Spec me a NAS??

Biz.Kid09 · 1 Dec 2010 at 22:26

Well after i dropped my external hdd a few months ago rendering it useless i lost a lot of photos etc so to stop it happening again i have begun backing up all the time on different pcs but its becoming a bit of a chore so i am looking for an easier way.
Now what i think i want is a NAS?
How do i go about setting up one of these? I see you can buy them but where do i go from there?
I have a old netbook which is unused atm, could that be used as a 'NAS'?
Thanks for all the help in advance.
Should probably say i am not looking to spend a lot on this as i have everything i need backed up anyway but just want this as another protection.

95thrifles · 2 Dec 2010 at 07:26

Best solution is to leave whatever you use as a NAS on 24/7, you could use a laptop in theory but in practice peoples NAS's tend to have a lot of storage space as you store everything on them, laptops dont tend too have too much space in my experience
Simplest thing would be just to set up a home network in windows, then go into the laptop and share the folders you want access too, job done

Biz.Kid09 · 2 Dec 2010 at 11:51

Can you explain a bit more what is the best to do? or link me to some guides etc as i really have no clue when it comes to things like this.

SuperBOB · 2 Dec 2010 at 12:31

Netgear make the ReadyNAS which is pretty good. Uses very little power, don't notice its impact on the electricity when leaving it on 24/7.

A Netbook might be okay as well - as its low power/noise, depending on your storage needs? How many USB connectors does it have? You could connect a bunch of USB sticks to it and share them on the network

Or install something like OpenFiler on the netbook and do something a little smarter.

Biz.Kid09 · 2 Dec 2010 at 12:34

The netbook has 3. I was planning to plug in a external hdd i have and run from there. How do i go about setting this up though? So all the other pcs can connect to netbook and open all the photos etc on the external?

memyselfandi · 2 Dec 2010 at 13:53

QNAP NASes are very nice but are quite expensive (particularly when you consider that you have to buy disks separately). But they, like other NASes in the same price range, do tend to perform better at network transfers than the cheap models.

Biz.Kid09 · 2 Dec 2010 at 14:10

Thanks memyselfandi but i think for my needs i am best off 'building' my own.
Can anyone point me to a guide which will help me setup my netbook and external so i can access the external from any other pc on the network?

mrteabag · 2 Dec 2010 at 14:28

http://www.windows7news.com/2009/09/21/how-to-share-a-file-and-map-a-drive-in-windows-7/

SuperBOB · 2 Dec 2010 at 14:30

Look into OpenFiler and the various alternatives available. Pretty easy to setup.

Biz.Kid09 · 2 Dec 2010 at 14:42

Thanks mrteabag for that guide.
I will try that and post back.

Biz.Kid09 · 2 Dec 2010 at 23:47

Well i followed the guide given by MRTEABAG and it worked perfectly. Now i am just going to sort out what the best way is to have my netbook running at the lowest power possible.
Any tips on what i can do to the netbook to make it run on bare minimum for a NAS?

Biz.Kid09 · 3 Dec 2010 at 19:43

Sorry for triple post,
The method given by mrteabag has worked great so far but having the netbook on 24/7 i know is using quite a bit of power.
So i am thinking of investing in a NAS such as a Pogoplug or the NetGear MS2000 Stora 2? so i can just plug in the hard drive and it does what im doing now but with a lot less power use.
What can people recommend for around £50?
Thanks guys

Biz.Kid09 · 4 Dec 2010 at 17:21

Sorry for quad post but i really need some advice...
What ready built NAS is the best out of these guys,
PogoPlug,Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station Buffalo livestation or can anyone suggest any other one?

GeezerButler · 4 Dec 2010 at 18:06

I have two WD MyBook world edition drives. One 1TB and one 2TB. Both have been reliable and easy to manage and are left on all the time. BUT like most of this type of NAS they are quite slow at file transfer - even over my GigE network. Write speed is especially poor. A proper NAS from Synology or QNAP will be better. I used to use a PC running OpenFiler which was faster but less convenient. The WD boxes are smaller and less obtrusive.

Brian8bit · 4 Dec 2010 at 18:10

It's a netbook. It can't be using that much power.... If it's using an Atom processor, you aren't going to get more power friendly unless you go ARM. As mentioned above, just get a couple of external hard drives if you don't know what you're doing and just need more storage.

Biz.Kid09 · 4 Dec 2010 at 18:13

Brian8bit said:
It's a netbook. It can't be using that much power.... If it's using an Atom processor, you aren't going to get more power friendly unless you go ARM. As mentioned above, just get a couple of external hard drives if you don't know what you're doing and just need more storage.

Well i dont know how much its using tbh. I suppose i could try it for a a month on and then off and see how much its costing.

GeezerButler said:
I have two WD MyBook world edition drives. One 1TB and one 2TB. Both have been reliable and easy to manage and are left on all the time. BUT like most of this type of NAS they are quite slow at file transfer - even over my GigE network. Write speed is especially poor. A proper NAS from Synology or QNAP will be better. I used to use a PC running OpenFiler which was faster but less convenient. The WD boxes are smaller and less obtrusive.

Thanks for the suggestion, i have seen them before and reviews liked them but no on here mentioned them till now so completely forgot about them. Thanks again.

Brian8bit · 4 Dec 2010 at 18:22

Biz.Kid09 said:
Well i dont know how much its using tbh. I suppose i could try it for a a month on and then off and see how much its costing.

Is it using an Atom processor? If it is, the Atom will use next to nothing. The chipset and other components will pull more power. At least that's how it was when I started building Atom based machines when Atom was first released. For better power saving options, you would have to look into Atom boards with different chipsets (other than Intel ones) to see how much power the various chipsets are pulling.

But collectively, they would still pull far less power than a standard laptop if you were using one for a NAS base.

Biz.Kid09 · 4 Dec 2010 at 18:29

Brian8bit said:
Is it using an Atom processor? If it is, the Atom will use next to nothing. The chipset and other components will pull more power. At least that's how it was when I started building Atom based machines when Atom was first released. For better power saving options, you would have to look into Atom boards with different chipsets (other than Intel ones) to see how much power the various chipsets are pulling.

But collectively, they would still pull far less power than a standard laptop if you were using one for a NAS base.

Yes it is Atom, Ok..is there anyway i can reduce the power further?
How about if i removed the hard drive? and booted something like Linux off a usb?

mrteabag · 4 Dec 2010 at 19:26

Atom uses next to nothing.Buying a NAS probably wouldn't be worth it until the hardware became obsolete.

Biz.Kid09 · 4 Dec 2010 at 19:29

mrteabag said:
Atom uses next to nothing.Buying a NAS probably wouldn't be worth it until the hardware became obsolete.

Ok thanks mate i will continue using the netbook,
Would i be able to get away with using the netbook with a hard drive? So i can use the hard drive in a external enclosure?
Run an OS from a usb?
What OS (A version of linux?) can i use that will 'map' the drive to the network like what i am doing now with the hard drive attached to my main pc?