Re: Budget network attached storage?

[Mark Ryder <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Jim,
I'm running about 1TB on my NSLU-2 (SLUGS) for about six months now.

The NSLU-2 has been very reliable.  What has let my system down was=20=20
the USB Drive enclosures I bought from ebuyer.co.uk - these have=20=20
really poor power connectors (same as PS2, but don't fit properly).

Also in my case, I have three NSLU-2's with a total of six external=20=20
drives.......that's nine power supplies!!   The total lot draws about=20=20
90 watts (tested thanks to the Lidl Energy Monitor mentioned by a=20=20
list member!).    So, in summary, it works - but there are an awful=20=20
lot of connectors, power supplies etc as points of failure.

This month I was forced to change the power supply arrangement.  One=20=20
of the external drive PSU's failed.  Cannot get another without=20=20
buying a complete drive enclosure, so in true UKHA fashion, I hot-=20
wired a new solution!   Basically removed all the external drive=20=20
PSU's and replaced with a single ATX PSU (i.e. out of a PC) with a=20=20
new wiring loom to feed each enclosure with 5V and 12V - works great.

Here is a link to some photos of my installation.
http://www.markryder.me.uk/gallery/index.php?cat=3D37

Just scroll down to the NSLU-2 section.
There is text with each photo if you click on it.

Ethernet attached is a great way to go though.   I've shifted them=20=20
all out to a new cabinet in that garage now as they were cooking in=20=20
the loft.  This was very easy to do with this setup.

Sustained data rates on these units runs about 3-4Mb per second.=20=20=20
They have been fine serving video to my home-theatre without any drop-=20
out.

I have 3TB of storage on my network and have pretty much run out.=20=20=20
I'm looking for additional NAS as well now for a DVD server (I've=20=20
ripped my DVD images).   Whilst the NSLU-2 is a good unit, I'll=20=20
probably go for something like a Buffalo Terrastation this time,=20=20
although the price is daunting at =A3600 inc VAT for 1TB.     The
good=20=20
points of this option in my opinion is that you have a single power=20=20
supply, no birds-nest of connections and wires and a lot of these=20=20
units come with gigabit ethernet too.    If you need to add storage=20=20
later, then they have USB ports for external drives as well.=20=20=20=20=20
http://www.nickknows.com/description.php?id=3D253

Hope that helps,
Cheers,
Mark




On 28 Aug 2005, at 09:42, Jim Andrews wrote:

> Does anyone know of any budget-priced network attached storage
with=20=20
> Ethernet
> interface?
>
> I'm looking for something that will be a more practical solution=20=20
> for backup than
> using tape, as I've now exceeded the tape size of my DDS4 drive,=20=20
> even on one PC.
>
> Prices of =A3400+ seem excessive, considering all they are is a=20=20
> drive, controller
> and Ethernet card!
>
>
>
> Jim
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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