NAS/SAN devices

K

koffiejunkie

Executive Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2004
Messages
9,754
Reaction score
998
Location
Australia
Hi guys,

Here's the dilemma, I have two machines - a notebook running linux, and my Mac Mini. At te moment I have an external enclosure with the disc formatted as ext3, hooked up to the notebook via firewire, and shared so the Mac can access it. But since I'm not the only user of the Mac, and since most of the stuff that the other users "use" is on the extrnal drive, and since my notebook goes with me whenever I leave the house, this setup is not quite what I need.

So, the easy way around is to format the disc for the Mac and share it from there. Except I have nowhere to move the stuff on the disc to so I can format it. So I might as well buy another disc. And while I'm at it, I might as well get something that is OS independant and network capable.

So, does anyone have experience with networked storage devices that will work for both Mac and Linux (possibly windows too, although that's low priority). If it supports SMB and/or NFS all the better.

I thought of just putting together a low end machine with some discs in, but I don't really want a whole PC running just for that - it will be in my bedroom, after all :eek:
 
I attached a drive onto my airport extreme and it plays nicely with XP - not sure about linux though.
 
I would go for the simplest option and format with a filesystem that both OSX, Linux and Windows can access: fat32 or ntfs. I see fuse is available for OSX so writing to ntfs with ntfs-3g looks feasible. I have used it to write to ntfs from Linux and it seems to work fine. (I'm not too clued up about OSX, Linux and *BSD is more my thing.)

Another option is to put a harddrive inside a "multimedia concentration" box, e.g.
http://www.digitalplanet.co.za/shop/product.asp?StockID=103480
or this one with ethernet and wlan:
http://www.digitalplanet.co.za/shop/product.asp?StockID=97328

I realise that a full-on desktop PC is not an attractive option because of the size and noise but have you considered putting it in another room with a wireless card and accessing it with Samba etc? Could even make a quiet, fanless media box with one of these ASUS mobos that has onboard DMI output and HDMI:
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=101&l3=496&l4=0&model=1585&modelmenu=1

Just a few ideas. More flexible than a blackbox NAS solution but obviously more work.
 
Last edited:
fskmh said:
I would go for the simplest option and format with a filesystem that both OSX, Linux and Windows can access: fat32 or ntfs.
Click to expand...

I thought OS X can't access NTFS? FAT32 is rubbish and doesn't have the features or performance I need anyway.

I see fuse is available for OSX so writing to ntfs with ntfs-3g looks feasible. I have used it to write to ntfs from Linux and it seems to work fine.
Click to expand...

Right, I haven't tried it yet. Does it support ownership and permissions? That's one of the big issues for me.

I'm not too clued up about OSX, Linux and *BSD is more my thing.
Click to expand...

Same here. Only got my Mini in December and haven't explored it too much.

Another option is to put a harddrive inside a "multimedia concentration" box, e.g.
http://www.digitalplanet.co.za/shop/product.asp?StockID=103480
or this one with ethernet and wlan:
http://www.digitalplanet.co.za/shop/product.asp?StockID=97328
Click to expand...

I'm not really interested in the multimedia stuff - just storage.

I realise that a full-on desktop PC is not an attractive option because of the size and noise but have you considered putting it in another room with a wireless card and accessing it with Samba etc?
Click to expand...

Yes, I am still thinking of it, but there are several considerations:

1. Wireless performance
2. Power usage (as opposed to just a NAS box)
3. Cost - knowing me I won't build a PC with cheap components - old habits die hard...
 
My vote goes for this thing:

It comes with top class backup software (for mac, windows and linux) and supports Media Streaming and various other access methods

www.synology.com

They are likely to be as expensive and the cheapest desktop based one, but they are really easy to setup and maintain.

it might not be the cheapest, but you get what you pay for.
 
koffiejunkie said:
Hi guys,

Here's the dilemma, I have two machines - a notebook running linux, and my Mac Mini. At te moment I have an external enclosure with the disc formatted as ext3, hooked up to the notebook via firewire, and shared so the Mac can access it. But since I'm not the only user of the Mac, and since most of the stuff that the other users "use" is on the extrnal drive, and since my notebook goes with me whenever I leave the house, this setup is not quite what I need.

So, the easy way around is to format the disc for the Mac and share it from there. Except I have nowhere to move the stuff on the disc to so I can format it. So I might as well buy another disc. And while I'm at it, I might as well get something that is OS independant and network capable.

So, does anyone have experience with networked storage devices that will work for both Mac and Linux (possibly windows too, although that's low priority). If it supports SMB and/or NFS all the better.

I thought of just putting together a low end machine with some discs in, but I don't really want a whole PC running just for that - it will be in my bedroom, after all :eek:
Click to expand...
FreeNAS runs on a CF card - 'strue, I've had one running that way before, took it offline 'cos a craptastic accounts proggy wouldn't play nicely with the way it shares files - but that was the only reason I pulled it, never for any kind of a stability problem. And, seeing as it's based on BSD (by way of m0n0wall), the alphabet soup of supported protocols (CIFS (samba), FTP, NFS, AFP, RSYNC, iSCSI) should more than meet your needs. :p

As to the noise factor: well, for a start there's no noise off a CF or USB boot 'drive'! ;) and the main HDD/power supply noise can be very easily managed ..actually, for my money I'd look at getting a low end uATX board with 4x SATA ports, a low end CPU with heat-pipe cooling and a whisper quiet PSU: you'll pay less and have a better-performing solution ..but it ain't my money, innit? :cool:
 
Sapphiron said:
My vote goes for this thing: www.synology.com
Click to expand...
Errr, there are a whole *bunch* of things on that site, which one do you mean? ..that said, they sure look purty ..seems you have to go all the way up to the CS407e before getting in range of a RAID5 option - which, on a cursory search, can come in at around the 5-6grand mark ..not too shabby I guess.
 
Last edited:
Just make sure you know what a SAN does vs a shared central storage/fileserver. A SAN isn't configurable to allow two PCs (or servers) to share a bunch of disks. You can't have a group of 6 disks or so configured in one LUN and share that LUN across 2 servers or PCs. Depending on what NAS u install - the same is mostly true. You're better off with going a fileserver type option.
 
quovadis said:
Just make sure you know what a SAN does vs a shared central storage/fileserver. A SAN isn't configurable to allow two PCs (or servers) to share a bunch of disks...
Click to expand...

I shouldn't have used the SAN/NAS term but all the home network storage devices have muddied the waters somewhat. "Network storage" is probably better.
 
Or you could go totally OTT and really build a NAS/SAN box! :D - and I've even read there that its boot drive can be made to run off CF card but I haven't been brave enough to try ..I had all my courage beaten out of me by bloody LDAP! :o
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X