External Hard Drive - USB to Ethernet?

ebilcake · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:34

Sadly my Router doesn't have a USB connection, are there any adaptors / devices that could allow a drive to plug into a routers ethernet connection and be accessible?

VersionMonkey · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:39

Only thing I can think of that would do that would be a NAS.

whitecrook · 2 Sep 2021 at 14:41

Ive got a buffalo nas

it’s literally a single hdd with a usb connection and a ethernet connection. Works fine. But slow. Was cheap 3tb few years ago

https://www.buffalo-technology.com/productpage/linkstation-ls210d/

ebilcake · 2 Sep 2021 at 15:37

Wouldn't a NAS need a drive installed in the enclosure? That's an option I guess, but I'd like to use my existing external drive as it is.

VersionMonkey · 2 Sep 2021 at 16:02

ebilcake said:
Wouldn't a NAS need a drive installed in the enclosure? That's an option I guess, but I'd like to use my existing external drive as it is.

Probably it would - it'll depend on the NAS. Effectively, though, you need something that runs Samba (or some other CIFS/SMB software). If your router had a USB port, that's what it would be doing; similarly that's what a NAS would do for you. The bare USB drive doesn't have that capability.

andy_mk3 · 2 Sep 2021 at 16:05

To use existing USB storage that you have, a raspberry pi could well be a good solution.

RussD · 9 Sep 2021 at 12:23

I use a 4 Port USB Gigabit Network Server. Plugs into my 8 port switcher box. I can then plug in a External HDD in order to copy from it to my PC or NAS.