RE: Re: Budget network attached storage?

["Jim Andrews" <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

If the box implements the SMB/CIFS protocol, windows (and probably most
OS's)
show it as part of their network neighbourhood. In essence, the box
announces
itself so the self-discovery mechanisms in most OS's fill find it.

The way that Netgear appear to have done it is you need client software
loaded
to see the box.

The term SAN (Storage Area Network) refers to a network topology, a system
where
the communication to the data storage devices is on a separate physical
network
to the rest of the LAN and, therefore, no network traffic is seen on the
LAN
unless it is requested by a client. In this way, mirroring etc. can happen
without impacting network performance.

In strict networking terms, yes the netgear box is a SAN in that the drives
are
USB attached - i.e. the local network for the storage is in fact USB.

The way Netgear have implemented it is not an issue, but not what is
intended
through the easy "add and forget" cross-platform nature of NAS.



Jim



-----Original Message-----
From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
clax01011971
Sent: 29 August 2005 01:35
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] Re: Budget network attached storage?


Ok, now I'm confused. it looks like the SC101 is 'not a true nas'
but the Netgear datasheet says that it's a 'true san'.

Can someone tell me (in simple terms) what's the difference? And
also in what circumstances should I choose one over the other?

Thanks in advance,
Dave

--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, Mark Ryder <mark@m...> wrote:
> The Netgear SC101 looks great.
> I'll probably go that route now.
>
> Note the following comment from the "TomsNetworking"
website....
>
> "One detail we hadn't realized is that the SC101 is not a true
NAS,
> instead requiring an application to be loaded on each client.
This
> makes it more similar to Ximeta's NetDisk NDAS—which also
requires
> clients to run an application to access networked shares—than
to
a
> true NAS, which typically requires only that clients support
usually
> SMB / CIFS over TCP/IP."
>
> www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article117-page3.php
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
>
>
>
> On 28 Aug 2005, at 12:38, clax01011971 wrote:
>
> > --- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Jim Andrews" <jim@s...>
wrote:
> > > Does anyone know of any budget-priced network attached
storage
> > with Ethernet
> > > interface?
> > >
> > > I'm looking for something that will be a more practical
solution
> > for backup than
> > > using tape, as I've now exceeded the tape size of my DDS4
drive,
> > even on one PC.
> > >
> > > Prices of £400+ seem excessive, considering all they are is
a
> > drive, controller
> > > and Ethernet card!
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Jim
> >
> > http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=125379
> >
> > The Netgear SC101 is supposed to be available early September.
> > It holds two hard drives so easy expansion?
> >