spare server at work

ethan · 23 Apr 2015 at 21:05

...with about six terabyte of storage. I notice there is a usb port at the back and so was wondering if I could just connect it to my pc and use the storage space?

abbotsmike · 23 Apr 2015 at 21:52

Probably not. However what you're calling a 'server' could be any number of things. I would guess it's an A type USB port, so you can't just plug in anyhow.

Kidge · 24 Apr 2015 at 12:56

Do you have the make and model of the device?

Semple · 24 Apr 2015 at 12:59

With 6 TB of storage, USB would be wayyy to slow for transferring data anyway. You could just configure it to host a share for storing your files and connect over a network.

abbotsmike · 24 Apr 2015 at 22:36

Semple said:
With 6 TB of storage, USB would be wayyy to slow for transferring data anyway. You could just configure it to host a share for storing your files and connect over a network.

Not really. If the intention was to just use it as an external drive, then it would be perfectly adequate. However if it is a server then setting it up as a NAS is much more sensible.

100mbit Ethernet: 100mbps
1gbit Ethernet: 1000mbps
USB2: 480mbps
USB3: 5000mbps

All theoretical speeds, and probably irrelevant to this thread, but to say USB is slower is misleading.

d_brennen · 24 Apr 2015 at 22:48

Also, these "spare" servers might not always be spare, poof goes your data

ethan · 25 Apr 2015 at 00:07

Bit late in getting back. It is a WD Sentinel DX4000 which I had from OCUK.

#Chri5# · 25 Apr 2015 at 00:39

Map it as a iSCSI target over the network

nutcase · 25 Apr 2015 at 09:48

ethan said:
Bit late in getting back. It is a WD Sentinel DX4000 which I had from OCUK.

We have one of these - the 16TB version. Just over a year old and it's eaten 3 out of the 4 drives in less than 6 months. WS replace the drives without question, but each time it's a VERY long time to rebuild, not including the wait for the drive to arrive...