Good NAS units.

BoomAM

BoomAM

BoomAM

Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2003
Posts
16,206
Location
Atlanta, USA
Hi.
Can someone recommend me a good NAS unit that can take 4 drives, but isnt uber-expensive?
Im looking for one that doesnt need any dodgy software on it either, i want one i can access with a UNC path (ie; \\nas1\share$).
Gigabit is a must also.

Thanks in advance all. :).
 
Thecus N4100 is probably your best option. I've found it for £280 inc. but you may be able to do better. The Synology CS407 is also well regarded and the EdgeStore NAS400 may be worth a look.
 
overclockersukyourbaskesx2.png

Throw on Debian stable, perhaps on a 1-2 GB CF card or similar, and use Samba. Add ssh for remote access and you're in business. Add up to four hard disks to suit your taste.

You could probably get under 100 if you bought second hand. Any CPU will do, I chose this combo since it's the cheapest OcUK had that fit the requirements.
 
BillytheImpaler said:
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9840/overclockersukyourbaskesx2.png
Throw on Debian stable, perhaps on a 1-2 GB CF card or similar, and use Samba. Add ssh for remote access and you're in business. Add up to four hard disks to suit your taste.

You could probably get under 100 if you bought second hand. Any CPU will do, I chose this combo since it's the cheapest OcUK had that fit the requirements.
Click to expand...
The 'entire system' option is very tempting, but unless i can find a good MATX case that isnt expensive, it'll be a little obtrusive.:(.
 
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BoomAM said:
The 'entire system' option is very tempting, but unless i can find a good MATX case that isnt expensive, its a little obtrusive.:(.
Click to expand...
The Antec NSK 3480 could be a choice. It has room for four hard drives, though two of them would have to go in the 5.25" slots and one would have to go in the 3.5" slot, all intended for external drives. It wouldn't be a problem though. You'd swap in an optical drive when you do your initial setup, then remove it once your OS is installed.

If it were me I'd use LVM to take all the partitions on all the drives (except for the boot and OS partition) and have the OS treat it as one big partition. I'd use JFS (my preference) or XFS on that monster partition for better performance when deleting files.

EDIT: I just had a look at the big US-based DIY computer store. They list a case called the APEX TX-346. It comes with a 300 W PSU and has 4 real internal 3.5" bays and the mATX form factor. See if you can find it, or a similar case, in the UK.
 
Last edited:
BillytheImpaler said:
image cut
Throw on Debian stable, perhaps on a 1-2 GB CF card or similar, and use Samba. Add ssh for remote access and you're in business. Add up to four hard disks to suit your taste.

You could probably get under 100 if you bought second hand. Any CPU will do, I chose this combo since it's the cheapest OcUK had that fit the requirements.
Click to expand...

Get this - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-039-AS&groupid=43&catid=110&subcat=508 - instead of the motherboard and case. It will cost less.
It can take up to 5 drives as standard, but with the addition of some aluminium plates you can add more drives. My main Intel system is in the same case and can take up to 8 drives.

I was going to build a server based on the Asus barebones sytems but this is good VFM - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-156-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=707
 
Apparently the site is broken. There was a thread about it in GD but it was quickly locked by Gilly. It's been broken for just over an hour by my reckoning.
 
BillytheImpaler said:
The Antec NSK 3480 could be a choice. It has room for four hard drives, though two of them would have to go in the 5.25" slots and one would have to go in the 3.5" slot, all intended for external drives. It wouldn't be a problem though. You'd swap in an optical drive when you do your initial setup, then remove it once your OS is installed.

If it were me I'd use LVM to take all the partitions on all the drives (except for the boot and OS partition) and have the OS treat it as one big partition. I'd use JFS (my preference) or XFS on that monster partition for better performance when deleting files.

EDIT: I just had a look at the big US-based DIY computer store. They list a case called the APEX TX-346. It comes with a 300 W PSU and has 4 real internal 3.5" bays and the mATX form factor. See if you can find it, or a similar case, in the UK.
Click to expand...
I dont mind going without optical & floppy drives.
I'd never used the latter anyway, and the former, ive got a USB one on my main PC anyway.

I'd probably keep the drives seperate, so if one fails they dont all go down.
Plus, 3 of the 4 i'd put in would be a strait swap from my current system, with data already on them.

The old Antec Arias would have been ideal for a case, but they're not sold anymore. :(.
 
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