NAS Enclosure Queston

[jonathan_phang]

Hello All,

I'm looking to attach a HDD to my router so that it can be accessd by a HTPC downstairs, so have been looking for a NAS. They appear to be fairly expensive, so started looking for some NAS enclosures.

Even on Scan/Ebuyer, they are a bit pricey, so I actually looked on the bay (Which I tend not to do for hardware). This came up:

NAS Enclosure

That seems to tick all the boxes (Well, that I know of) and I was going to stick and IDE Samsung 400GB drive in there (Which can be had for about £50). THis would mean the overall cost of the NAS would be quite a bit lower than buying an all in one.

However, in the specification, it says this:

-NEC Chipset
- Single 3.5' parallel ATA hard drive
- HDD Sizes from 20 to 500GB
- FAT32

Its the FAT 32 part that puzzles me - is there anyway the enclosure could limit the file system you use? I would to use NTFS, as i back up my fave DVDs to ISO so that I can mount them, which is easier than getting the disc scratched. I would have thought I could format the drive however I wanted.

Any thhoughts on this product or questions above?

JP

[Funkstar]

I'd stay clear of that to be honest.

It's not like an external USB case, the NAS box itself has to read the disk and then send the data to your PC. Think of a NAS as being a small computer.

They usually run linux and use more sofisticated filing systems, which is definitely recomended for a device that can bee accessed by multiple poeple at the same time.

[jonathan_phang]

This storage that i want probably wont be accessed by more than one person at the same time, just want ot access music photos, videos etc, from my desktop upstairs and then my HTPC downstairs.

Its almost like having a portable USB drive connected to both at the same time. Would this case not achieve this? It does seem too cheap to be good (and its on ebay) so I guess you are right, but I dont know the most cost effective way to achieve what i want...

Any ideas?

[Funkstar]

Actually, i didn't look at the price.

And for that little i would give it a try

[0iD]

I use a couple of these with 500gb drives in as a cheap alternative to a 'proper' nas box.

[jonathan_phang]

Thats what i thought... But any ideas on the whole FAT32/NTFS thing??? Might give it a pop - there are a few of them, even at buy it now its about £38 - so chuck in a £50 drive and thats less than a ton, which, for an all in one unit - you are talking about 250GB instead of 400GB...

Maybe worth a punt.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

you should get one of these http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...=65399&_LOC=UK

i heard they are realy good and can use it has a print server has well. you can use it to do simple file sharing stuff to more advance features like web servers, php servers.

it uses the linux format method which appears to be alot better than windows ntfs. i have asked a similar question to yours in another forum and this is the answer that was given to me and the more i read about this product the more i want to get it

[burble]

If that NAS thing will only deal with FAT32 then you'll have problems with files > 2Gb since FAT32 can't cope with them.

That said, at that price it's probably worth giving it a shot.

[Funkstar]

None* of them read NTFS as it is a closed Microsoft file system. 'Proper' consumer NAS boxes use XFS or Ext2, or some other journaling file system


* Some enterprise NAS systems run Windows 2k3 so do use NTFS, but then they have enterprise prices.

[jonathan_phang]

I use a couple of these with 500gb drives in as a cheap alternative to a 'proper' nas box.

Wow, the price for that is really good, and you say that it seems to work how I need it set up. It does look pants, but well, who cares... Also just wondering, is this a loud enclosure - ie. fan wise

you should get one of these http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...=65399&_LOC=UK

i heard they are realy good and can use it has a print server has well. you can use it to do simple file sharing stuff to more advance features like web servers, php servers.

it uses the linux format method which appears to be alot better than windows ntfs. i have asked a similar question to yours in another forum and this is the answer that was given to me and the more i read about this product the more i want to get it

These do seem to be definitely more high tech but maybe a but too expensive for my first foray into network storage. But I reckon I'll move onto something like that eventually. But for now, I think that I may go with something affordable to get the whole thing up and running.

So - ebay or savastore.... all of this is better than the work I'm (not) doing... :S

[jonathan_phang]

None* of them read NTFS as it is a closed Microsoft file system. 'Proper' consumer NAS boxes use XFS or Ext2, or some other journaling file system

* Some enterprise NAS systems run Windows 2k3 so do use NTFS, but then they have enterprise prices.

Do you mean that none of the linked products will work with NTFS formatted drives, and will have to be formatted to EXT or something? Think I'm in over my head here!

Hmmm details for that techworks enclosure can be found here: Hot UK Deals

The last post seems to say FAT32 only then says the 4GB limit can be passed with firmware - tried to search around for it first... but cant see to get a link...

[Funkstar]

Exactly, no consumer NAS solutions will handle a NTFS disk. You will need to convert it to something else. So if you already have the disk you'd better be able to back it up before installing it into the enclosure

[jonathan_phang]

In regards to the Linksys Network station on Ebuyer, it states that a firmware update would give it NTFS support on one port. but anyway, if i do reformat using, say an EXT format, would this enable me to use files part the 4GB limit, as thats the main thing - whether it means i have to reformat or not.

[Funkstar]

Odd, i didn't think any devices could read NTFS, happy to be wrong though

Yes, EXT2 will let you have greater than 4GB files, 2TB is the limit on files, with a 16TB limit on volumes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ext2

[jonathan_phang]

Right - dont think my decision is any easier - but i guess this is how you learn more! Maybe that Linksys may be a good idea then... but i guess i need to think how much i really need the 4GB+. But as long as EXT2 will let me access files from both then its a starting point!!!

Its the usual look for something cheap but end up with something more complex and expensive syndrome!!!

[j.o.s.h.1408]

yes a new fw for the linksys will allow ntfs. Take note that if you use ext2, you just need to install a windows driver so that it will work on your windows machine. if i do get the linksys i may opt to format it to ext2 has its far superior than ntfs has what i have read.

jonathan i recon you should go for the more complex one, i heard its easy to setup and in the mean time you can use it just for basic file sharing but later in the future say if you want to do more? you can with this product. You dont have to use all the features right now to reap the benefits of having such a complex piece of kit.

The amount of stuff you can do on this is amazing tbh