Network Attached Storage

Carr0t · September 02, 2007, 06:04:05 PM

My girlfriend's hard drive has started to go a bit dodgy every now and again, so she asked if she could back up her data onto my RAIDed set until she has the cash to buy a new one, time to get it installed, etc etc (it also doesn't help that she has 2 physical drives in the machine and we're not sure which one is playing up).

Unfortunately I don't have enough space left on my system for all her data either, so I figured it was time to shell out for a reasonable home Network Attached Storage box. I figured it would be pretty easy to find one that took 3 drives and ran some kind of embedded Linux, so I could soft RAID 5 it and just mount it as a Windows file share or using Samba in any other OS.

How wrong I was. The ones i've seen most often in shops are Netgears, which seem to require you to install software on the accessing PC to be able to access the drive, so they don't work on anything apart from Windows (and not even Vista yet, though that would not be a problem for me at the mo). They don't use Samba, they apparently do something weird with IPs that results in the box gobbling more than 1, and they only take 2 drives so your only options are RAID 0 or 1.

Having had a further look around, any NAS for home rather than commercial use seems to only take 2 drives and do RAID 0 or 1, so I guess I can live with that and just get 2 big drives that I mirror. I still think this is damn stupid though. I don't care about hardware RAID. I'm perfectly happy with doing it in software under whatever OS on a system i'm only going to use for backup, not fast data-access or strenuous tasks. But the only NAS I could find that seemed to have a standard Samba no-drivers-required interface (and, coincidentally, also ran an embedded Linux) was 195 quid without the drives to put in it. For 195 quid I could build a low spec PC and just install Linux, but that would use more power than a NAS box.

Does anyone have any experience with home/small business NAS boxes and could point me in the direction of one that doesn't suck too much or cost a ton?

Ta

Anonymous · September 02, 2007, 06:27:31 PM

Synology CS407e with latest firmware (510). I have added 4 x 250Gb Samsungs to mine and now have a 750Gb RAID 5. Not the fastest in the world and I wish I had spent a bit more and got the 407 (not the 407e) but it runs SSODS so I am going to get a SqueezeBox fairly shortly

http://www.eaegis.net/items/data-storage/nas/synology-cs-407-series/list.htm

NB That prices are BEFORE VAT

Scan also sell them:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=605399

and

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=605398

Carr0t · September 02, 2007, 08:23:17 PM

Gah! Ta for the quick reply and links, but I was hoping to see something for under 200 quid. As I said, for 200 quid (not including the drives) I can build a low spec machine to do this instead of buying a NAS, and those ones you linked are 300+. It's just that a full machine'll draw more power off the mains. As long as it's low spec it wouldn't be through the roof though.

Also, something that can either send emails or SNMP Traps, so that I know if a disk has died. One of my mates had a NAS that sat happily in a cupboard out of sight for several years. It's only notification of a dead disk was a small light on the front going red, so he only noticed when the *second* disk died and all his data had gone the way of the dodo, despite being a RAID array.

T-Bag · September 02, 2007, 09:27:39 PM

It looks like thats the sort of price these things cost, it would be alot cheaper as you say to build your own system, and while building I'd put Media Center and make an independent PVR, so it does everything in one go. (it's the setup I use at uni using my old computer).
For less the only thing I can see you'll get is an enclosure
Like This
That may or may not support Mac/Linux/Vista etc

TeaLeaf · September 02, 2007, 10:22:46 PM

Got the Synology 406 here and it still works peachy.

TL.

Carr0t · September 02, 2007, 11:15:48 PM

Quote from: T-Bag;203925I'd put Media Center and make an independent PVR

Ewww. Naah, I watch *very* little TV (not a single series I can name that i've watched and bothered to keep up with for the past 5 years) and listen to very little music unless i'm travelling. I prefer peace and quiet when i'm not gaming and am at home, just browse forums or settle down with a good book or whatever (unless i'm watching a film DVD of course).

If I was going to do a PVR i'd run MythTV on Debian Linux

Anonymous · September 03, 2007, 05:27:40 PM

Quote from: Carr0t;203914Gah! Ta for the quick reply and links, but I was hoping to see something for under 200 quid. As I said, for 200 quid (not including the drives) I can build a low spec machine to do this instead of buying a NAS, and those ones you linked are 300+. It's just that a full machine'll draw more power off the mains. As long as it's low spec it wouldn't be through the roof though.

Also, something that can either send emails or SNMP Traps, so that I know if a disk has died. One of my mates had a NAS that sat happily in a cupboard out of sight for several years. It's only notification of a dead disk was a small light on the front going red, so he only noticed when the *second* disk died and all his data had gone the way of the dodo, despite being a RAID array.

Synology do NAS for much less than the 407 bit you will only get RAID 0 and 1 Support. I suggest you look at the CS207 series which may be more to your liking.

Anonymous · September 04, 2007, 02:10:23 PM

What about the netgear?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/productinfo.asp?WebProductID=664419

Carr0t · September 04, 2007, 05:13:28 PM

Quote from: BlueBall;204179What about the netgear?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/productinfo.asp?WebProductID=664419

Quote from: Carr0t;203907The ones i've seen most often in shops are Netgears, which seem to require you to install software on the accessing PC to be able to access the drive, so they don't work on anything apart from Windows (and not even Vista yet, though that would not be a problem for me at the mo). They don't use Samba, they apparently do something weird with IPs that results in the box gobbling more than 1.

I want to be able to access this from Linux, FreeBSD, and MaxOSX, not just Windows. Samba is compatible with windows filesharing protocol, so you would have thought anyone sensible would just use that... Further poking suggests that what this uses is iSCSI, which is why it has an IP address per device, disk, and partition. They all get mounted over the network using ethernet but appear as if they are a local drive instead of a network one... iSCSI support under Linux is in the very early stages and distinctly unstable as far as I can tell, it's even less present in FreeBSD, and I don't know about MacOSX.

If anyone can confirm that I *can* access a Netgear as a network drive using Samba from other OSes (or using iSCSI, as long as I don't have to sacrifice too many chickens at midnight with a bone handled knife to make it work) then i'd consider one of them.