NAS (Network Atteched Storage) + ntfs

iam looking for a cheap nas with ntfs support .

i need the ntfs because i work wih large movie files.

the nas only needs to have the file sharing . no other special futers like samba and stuff . it only connects to windows xp systems .

so what do you suggest.

 

I bought the SimpleTech 160GB SimpleShare NAS for $89.95 ($84.95 if you are a first time buyer at buy.com - the coupon is easy to find) and shipping was free. It got a good review at Tom's Networking last year. It also includes a usb print server, and the ability to add external drives and do Raid 0/1 mirroring. For that price, you can't go wrong.

It's due to arrive next week, so once I get it up and running I'll post my overall opinions.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10392955

 

I don't use the cheap units.
I use SnapAppliance 2200 (2 drive model) And the Snap 4500 NAS with the 10 Exp unit. The 2200 can be had for < 350-400 with 500 gig of space. But you want to run in RAID 1 for data loss protection. So your usable space will be 1 drive minus OS and Overhead.

It uses a unix file system which supports files >2T.

 

Just buy the Asus WL500G router. Its like $110 at Newegg and you can flash it with DD-WRT for better reliability and more features.

 

Uhh, that's a router, not a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device.

 

If you have an old box (xp +1500, old pentium 4), you can convert that into a nas box.

 

i have an old amd k6 450 mhz with 190mb ram it runs xp but could i use that one to convert to a nas.or does a nas need more ram or mhz


is there a way that i can use that computer without a screen and keyboard ,so control it completle over a network ? i mean to open and use programs that or on that pc (just see that pc's screen on my screen)

if i buy a cheap wireless pci card can this computer send out my wireless network as an accespoint (has nothing to do with the nas)

do i gain speed over the network if i put the hdd in raid ?or is the speed of the network to slow to take advantage of it?

just some facts to make sure . please correct me if iam wrong.
-with that pc i can put 4hdd on the network.
-i cant combine the 4 hdd to 1 big one

 

You can use Remote Desktop Connection to access it without a mouse or keyboard or monitor. You have to set the computer to boot without mouse or keyboard though. As for cheap wifi card yes you can do it however you will need to get software (I have something similar on my computer with Asus software that came with my motherboard). You dont gain speed over network in RAID since it wont be fast enough to take advantage of it. You can put as many hard drives as you want and you can combine them with RAID 0. However this only works best if you have identical drives plus I doubt your motherboard has built in RAID support.

p.s. I mentioned the Asus router because it is the best solution short of a PC since you can put a hard drive in an enclosure and hook it up to that router. It can run DD-WRT which makes it very stable as well.

 

I was going to get a NAS enclosure for back up over the network, but thier cost deterred me. I had an old 800 mhz AMD box sitting around, threw in a pci ide controller, was able to put a total of 8 drives, well 7 drives and a cdrom. The drives only total 300 GB but it works. This works great and less than the cost for a NAS enclosure.

 

I would suggest using WarFTP on your AMD box. Works only with latency OS's (Win98). Once setup you can run headless. But you will have a max file size of Win98. To break that barrier you need a NFS file sustem. Allows for files > 2T

 

i found quite a good solution for it
iam testing it now with an free linux os called freenas
it is just what the name says it is

am running it at the moment on a 1800 mhz amd but will try it on the 450 soon
wil keep you guys posted

 

I have been using/testing FreeNAS for several months now, since v.63. Remember this is still in alpha stage. It is using FreeBSD v6.1 kernel. So if your hardware is on the support list, you should have little problem. Some users have reported problems with big file transfers. NTSF has limited support, read only. Make sure you back up regulary.

 

it runs quite oke on my normal pc amd 2000+ besides some minor windows network errors.

but on a other pc it lists the network card but when i type in the name he gives it ,he says that it is a wrong name.when i do it with the auto function it choses the same card but after reboot and changing the ip
i cant get into the webbased control center .
any ideas .the error i get all the time is : "ri0:watchdog time out "
and ri0 is the name he gives to the networkcard

 

I use win2k and windows file sharing

 

May need to post on FreeNAS help forum.

I do not recall a ri0, I thought it was rl0.

Remember FreeBSD is built on a unix platfrom and is case sensetive on all cmds. It drove me nuts till I got use to it.

 

Well, I got the NAS, and it performs very well. The main reason I bought this NAS was for the ability to create users so it would work with my Windows workgroup. Unfortunately, there are problems with it (it totally screws up the workgroup), and tech support doesn't recommend using it. They sent me the 1.09 firmware, which completely removes that option (AFAIK, this NAS was one of a small number that could integrate into a domain or workgroup). As a workaround, I password protected the different shares and created startup scripts on each machine in my workgroup to automatically map the different shares.

The print server works great, and I'm very happy with the performance. Like I said, it's well worth the $89.95 from buy.com. If you don't have a spare PC laying around that you can convert to a server/NAS device, this is definitely a good NAS to pick up.