2GN.ORG

I'm looking to get an external hard drive. Picking one doesn't seem to be too hard, the 750GB from WD for $90 (sadly just missed a 1TB for $90 at Newegg) seems pretty good and has good ratings, but something I'd like to consider is to hook it to my network rather than the computers.

Looking at network drives specfically there are only a couple that look to be appealing (for a lower price point since its a home setup, not a business). My mom always used iomega drives and disks back when ZIP Drives used to be the way to move larger amounts of media, is iomega still a good brand. The other brand that is familiar is Buffalo, this is only because my company lists their products. I think it would be pretty cool to buy one of these because of that.

The iomega is 500GB for $135 and has no reviews right now. There are two Buffalo's. A 500GB for $109, 2 good reviews and a 1TB for $150, 1 good review. The Buffalo's are the same models just different capacities, these are new products (I looked them up in my companies files) so that is why the number of reviews are low.

Or is there a reliable way to plug a USB external drive into the router. I honestly can't remember if I have a USB plug on my router, but if I do it's probably not for this. I guess an adapter would be needed for this, and I know adapters can cause headaches sometimes.


so after all this rambling, any opinions?

The best way to do it would be using network storage drives. They give you an ethernet port to plug directly into your router. Western Digital makes one. I can't seem to remember how much they cost though.

With the network storage drives you can also access your data from anywhere you have a network connection.

The WD versions have pretty poor reviews on Newegg, 2-3 eggs except the one that is $400. I prefer to buy something with 4 or 5 eggs.

Here's what I have done a few months back.

I picked up a D-Link DNS-323 which is a NAS (Network-Attached Storage) enclosure. I also picked up two 1TB Western Digital drives for $99/each at MicroCenter. The DNS-323 can hold two SATA drives and you can set them up in Raid 0, 1 and JBOD. I personally have mine setup in RAID 1 for that little extra protection against drive failure since everything is mirrored so if a drive fails the other drive still has a copy of all of my data.

The only problem is the 323 does have a few programming bugs where sometimes it formats the wrong drive when you replace a failed one. I have yet to experience this bug though but I've read where some have had this happen to them.

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=509

NAS will cost a little more money. I thought he was on a budget

But, Jason is absolutely correct. NAS is the most efficient, safest means of network storage.

I would like to stay under $200, but the security of a setup like that is very appealing.

$190 + 2x $60 (2 500GB drives) = $310


hmmmmmm


Would a setup like this, or one of the others I mentioned, beable to have iTunes installed on it and stream to whatever computer has it opened without breaking up?

If I'm not mistaken, the DNS-323 should work with iTunes.

Hmmm...Babel Fish doesn't seem to have a "WTF tech speak" to English translation so I do not know what the hell you are all saying.

Then GTFO

Why does it have to be a network drive. Just throw it in one of the computers and setup a home network with a router. I stream media from all the storage on my main PC to my media PC with only wireless g. For anything other than uber high quality and blue-ray video rips it streams more than fine between any pc, and any laptop that connects wirelessly to my network. Music is no problem at all.

My desktop is old and slow. It only has a 40GB HD. The other computers are laptops.

I like the backup potential of the network drive, especially the one Jason posted and it's little brother.

The desktop doesn't need to be a rocket to network. Decent network card/wireless card and you're laughing. Not hard to add extra hard drive either. Much cheaper than the network drive solution.

I have two NAS devices. I love them. I can access my files from any computer in the house and my PS3. I can also access them from my PSP, even if I'm not at home, I can connect my PSP to my PS3 over the internet and access my files like that.

I have a Linksys NSLU2 with two Maxtor external hard drives on it. They're different sizes but I've filled both up with Music, video, pictures and backups.

I also have a Linksys NAS200. I just got it not long ago. I have one SATA hard drive in it. I'm going to use it with Norton Ghost on all my computers to create images that I can restore from over my network should the need arise. Eventually I'll get another SATA hard drive in it to use as a media server. It also has USB 2.0 ports to expand to external hard drives.

fixitmattman wrote:The desktop doesn't need to be a rocket to network. Decent network card/wireless card and you're laughing. Not hard to add extra hard drive either. Much cheaper than the network drive solution.

I also only have IDE's in the desktop so options are limited. If i were to do it in the desktop i would prefer to have a stronger computer. Plus I wouldn't mind getting rid of the desktop. After getting a network drive i can do that and then get myself a laptop. The only desktop would be my jukebox when i finally get around to it.

I'm with Matt. Personally, I would skip the NAS. I've never been a fan. I think building a headless media server is a much more viable option. That way you could setup a VNC and FTP server and access your files anywhere. Also, if you connect it to your TV, you could run Windows Media Center and have free TiVo

They make PCI-SATA cards btw.

Honestly I want to get rid of the desktop. I never use it. For the past 8 months it has been nothing more than my iTunes storage and a print server.

Getting rid of that, I would get a laptop. Or just use the laptops that I have now (2 work laptops and one personal laptop).

Darkstar USB-to-NAS NetMagic Quad Port

Another great idea from the Storage people Darkstar.
Basically turn your USB/USB2 Drives into NAS Drives
and access them on the Network as Attached Storage

=-=-=-

if you've got external drives already, here's an adapter to turn them into NAS.

might be able to find this or something similar from a US based store... but you'd probably still be better off using a real NAS solution

I have both SATA (via PCI card) and IDE drives networked in the same computer for media storage without any issue.

Seriously don't dump the desktop, just drop in some more HD, a good network or wireless card and turn it into a server box. Setup remote desktop and dump the monitor, hide the box somewhere. Run a nice light OS and you're golden.