Bad idea?

[utekineir]

I'm in the process of setting up a unused computer (p4 2.8ghz) as a storage server in a closet. I'm sure this will be fine for media like mp3's and stored movies etc.

However, would it also be doable to also use this as the drive for the tv recordings. I figure the more noise sources i can stuff in the closet the better.

On a side note, any reccomendations for an easy to setup and run os/app for setting up the storage box (headless, though i've got no problem puttng a monitor on it for the initial setup. I've heard of freenas though i havent looked into it much. I also have a copy of windows 2000 sitting around somewhere that may be adequate.

Thanks for any assistance.

Forgot to add it will be on 100 ethernet. Pretty sure my old netgear router is only 10/100 even though my nic's should be gigabit on both boxes.

[naln]

Try NASLite from serverelements

Many users here, myself included, have had great success with it.

Personally I prefer the USB version- boots off the USB and saves config files on it too. Frees up all IDE and SATA and power connectors

Note that it just acts a file server- it does not have the ability of restricted user acess/ accounts etc. Only an admin mode for setup and administration and then any user on the network can access the files (based on setup permissions).

Edit: There may be future planned versions of this software with user restriction access etc though!

[utekineir]

Excellent thanks, i'll have to take a look at that when i get a chance.



One question though, if you are configuring it off another computer and saving to a usb key how does the program know how to configure the drives.


Permissions and what have you are irrelevant for me, this is just a home network.

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by utekineir

One question though, if you are configuring it off another computer and saving to a usb key how does the program know how to configure the drives.

What you are referring to is the initial creation of the boot image on the usb key on another computer.

After that you plug the usb key in your intended server and boot from that. This first time you need to have keyboard and monitor attached to do the initial configuration. ip address, workgroup name etc.

After rebooting and in the future, the keyboard and monitor can be disconnected and further configuration (like configuring the drives) is done through telnet from another PC.

Hope this helps.

[naln]

Use a CD drive for the initial setup- on your intended server itself. Just takes a couple of minutes to configure. And requires monitor only for the initial setup. After that it is remote configureable- HTTP status and Telnet Admin controls....

Once the USB Key is configured, you can take out the CD-ROM and just boot off the USB Key. This is the safest . Once the USB key boot is accomplished and you setup your License key, format your intended server drives etc, you can save the configuration settings. The USB version saves it on the USB drive iteself. For the CD version you need a Floppy drive.

I think you can also configure the USB drive off another computer- I did not try that though! But I think the actual NAS (OS) starts to load only when you boot again off the USB drive. But considering my lack of knowledge on Linux platforms and the disk format requirements on the NAS systems- I played it safe and just did the whole thing on my intended File Server system.

All disks have to be formatted to the required filesystem. Once they are formatted you can switch between the CD versions and USB versions. I started off with the CD version and then migrated to the USB version.

[naln]

Just off topic a bit- but hope it is line with the general discussion. Can anyone suggest cheap RAID cards (IDE and SATA)- something in the $20 range that is known to work with this software?

I have an old IDE RAID card ( I think Promise raid card or something- will check, but definitely a sub $20 card even 3 yrs back) as well as on board nForce raid (SATA) on a DFI mobo. Although the RAID config comes up on the initial system boot, NAS is not able to work with them......just checking if someone has any recommendations that they use/ know for sure that it works.

Apologies for being off topic!