Comments on: My DIY NAS http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/ Electronics, Tech, Software, Hardware... and anything else that ends up here. Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:59:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Aaron Eiche http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-3021 Aaron Eiche Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:19:18 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-3021 That should work just fine, as long as your computer can boot from the drive. Personally, I prefer to keep the operating system on a disk separate from storage. If your computer is able to boot off of a USB key, I'd recommend that approach. FreeNAS only takes 64MB to install, and if something terrible happens to the OS, you can just reinstall it without affecting any of your data. If I can help any more, let me know. Good luck! That should work just fine, as long as your computer can boot from the drive. Personally, I prefer to keep the operating system on a disk separate from storage. If your computer is able to boot off of a USB key, I’d recommend that approach. FreeNAS only takes 64MB to install, and if something terrible happens to the OS, you can just reinstall it without affecting any of your data. If I can help any more, let me know. Good luck!

]]> By: Chris http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-3018 Chris Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:29:35 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-3018 Hey there, loved the story, gonna build one of my own with an old computer that was lying around... I'm just wondering, will it be possible to use an external hard drive as the main hard drive (without disassembling it)? I have a 1TB external Seagate HDD and would like to have it as sort of an auxillary storage in addition to the on board HDD. Any idea if this is possible? Thanks! Hey there, loved the story, gonna build one of my own with an old computer that was lying around… I’m just wondering, will it be possible to use an external hard drive as the main hard drive (without disassembling it)? I have a 1TB external Seagate HDD and would like to have it as sort of an auxillary storage in addition to the on board HDD.

Any idea if this is possible? Thanks!

]]> By: Mike Thomas http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-736 Mike Thomas Sat, 09 Jan 2010 06:06:08 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-736 Hi.I just wanted to take a minute to tell you that I enjoyed this blog post. I just stumbled onto it through MSN, and will be checking out the rest of your blog. Richard Owner of <a href="http://www.routertableplans.org" rel="nofollow">Router Table Plans</a> Hi.I just wanted to take a minute to tell you that I enjoyed this blog post. I just stumbled onto it through MSN, and will be checking out the rest of your blog.

Richard
Owner of Router Table Plans

]]> By: Matt http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-58 Matt Wed, 27 May 2009 17:58:43 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-58 Yeah, my wife keeps bugging me about why we don't have a way to transport 4 TB of data all the time! ;) *LOL* But in all seriousness, I'm working on costing out this idea - so far, it looks to be coming in a bit cheaper than my original solution, but I suspect I might have to use a different - I've got a 701, and it gets pretty hot after a while, so I'm going to have to figure out how to mount the drives and laptop and still give everything the necessary cooling. Yeah, my wife keeps bugging me about why we don’t have a way to transport 4 TB of data all the time! ;) *LOL*

But in all seriousness, I’m working on costing out this idea – so far, it looks to be coming in a bit cheaper than my original solution, but I suspect I might have to use a different – I’ve got a 701, and it gets pretty hot after a while, so I’m going to have to figure out how to mount the drives and laptop and still give everything the necessary cooling.

]]> By: Aaron Eiche http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-57 Aaron Eiche Wed, 27 May 2009 17:29:33 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-57 I hadn't thought about the wireless as an option. That's a neat idea, so long as DHCP is available. You could go a step further and mount a small LCD on the front. When it connects you'll know which IP to go to. Very nice. There are of course all those situations where one needs a portable NAS... I hadn’t thought about the wireless as an option. That’s a neat idea, so long as DHCP is available. You could go a step further and mount a small LCD on the front. When it connects you’ll know which IP to go to. Very nice. There are of course all those situations where one needs a portable NAS…

]]> By: Aaron Eiche http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-56 Aaron Eiche Wed, 27 May 2009 17:26:45 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-56 I think 2.5" drives aren't really the workhorses you want for a NAS, and like you said, the capacity isn't quite there. I think 2.5″ drives aren’t really the workhorses you want for a NAS, and like you said, the capacity isn’t quite there.

]]> By: Matt http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-55 Matt Wed, 27 May 2009 16:44:03 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-55 A couple other thoughts I had about the netbook idea: - To use 3.5" drives, I'd have to use USB-to-SATA connectors, but I think if I bought some cheap USB hard drive enclosures, that would do the trick and let me get external power - An advantage of the netbook solution would be that there would be built-in wireless, so I could theoretically set it up anywhere there's a wireless access point; not really the purpose of the device, but a neat idea A couple other thoughts I had about the netbook idea:

- To use 3.5″ drives, I’d have to use USB-to-SATA connectors, but I think if I bought some cheap USB hard drive enclosures, that would do the trick and let me get external power
- An advantage of the netbook solution would be that there would be built-in wireless, so I could theoretically set it up anywhere there’s a wireless access point; not really the purpose of the device, but a neat idea

]]> By: Matt http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-54 Matt Wed, 27 May 2009 16:39:58 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-54 I suspect if I were to use 2.5" drives, I might be able to pull enough power by tapping in to some of the "hidden" USB ports on a 700 series. However, if I were to use 3.5" drives, I suspect that external power would probably be required, and as far as I've been able to track down, 2.5" drive capacities aren't really up to the 2 TB level yet ;) I suspect if I were to use 2.5″ drives, I might be able to pull enough power by tapping in to some of the “hidden” USB ports on a 700 series. However, if I were to use 3.5″ drives, I suspect that external power would probably be required, and as far as I’ve been able to track down, 2.5″ drive capacities aren’t really up to the 2 TB level yet ;)

]]> By: Aaron Eiche http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-53 Aaron Eiche Tue, 26 May 2009 22:01:25 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-53 Thanks! Using a netbook wouuld definitely work, in fact you'd probably be even better off with better supported hardware. USB would work fine, the NIC on the 700 series is 10/100, so I don't think your USB bus is going to under-perform your network. The only trouble I see with that setup is that all your hard-drives will probably need to be externally powered. Alternatively, you could see how much you can solder onto the netbook Mother Board :) Thanks! Using a netbook wouuld definitely work, in fact you’d probably be even better off with better supported hardware. USB would work fine, the NIC on the 700 series is 10/100, so I don’t think your USB bus is going to under-perform your network. The only trouble I see with that setup is that all your hard-drives will probably need to be externally powered. Alternatively, you could see how much you can solder onto the netbook Mother Board :)

]]> By: Matt http://aaroneiche.com/2009/03/31/my-diy-nas/comment-page-1/#comment-52 Matt Tue, 26 May 2009 20:42:51 +0000 http://aaroneiche.com/?p=91#comment-52 This is a fantastic idea! I've been using my old tower as a temporary file server (temporary being over a year now *LOL*), but this seems like a great replacement! I'm actually toying with the idea of repurposing one of the really early netbooks (a lot of places have the eee 7xx series for VERY cheap), though connecting the drives via USB seems like it would impact performance. This is a fantastic idea! I’ve been using my old tower as a temporary file server (temporary being over a year now *LOL*), but this seems like a great replacement! I’m actually toying with the idea of repurposing one of the really early netbooks (a lot of places have the eee 7xx series for VERY cheap), though connecting the drives via USB seems like it would impact performance.

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