Home NAS

[crux19]

Hello,
I am looking for a cheap(er) NAS for home use. I currently have an external USB drive (Maxtor) but would like to have that data backed up and also would like to access my data over my network.

I have looked at the Buffalo LinkStation Live, Netgear, etc. Here are my requirements:

Price range - $300 max
At least 250 GB
USB connection so I can connect my Maxtor and manually or automatically backup certain folders on my NAS (Maxtor would then just contain backed up info in case of failure)
No need for RAID
Small profile, low noise
Remotely access files (FTP or Web)

Currently I keep my laptop on with the Maxtor on. I don't have a desktop and live in a small place so just want to put the router, NAS and external HD in a closet.

I will use this to hold video/mp3s/pictures and really just want to be able to access things from my laptop (Vista) or remotely without needing my laptop on at home.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Guest]

Linksys NSLU2

Its awesome and mod-able

 

[slyck]

I have and can recommend the Linkstations. Very Nice.
The Pro and Live models are the same hardware but have different firmwares(slightly different features, don't know if you can crossflash). I have the LinkstationPro and have been very pleased with it. It is faster than most in data transfer too.

The Linkstation NSLU2 is also a great device. Actively hacked for a while now and is a NAS device just with no internal drive(uses your USB external). It does only 100Mb Ethernet but thats still fast. (And most routers aren't Gb ethernet anyway yet.)

 

[crux19]

Thanks to you both. I am interested in having the NAS be my primary storage media and the USB drive I currently own used only to back up critical information from the NAS. The NSLU2 would be a good idea if I was only keeping my data on the USB drive.

That said, I went out and purchased a Linkstation Live. Trying it out but it hasn't knocked my socks off. I'm transferring my 150 GB of information from my USB drive to the NAS drive and it's taking days. Currently getting 874 kb/s. It seems very slow for the USB transfer. I tried copying a file to my hard drive from the NAS and Windows was showing rates of about 1.8 MB/s. Still seems pretty slow. I'm pulling it down over an excellent wireless connection so that shouldn't be the bottleneck here.

In my dream world I would spend a bunch more money for a ReadyNas since they seem to be all the rage. The only other comparable NAS (as far as price) is the Maxtor (Seagate) Shared Storage II. Might be a better bet? Any thoughts are appreciated. I'm happy to return my Linkstation if the Maxtor is a better bet.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[obiwan05]

not copying from Vista are you? USB copy + nework copy = VERY LONG wait

If you had an older computer lying around and available harddrives, I would recommend unRAID from Lime Technologies. A linux 'raid' solution that boots from a usb key that you can run with or without a parity disk and disks of various sizes, though the largest disk must be the parity disk (if using parity).

I've got mine currently running with a parity disk and 7 other ide/sata drives of varying sizes and it works like a dream so far.

 

[croc]

Thanks to you both. I am interested in having the NAS be my primary storage media and the USB drive I currently own used only to back up critical information from the NAS. The NSLU2 would be a good idea if I was only keeping my data on the USB drive.

That said, I went out and purchased a Linkstation Live. Trying it out but it hasn't knocked my socks off. I'm transferring my 150 GB of information from my USB drive to the NAS drive and it's taking days. Currently getting 874 kb/s. It seems very slow for the USB transfer. I tried copying a file to my hard drive from the NAS and Windows was showing rates of about 1.8 MB/s. Still seems pretty slow. I'm pulling it down over an excellent wireless connection so that shouldn't be the bottleneck here.

In my dream world I would spend a bunch more money for a ReadyNas since they seem to be all the rage. The only other comparable NAS (as far as price) is the Maxtor (Seagate) Shared Storage II. Might be a better bet? Any thoughts are appreciated. I'm happy to return my Linkstation if the Maxtor is a better bet.

Thanks for your thoughts.

ReadyNAS is your friend... I'd also recommend a cat5e connection to get the best xfer rate, but that's a personal opinion. (It's also an opinion based on observation, ease of use, etc.)

 

[crux19]

Yup, copying from the USB drive, mounted on the Linkstation, to the Linkstation drive with Vista. I do have an old laptop sitting around (Thinkpad T20). I used to have a large network of old computers similar to what some people suggest (and use FreeNAS) but I don't have as much room now and I'm trying to be as much of a minimalist as possible while still making sure my data is backed up. I attempted to just burn everything to DVD but my "important" collection of items keeps getting larger and larger.