can select the ports you're looking for.

I agree, the usefulness of non-redundant NAS systems is questionable at best. OP, why don't you just keep the drive connected to one computer and set up a share? Warranted permissions based sharing on Macs is a joke imo, it should still be easily achievable. The only reason to go with a NAS is if you don't want to keep your computer on all the time.

Ideally I would get a RAID 5 capable gigabit ethernet NAS and use that for central storage and backups. If your home network is gigabit capable it should run plenty fast. Obviously the drawback being cost as the box alone could run you $400-600 plus the cost for three drives.

 

[janey]

Ideally I would get a RAID 5 capable gigabit ethernet NAS and use that for central storage and backups. If your home network is gigabit capable it should run plenty fast. Obviously the drawback being cost as the box alone could run you $400-600 plus the cost for three drives.

I'm thinking about that to replace my current hardware...the infrant (now netgear) readynas nv+ is $600 diskless it looks nice though, but i'm torn between that and the drobo (better for my needs, but it's not networked, only has usb2.0 argh).

 

[basicfiend]

The third option is to keep my WinXP desktop networked and use it to share the external drive (a Samsung 500gb SATA HD + OWC Mercury elite usb 2/fw 800/esata enclosure).

This is the most economical solution (although I cringe at the thought of using Windows as a server...I guess you could turn into to a Linux box). Install a gigabit Ethernet port and an eStata port and you're good to go.

 

[cardsdoc]

This is the most economical solution (although I cringe at the thought of using Windows as a server...I guess you could turn into to a Linux box). Install a gigabit Ethernet port and an eStata port and you're good to go.

I agree - winxp as a server is not a great option, just the cheapest one right now. HFS+ support on Linux doesn't seem as developed but I haven't tried it - may be a good alternative. Hopefully I'll just get a airport extreme one day or someone will make a cheaper equivalent.

brbubba - if I just connect it to one of our laptops to share then you lose all the convenience of networked storage when using laptops on a home wireless network.

 

[LeviG]

have a look at synology they have a range of nas' (and prices) which use a linux ext3 filesystem and works on both xp and os-x boxes via network sharing etc.

They dont have fw/esata etc though.

 

[brbubba]

brbubba - if I just connect it to one of our laptops to share then you lose all the convenience of networked storage when using laptops on a home wireless network.

How's that? I was thinking more along the lines of connecting it to a desktop, setting up a share, and leaving the desktop on all the time or whenever you need access to the device.

I'm thinking about that to replace my current hardware...the infrant (now netgear) readynas nv+ is $600 diskless it looks nice though, but i'm torn between that and the drobo (better for my needs, but it's not networked, only has usb2.0 argh).

Yeah the drobo tech demo is impressive, but I think it's far from being a quality product.

The other option is waiting for the HP Media Smart Center to come out. It could potentially be impressive, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[cardsdoc]

How's that? I was thinking more along the lines of connecting it to a desktop, setting up a share, and leaving the desktop on all the time or whenever you need access to the device.

Yes, as per my original post that is my current plan. I was just hoping to cheaply avoid having a large, noisy, heat generating desktop on all the time.

 

[janey]

Yeah the drobo tech demo is impressive, but I think it's far from being a quality product.

The other option is waiting for the HP Media Smart Center to come out. It could potentially be impressive, we'll just have to wait and see.

Yeah, the thing is I already have a whole bunch of drives, and drobo will let me maximize the drivespace, while I can't do that with any of the readynas products (obviously raid). So it's drivespace vs. networked, and I'm so torn