NAS specifics

[robf]

Hi all

I am looking for a NAS I can use for my Macs but I am having trouble finding a particular feature I heard about a while ago.

I heard that on a certain NAS box you can actually install and run an OS on it (like a linux distro).

Any ideas?

 

[r0k]

Hi all

I am looking for a NAS I can use for my Macs but I am having trouble finding a particular feature I heard about a while ago.

I heard that on a certain NAS box you can actually install and run an OS on it (like a linux distro).

Any ideas?

It's easy enough to use an old PC and run a Linux distro on it and make your own NAS box. Most NAS boxes don't allow you to update the "firmware" which often turns out to be some sort of Linux kernel and apache serving up the config menus so you can manage the NAS box using a web browser. Chances are if you already own a NAS box it is already running Linux, but there is no user accessible shell for you to go in and execute arbitrary code.

If you really want an NAS box to run the Linux distro of your choosing, why not start with a small fanless PC and build your own?

 

[jb27]

D-link DNS 323 is the one you're referring to I think. I got mine from Jr.com for 120$ after rebate. Put 2 x 1TB hard drives in there running raid. Also has FTP, and an iTunes server built in (not using either of these yet, but I did install Linux on it).

Pretty good forum for it too: http://wiki.dns323.info/

In order to get Time Machine to work, you have to jump through a few hoops, but once you get that down, its pretty easy. I can post the instructions on how to do that if anyone needs them.