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Separate NAS login's and storage space?

Toltepeceno

Toltepeceno

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Original poster
Jul 17, 2012
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SMT, Edo MX, MX
OK, this is probably a dumb question but I know nothing of nas systems.

Is it possible for each person to have their own login with their files separate from everyone else? With the price of large hard drives getting better this could be a viable option for the family.

Thanks.
 
Toltepeceno said:
OK, this is probably a dumb question but I know nothing of nas systems.

Is it possible for each person to have their own login with their files separate from everyone else? With the price of large hard drives getting better this could be a viable option for the family.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes. Easily done. Each person is listed as a "user" with their own space (sometimes called a "share"). Each share can be read from/written to by a list of authorised users, managed by the administrator of the NAS. Any share can also be freely available to anyone (a public share).

e.g. My wife and I have separate user shares with our own files. There are also shares for Music and Video which can be read by us both (and all the media streamers that we have). Some shares are also hidden and can only be read by us (to prevent unauthorised access by any intruder).

So it can be a simple or as complex as you chose. Someone however has to be the administrator. When I started (6+ years ago) I didn't know anything about this, but it's easy to learn. Normally the default settings on the NAS are helpful as well as the FAQs and user forums for the NAS manufacturer.
 
Thank you very much, I appreciate the well thought out answer.

I can administer it, I started building pc's in the 80's, I just have no familiarity at all with nas right now though. Once I get the stuff it won't be a problem, I just wanted to make sure it was the best thing for our needs. Sounds like it is.

Thanks again.
 
Yes, volumes with individual permissions is common practice with NAS and servers. Similar to sharing a drive on your Mac. Most NASs and Servers let you set up a volume of certain size on a larger disk and then set permissions. You enter a list of users and then go to the volume and add/subtract/change users.

Most NASs speak in Unix type language/terms, however. If you aren't familiar with Unix, thats the hardest part. Once you get used to the terms, its not so bad.

If you want even more protection, the user can set up encryption on all or part of a volume. Useful when there are several users and you don't want the admin reading your files.

If you want to use the NAS as a time machine destination, then look for NASs that are approved by Apple (I don't think there are any besides TimeCapsules, AEBS, or another mac). Many here set up a server on a mini or a retired Mac and attach a hard drive. Its a real computer so it gives you more flexibility, scalability and performance for just a little more money. I grew out of a NAS in a year or two, if I had it to do over again I'd go right to a mini server.
 
Thanks, the mini server is definitely something to think about, I have been thinking about an old one as an itunes server. We are going to visit the us in several months and the stuff is MUCH cheaper there so I have some time to think about it and come up with what is best for us.

Thanks again


ColdCase said:
Yes, volumes with individual permissions is common practice with NAS and servers. Similar to sharing a drive on your Mac. Most NASs and Servers let you set up a volume of certain size on a larger disk and then set permissions. You enter a list of users and then go to the volume and add/subtract/change users.

Most NASs speak in Unix type language/terms, however. If you aren't familiar with Unix, thats the hardest part. Once you get used to the terms, its not so bad.

If you want even more protection, the user can set up encryption on all or part of a volume. Useful when there are several users and you don't want the admin reading your files.

If you want to use the NAS as a time machine destination, then look for NASs that are approved by Apple (I don't think there are any besides TimeCapsules, AEBS, or another mac). Many here set up a server on a mini or a retired Mac and attach a hard drive. Its a real computer so it gives you more flexibility, scalability and performance for just a little more money. I grew out of a NAS in a year or two, if I had it to do over again I'd go right to a mini server.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, all disk systems are permissions based you just need to set up the directory you want with the permissions you need and tie it to a user account. For continuity sake and to save multiple logins make it the same user account and password as the one on the computer you want to login from. It'll save password hassles.
 
orestes1984 said:
Yes, all disk systems are permissions based you just need to set up the directory you want with the permissions you need and tie it to a user account. For continuity sake and to save multiple logins make it the same user account and password as the one on the computer you want to login from. It'll save password hassles.
Click to expand...

Good tip, thanks.
 
ColdCase said:
If you want to use the NAS as a time machine destination, then look for NASs that are approved by Apple (I don't think there are any besides TimeCapsules, AEBS, or another mac).
Click to expand...

With an Airport Extreme base station or Time Capsule you can login from the Airport Utility and set up account based setting under disks. Any hard drive plugged into an Airport Extreme base station will act as a Time Capsule device just fine.

You can hook up multiple devices to an Airport Extreme base station provided you use a powered USB hub.

I use my AEBS as a NAS for my Apple TV and to do to Time Machine backups on a 1.5TB drive.
 
orestes1984 said:
With an Airport Extreme base station or Time Capsule you can login from the Airport Utility and set up account based setting under disks. Any hard drive plugged into an Airport Extreme base station will act as a Time Capsule device just fine.

You can hook up multiple devices to an Airport Extreme base station provided you use a powered USB hub.

I use my AEBS as a NAS for my Apple TV and to do to Time Machine backups on a 1.5TB drive.
Click to expand...

So you use the aebs with storage as an itunes server? Maybe run itunes on a computer and use the storage attached aebs to store the media? If so that's not a bad idea as a family setup, I would like at some point to get an aebs at some point.

Thanks.
 
Toltepeceno said:
So you use the aebs with storage as an itunes server? Maybe run itunes on a computer and use the storage attached aebs to store the media? If so that's not a bad idea as a family setup, I would like at some point to get an aebs at some point.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes my AEBS acts as the headless file server and all of my iTunes accounts on the network share the same iTunes library from /volumes/iTunes Media. It works perfectly for a family setup when you want everyone to have access to the same content on your network and to have all of your AppleTVs and Airport devices synced to one account.
 
Last edited:
orestes1984 said:
Yes my AEBS acts as the headless file server and all of my iTunes accounts on the network share the same iTunes library. It works perfectly for a family setup when you want everyone to have access to the same content.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for the info. This would be killing 2 birds with one stone (aebs and itunes storage solution).

Do you know if you connect other storage drives you can control who accesses what drives or are they just open on the network? Thanks. Itunes content of course not important, open to all.
 
Toltepeceno said:
Cool, thanks for the info. This would be killing 2 birds with one stone (aebs and itunes storage solution).

Do you know if you connect other storage drives you can control who accesses what drives or are they just open on the network? Thanks. Itunes content of course not important, open to all.
Click to expand...

You can connect as many disks as you like provided you use a powered USB hub. You can control your disk settings in the Airport Utility.
 
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