Thecus N5200 Pro - NAS with an injection of iSCSI

[HEXUS]

Thecus recently applied the "make it better" methodology to its five-disk N5200 NAS device. It's taken the original and sped it up, added some features and come up with a cunning name, the N5200 Pro. Question is, has Thecus added the extra "wow"? We've got five letters for you, dear readers: i-S-C-S-I.

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[GoNz0]

from what i have read, there advertising this as a SCSI solution, when in fact its just a SATAII arrangment of drives?

[DR]

Originally Posted by GoNz0

from what i have read, there advertising this as a SCSI solution, when in fact its just a SATAII arrangment of drives?

No ISCSI is a common protocol but has never really been launched in a SoHo NAS solution

[jordi.c]

I have read the review now 3x times , and for home-users I think iSCSI the best file format.

Anyway I have a question about:

Because we're dealing with file systems that are designed to be accessed from only a single machine, you can't connect more than one client to the same volume.

I'm going to use it to stream audio (squeezeboxes) and video (ps3) maybe at the same time.
I read that I can only connect from one machine does this mean one squeezebox or one ps3?
In other words when I am connected with my desktop PC to the NAS I cannot stream music or video's?

Is there a different between DATA or USB format?


Maybe it's better to install an extra harddrive of 200GB for iSCSI and the rest in RAID5 normal DATA format?

Kind Regards.
Jordi

[Steve]

Hi jordi.c,

You segregate the arrays you create into various uses.

You set a percentage to RAID use, which is network accessible via AFS, CFS, SMB, NFS.
You set a percentage for iSCSI use. Only 1 client at a time can mount an iSCSI partition.
You set a percentage for USB use, to which attached USB devices can have their data copied.

So, yeah, each array has a percentage marked for iSCSI use, and only one client can mount it. That client could then share it as if it was its own, thus creating a storage area network with a NAS front end taking the form of the iSCSI client.

Confused? Yeah, me too.

Anyway, by the sounds of it, you want to store videos and music on the N5200 Pro, presumably put onto it from your PC? Then you want to play them back on your squeezebox/PS3?

You'll want the standard network volumes for that, not iSCSI. Otherwise your PC will always be involved.

[jordi.c]

Originally Posted by Steve

Hi jordi.c,

You segregate the arrays you create into various uses.

You set a percentage to RAID use, which is network accessible via AFS, CFS, SMB, NFS.
You set a percentage for iSCSI use. Only 1 client at a time can mount an iSCSI partition.
You set a percentage for USB use, to which attached USB devices can have their data copied.

So, yeah, each array has a percentage marked for iSCSI use, and only one client can mount it. That client could then share it as if it was its own, thus creating a storage area network with a NAS front end taking the form of the iSCSI client.

Confused? Yeah, me too.

Anyway, by the sounds of it, you want to store videos and music on the N5200 Pro, presumably put onto it from your PC? Then you want to play them back on your squeezebox/PS3?

You'll want the standard network volumes for that, not iSCSI. Otherwise your PC will always be involved.

Thx for you reply mate

H3h3, Confused not anymore .

Steve, I was thinking of putting mine 200GB harddisk as iSCSI and the rest of the 4 HD's in RAID5 so I will be able to setup some download programs e.g. NewsLeecher to download directly to the NAS (because it's seen as local drive). The download speed is not more than 8mpbs so that is perfect for the single 200GB drive while It can handle ~30MB/sec.

The other way is; first download it to my pc and copy it to the NAS.

I thought copying from the iSCSI drive to the other RAID array in the NAS is much faster than from PC -> NAS. Although the NIC in the PC is gigabit.

HidiHoo.

[Steve]

Copying between iSCSI and other arrays probably isn't the way to go. If you were to do it you'd have to do it via SSH on the box itself, otherwise the data it travelling both up and down the network for the copy to occur.

If you want to download directly to the NAS, just map a network share to a drive letter on your PC (right click my computer -> map network drive).

[jordi.c]

Originally Posted by Steve

Copying between iSCSI and other arrays probably isn't the way to go. If you were to do it you'd have to do it via SSH on the box itself, otherwise the data it travelling both up and down the network for the copy to occur.

If you want to download directly to the NAS, just map a network share to a drive letter on your PC (right click my computer -> map network drive).

Holy Moly life can be so easy .

I have one last question Steve .

Tomorrow I will buy 3 more HD's. I already own one 500GB HD which is full of stuff. That stuff must be on the NAS of course.

I was thinking of building a RAID5 array with 3 HD's and than transferring the "stuff". This must be over the network, because I'm going to format in "stand network volumes", right?

When all the stuff is copied to the RAID array than I can attach that harddrive too into the RAID array.

For keeping it clear;
3x empty harddrives (500GB) in RAID5
1x empty harddrive (250GB)
1x full harddrive (500GB) --> to the NAS.

Is this is a clumsy workaround?

Adios.

[jordi.c]

How Can I keep files defragmented. When I am going to put my downloads on the same partition as the music, video files than it will be fragmented i think.

If i make a second partition for downloads on the RAID array can I remove that second partition later if i want to? and put the size back on the main partition?

[Steve]

Linux filesystems don't work in the same way as FAT/NTFS.

I shouldn't worry too much about fragmentation.