NAS on the cheap?

sarahn11

im looking to get some Network storage on the cheap, i have an external 250gig hd, but it only has a usb input, no ethernet!

so i was wondering if i stuck somthing like this on it, would it work??

i have the actual HD Drives, all im looking for is the housing with an ethernet port!

any suggestions?!


Edit: Ide rather something with the option to hold at least two drives or more

SouperComputer

NAS on the cheap = PII motherboard + Modern controller card + Linux. You could even use windows if you REALLY wanted to.

I have one here for free if you want it.

The adpater you listed is to provide an ethernet connection to a computer via USB. It will not work with a USB hard disk.

sarahn11

thanks a mill for the offer, but TBH kinda wanted to avoid the whole 'another computer' senario, i have 3 in my room already and its like a furnace!!!

thinking for the new house ill have room for another pc and use it as a file server, but for now i just wanted something cheap and cheerful to get some of the ide hdd out of my current pc to cool and quieten it a bit!!

mossym

check out the linksys NAs
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=307213

don't know how cheap you want, but i have one of these and love it

sarahn11

yeah i was looking at that one earlier, but ide rather have something with two slots for any ide drives as i have a few knocking about that i could use..

a fella was selling this: http://itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h857.htm on adverts , but i missed out on it for 55e!!

so about 50quid is my budget?!

how hard do you reckon it would be to make one.....yeah i thought that too!!!lol!!

mossym

that thing needs client software on each you want to access it...which for me makes it not really a nas...the one i linked to needs no software on the client pc, it's like a windows share. That may not be a problem for you, but if you want to link to that netgear box with anything besides a windows machine which you have already installed the software on (i.e. linux box, xbox, mp3 player, media streamer or anything like that) it won't work.

Not what i need, i need a true nas, but if it works for you then go for it...

sarahn11

humm...will need it for my xbox...so suppose ill keep looking....

mossym

btw, for 50 quid, you won't find a nas..not new anyway

i bought the one i linked to after looking a lot for what i needed...i never found one cheaper than the linksys box.

one of those and an external usb case for one of the ide drives you say you have lying around will set you back around 130. Thats cheap for NAS

sarahn11

hummm... well thing is, i have 3 ide 250 gig hdd and the external one so thats a TB of storage, so ide have to buy 3 cases and the linksys.......humm....think ill have to start thinking about another computer as an option.....

could i store it in the attic?? and just run the network cable down, i suppose i could!

ive never worked with linux before......how difficult would it be to set up a simple system like this up?

kaisersose77

If your looking to get one to use with XBMC and use samba to access the NAS server, then check out the xbmc forums, as not all NAS servers that have samba work with it. Theres a thread out it somewhere with ppl posting what worked for them and what didnt work. Ignore me if its not xbmc and samba your intending to use it for

Saruman

Might be cheaper to get external usb cases for the other IDE drives and just attach them to the other computers you have in the house.

Oh and if putting it in the attic.. be very careful! Serious fire hazard.

ressem

The cheaper devices at around your budget from netgear and ximeta tend to need windows drivers.

There are devices like the Thecus YES 2100 which meet your spec, but at a cost of 200 sterling, not including drives.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=56&Category=Hard+Drives+Ext&Thumbnails=yes

edit: oops, or not, uses SATA.

According to
http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2004/08/03/how_to_nslu2_hack_pt1/
The linksys NSLU2 will provide standard SMB, that works with linux and mac so it should mean it could work with the xbox

Both it and devices like the Buffalo Linkstation, have a USB port to which you could daisychain your existing drive and share it over the network, and with some effort, you could upgrade the existing internal drive.

sarahn11

one of the uses would be for xmbc, yeah...

ok so i have 3 pcs and an xbox, one for gaming and just general surfing, one HTPC and a bog standard pc for surfing/music (this one is downstairs and used by my sister more than me) so if i were to get external housing for each drive and attatch one to each pc, that pc would have to be on for me to access its files....

ok, so if not the attic, there is a wash room underneath me which i could store it there, more risk of someone unplugging it, and theres nowhere really to store it other than the floor.......

DemonOfTheFall

Haven't some enterprising people figured out how to solder on connectors for USB hard drives onto Linksys routers flashed with linux firmware, then share the drives with Samba creating a windows share ? Now that is a cool way of doing it.

po0k

...except the linksys routers are short on ram and cpu grunt, particularly the rev5s and rev6s on the shelves.

Not all revs have the USB header either.

DemonOfTheFall

SyxPak wrote:

...except the linksys routers are short on ram and cpu grunt, particularly the rev5s and rev6s on the shelves.

Not all revs have the USB header either.

Yeah I know they're seriously lacking in RAM and CPU power. That doesn't stop it being incredibly cool using your router as a file server though Wasn't seriously suggesting it anyway.

weeder

get your spare xbox that you where supposed to sell me 3 times but i dropped out
now flash it with cromwel and install linux on it
then you can connect 2 IDE hard disks and upto 4 usb hard disks without a hub that is

you should find a simple guide on converting xbox ports to usb and vice versa
then install samba on it

thats the cheapest thing i could think of you doing

sarahn11

weeder wrote:

get your spare xbox that you where supposed to sell me 3 times but i dropped out
now flash it with cromwel and install linux on it
then you can connect 2 IDE hard disks and upto 4 usb hard disks without a hub that is

you should find a simple guide on converting xbox ports to usb and vice versa
then install samba on it

thats the cheapest thing i could think of you doing

lol for the sake of my sanity ide rather spend 50e!!!! lol!!

still have it by the by!!

weeder

im broke