Network attached storage?

dg wrote:
 > Can anybody recommend a product that can allow IDE hard drives to be
 > accessed over a IP network? I know I could just use a PC with windows
 > installed, but I would REALLY like to find a device that is small and more
 > hardware based rather than a PC that relies on the OS being stable every
 > day.

I can't necessarily recommend it because I've never used it, but I came
across this while looking for a NAS solution.
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://store.pcpowerzone.com/guneatstn12.html" target="_blank">http://store.pcpowerzone.com/guneatstn12.html</a>

For cost effectiveness, I've decided to go the "old PC" route and throw
3 new hard drives in a machine and do software RAID with Linux. It'll
be a bit more clunky than the above unit, but will also be cheaper and
have redundancy.


-WD<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

Thanks for the tip, that product looks pretty good however I would like to
find one that allows the use of a removable drive tray. That way, I only
have to buy 1 NAS device and can use several IDE drives with it (for
backups). The Guslink product is very close, I will definitely keep that
name in the back of my mind for future use.

Thanks again!
--Dan

"Will Dormann" <wdormann RemoveThis @yahoo.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:DnHAc.24$rL4.2@fe2.columbus.rr.com...
 > dg wrote:
  > > Can anybody recommend a product that can allow IDE hard drives to be
  > > accessed over a IP network? I know I could just use a PC with windows
  > > installed, but I would REALLY like to find a device that is small and
more
  > > hardware based rather than a PC that relies on the OS being stable every
  > > day.
 >
 > I can't necessarily recommend it because I've never used it, but I came
 > across this while looking for a NAS solution.
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://store.pcpowerzone.com/guneatstn12.html</font" target="_blank">http://store.pcpowerzone.com/guneatstn12.html</font</a>>
 >
 > For cost effectiveness, I've decided to go the "old PC" route and throw
 > 3 new hard drives in a machine and do software RAID with Linux. It'll
 > be a bit more clunky than the above unit, but will also be cheaper and
 > have redundancy.
 >
 >
 > -WD<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

What is your favorite online source for mini PC parts? I still think that a
dedicated ethernet to IDE enclosure would be best, but I am willing to
entertain the idea of building a tiny backup PC. If I had a really good
micro PC site to shop at, I could more easily piece together a scheme in my
mind.

THANKS!
--Dan



"J. Clarke" <jclarke.DeleteThis@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:cavolm0lpf@news4.newsguy.com...
 > dg wrote:
 >
  > > Can anybody recommend a product that can allow IDE hard drives to be
  > > accessed over a IP network? I know I could just use a PC with windows
  > > installed, but I would REALLY like to find a device that is small and
more
  > > hardware based rather than a PC that relies on the OS being stable every
  > > day.
 >
 > Any product that allows IDE drives to be accessed over an IP network is
in
 > essence going to be a PC that relies on the OS being stable every day.
 > Some are going to use proprietary operating systems specific to the
 > manufacturer, most use general purpose operating systems tweaked for the
 > particular purpose.
 >
 > Just put together a mini-ITX box with your favorite flavor of Linux and
you
 > should be fine.
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

dg wrote:

 > What is your favorite online source for mini PC parts? I still think that
 > a dedicated ethernet to IDE enclosure would be best, but I am willing to
 > entertain the idea of building a tiny backup PC. If I had a really good
 > micro PC site to shop at, I could more easily piece together a scheme in
 > my mind.

There's no really good US source unfortunately. Best thing to do is go to
<http://www.mini-itx.com/> and find what you want then use froogle to find
a US source for it.

 > THANKS!
 > --Dan
 >
 >
 >
 > "J. Clarke" <jclarke.RemoveThis@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
 > news:cavolm0lpf@news4.newsguy.com...
  >> dg wrote:
  >>
   >> > Can anybody recommend a product that can allow IDE hard drives to be
   >> > accessed over a IP network? I know I could just use a PC with windows
   >> > installed, but I would REALLY like to find a device that is small and
 > more
   >> > hardware based rather than a PC that relies on the OS being stable
   >> > every day.
  >>
  >> Any product that allows IDE drives to be accessed over an IP network is
 > in
  >> essence going to be a PC that relies on the OS being stable every day.
  >> Some are going to use proprietary operating systems specific to the
  >> manufacturer, most use general purpose operating systems tweaked for the
  >> particular purpose.
  >>
  >> Just put together a mini-ITX box with your favorite flavor of Linux and
 > you
  >> should be fine.
  >>

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 19:22:25 GMT, "dg" <dan_gus.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:

 >Can anybody recommend a product that can allow IDE hard drives to be
 >accessed over a IP network? I know I could just use a PC with windows
 >installed, but I would REALLY like to find a device that is small and more
 >hardware based rather than a PC that relies on the OS being stable every
 >day.

There's an inexpensive line of network storage devices from Ximeta at
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.ximeta.com." target="_blank">www.ximeta.com.</a> Looks just like an external USB2 drive (and has a
USB2 port as well). When I tried one, multi-user write access was not
working, but they have new drivers that claim to have added this. It
would work fine for a single user, I believe.

I'm buying another one soon to test out again for use as a remote
backup for my disk images.


--
Neil Maxwell - I don't speak for my employer<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

Do you know if Ximeta makes DOS driver for those devices?
I would like to use Ghost to save my image directly to Ximeta device.
Or, anyone successful with Ximeta and Acronis TrueImage?

"Neil Maxwell" <neil.maxwell.DeleteThis@intel.com> wrote in message
news:cp4ed0938rk826a06asrmhtchb1qbs7vmt@4ax.com...
 > On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 19:22:25 GMT, "dg" <dan_gus.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
 >
  > >Can anybody recommend a product that can allow IDE hard drives to be
  > >accessed over a IP network? I know I could just use a PC with windows
  > >installed, but I would REALLY like to find a device that is small and
more
  > >hardware based rather than a PC that relies on the OS being stable every
  > >day.
 >
 > There's an inexpensive line of network storage devices from Ximeta at
 > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.ximeta.com." target="_blank">www.ximeta.com.</a> Looks just like an external USB2 drive (and has a
 > USB2 port as well). When I tried one, multi-user write access was not
 > working, but they have new drivers that claim to have added this. It
 > would work fine for a single user, I believe.
 >
 > I'm buying another one soon to test out again for use as a remote
 > backup for my disk images.
 >
 >
 > --
 > Neil Maxwell - I don't speak for my employer<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

Peter wrote:
 > Do you know if Ximeta makes DOS driver for those devices?
 > I would like to use Ghost to save my image directly to Ximeta device.
 > Or, anyone successful with Ximeta and Acronis TrueImage?

Proprietary drivers scared me away from this device very quickly.
If I had NAS, I would want it to have some sort of standard way of
accessing it, like SMB and NFS. That way, it's pretty much OS agnostic.
I googled a review:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.bigbruin.com/html/ximetanetdisk.htm" target="_blank">http://www.bigbruin.com/html/ximetanetdisk.htm</a>
and it said that it supported only Win2k and WinXP out of the box.
Recently developed drivers would support RedHat 8.0 and 9.0 and Mac OSX

So my Gentoo-based MythTV machine wouldn't be able to access it?
Acronis TrueImage could probably image to it, but the (linux-based)
recovery CD probably wouldn't be able to restore from it.

No thanks.


-WD


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 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 14:26:40 -0400, Will Dormann
<wdormann DeleteThis @yahoo.com.invalid> wrote:

 >So my Gentoo-based MythTV machine wouldn't be able to access it?
 >Acronis TrueImage could probably image to it, but the (linux-based)
 >recovery CD probably wouldn't be able to restore from it.

During the short period I had my Ximeta, I didn't try the recovery TI7
CD on it. My guess is that it wouldn't work across the 'net, due to
the driver issues, but that would need to be tested. However, it also
has a USB2 port, and I've had very good luck with True Image and USB
backup hardware.

Sure, having to hook it up locally defeats part of the purpose of
network storage, but it is another option. I'm waiting for the next
good sale, and will buy another for more testing, but I'm all XP these
days.


--
Neil Maxwell - I don't speak for my employer<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

Neil Maxwell wrote:

 > On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 14:26:40 -0400, Will Dormann
 > <wdormann RemoveThis @yahoo.com.invalid> wrote:
 >
 >
  >>So my Gentoo-based MythTV machine wouldn't be able to access it?
  >>Acronis TrueImage could probably image to it, but the (linux-based)
  >>recovery CD probably wouldn't be able to restore from it.
 >
 >
 > During the short period I had my Ximeta, I didn't try the recovery TI7
 > CD on it. My guess is that it wouldn't work across the 'net, due to
 > the driver issues, but that would need to be tested. However, it also
 > has a USB2 port, and I've had very good luck with True Image and USB
 > backup hardware.

Yes it has a USB port, but do you know for sure that it uses a standard
USB Mass Storage driver? (The former definitely does not imply the latter)


-WD<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

Take a look at <http://www.epiacenter.com/>...
There is a linklist of us shops, too

Sascha


"J. Clarke" <jclarke.DeleteThis@nospam.invalid> wrote in message news:<cb036k02d4k.DeleteThis@news1.newsguy.com>...
 > dg wrote:
 >
  > > What is your favorite online source for mini PC parts? I still think that
  > > a dedicated ethernet to IDE enclosure would be best, but I am willing to
  > > entertain the idea of building a tiny backup PC. If I had a really good
  > > micro PC site to shop at, I could more easily piece together a scheme in
  > > my mind.
 >
 > There's no really good US source unfortunately. Best thing to do is go to
 > <http://www.mini-itx.com/> and find what you want then use froogle to find
 > a US source for it.
 >
  > > THANKS!
  > > --Dan
  > >
  > >
  > >
  > > "J. Clarke" <jclarke.DeleteThis@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
  > > news:cavolm0lpf@news4.newsguy.com...
   > >> dg wrote:
   > >>
   > >> > Can anybody recommend a product that can allow IDE hard drives to be
   > >> > accessed over a IP network? I know I could just use a PC with windows
   > >> > installed, but I would REALLY like to find a device that is small and
 > more
   > >> > hardware based rather than a PC that relies on the OS being stable
   > >> > every day.
   > >>
   > >> Any product that allows IDE drives to be accessed over an IP network is
 > in
   > >> essence going to be a PC that relies on the OS being stable every day.
   > >> Some are going to use proprietary operating systems specific to the
   > >> manufacturer, most use general purpose operating systems tweaked for the
   > >> particular purpose.
   > >>
   > >> Just put together a mini-ITX box with your favorite flavor of Linux and
 > you
   > >> should be fine.
   > >><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

dg wrote:
 > Can anybody recommend a product that can allow IDE hard drives to be
 > accessed over a IP network? I know I could just use a PC with windows
 > installed, but I would REALLY like to find a device that is small and more
 > hardware based rather than a PC that relies on the OS being stable every
 > day.
 >
 > ANY tips appreciated!
 > --Dan
 >
 >
I looked at a few NAS drives a few months ago and finally settled on the
Buffalo Linkstation. (www.buffalotech.com) It not only has the drive
(120, 160, or 250GB)in a little case, but it has two USB connectors. In
some places in the documentation I read the USB connectors are for one
external drive and one printer, and they can't be changed. Other places
indicate maybe two drives could be attached. The USB drive(s) can be
used for additional storage -OR- can be used for a continuous backup
(one or the other).

They also say you can set the drive to turn off at a predetermined time
and restart at another time. That feature doesn't work in the current
firmware.

The only one that I remember that you could change out the drives was
the Linksys version (EFG-80). They seemed pretty pricey when I looked at
them. I notice they also now have a controller that links the network to
a USB drive (NSLU2) that runs from $75.00 on up. If you already have
the drive, this would probably be the cheapest way to go.

The best price I found a few months ago for my Buffalo was Page
computers. It looks a little higher now and I haven't done any
comparisons since I got mine, so they may not be the cheapest. Page
was very fast on getting the drive to me. They promised 5 business
days, but got it to me in 3 and this is in New Mexico!

John<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

Another neat little box:

Linksys NSLU2, a very nicely done Samba (CIFS) server with a
Linux kernel inside. A fellow has been hacking and added NFS support,
though I haven't seen the details posted
yet.

Just got one, works great, allows up to two external USB disks or 1
disk and 1 USB Flash memory card attach. Even includes a built in
backup capability.

Cheers de Mark @ 7tronics

==============
Posted through www.HowToFixComputers.com/bb - free access to hardware troubleshooting newsgroups.
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage? 

HowToFix-7tronics.RemoveThis@sneakemail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (7tronics) wrote in message news:<41026f7c$1_5@news.athenanews.com>...
 > Another neat little box:
 >
 > Linksys NSLU2, a very nicely done Samba (CIFS) server with a
 > Linux kernel inside. A fellow has been hacking and added NFS support,
 > though I haven't seen the details posted
 > yet.
 >
 > Just got one, works great, allows up to two external USB disks or 1
 > disk and 1 USB Flash memory card attach. Even includes a built in
 > backup capability.
 >
 > Cheers de Mark @ 7tronics
 >
 > ==============
 > Posted through <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.HowToFixComputers.com/bb" target="_blank">www.HowToFixComputers.com/bb</a> - free access to hardware troubleshooting newsgroups.

I almost bought this. Until I found out the external drives have to
be formatted in a non-Windows format. I'd like to be able to
disconnect the drives if necessary and connect them straight to a
Windows box.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Network attached storage?