NAS that can do ext2/3/anything better than FAT32

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sleemanj

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#22273 22-May-2008 17:33

Anybody know of any single drive (ie small/home office) NAS that can do a "real" filesystem like ext2 or ext3, and take a SATA drive.

I've got a cheap FAT32 enclosure with a SATA in it but the limitations of FAT32 are just too much to live with and working around it by trying to get a split-file-loopbacked-device-mapped ext3 virtual disk on it is proving pretty cumbersome.

Looking around all these consumer type NAS devices only do FAT32, probably because they are all running the same chip I guess.

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James Sleeman
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hairy1

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#132597 22-May-2008 18:40

I have a Welland NDAS http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?item=CASICZ740K It doesn't look like they do a SATA version. The NDAS supports NTFS and there is a linux client. NDAS seems to be VERY fast over my home ethernet. The big advantage is that it is connected directly to my router so no need to have a computer on to access it from anywhere in the house. Small disadvantage is the requirement to load a client on each computer that accesses it.

Cheers,

Matt.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

logicalit

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#132735 23-May-2008 10:38

You looking for an all-in-one black box type solution?

If you're up for something a bit larger there are packages like freenas (And some others I can't remember off the top of my head) that will convert an old PC into a NFS/CIFS/iSCSI NAS with a dany web interface to maintain it..

I've used freenas for a couple of large iSCSI setups for windows, and NFS for Linux and it just works...

Cheers, Chris H.

rscole86

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#132736 23-May-2008 10:41

How much are you looking to spend? And what other features do you want/not want?

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=353714

Is that the sort of thing you are after?

sbiddle

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#132772 23-May-2008 12:27

I would personally recommend any of thecus nas units. They are not cheap but their quality and performance is fantastic.

rphenix

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#136760 9-Jun-2008 19:29

Thecus is good, or get yourself a Kurobox Pro (warning: takes ages for the box to ship, the info on your order isnt really updated you usually get the package before their website even says "shipping").

I've got one running Debian Etch. Alternatively you could get a linkstation and hack it to run freelink debian but its not quite as good as the kurobox + the kuro lets you choose your own sata drive to throw in it. The kurobox is basically the linkstation designed to be modified?

logicalit

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#136793 9-Jun-2008 21:27

rphenix:

That kurobox looks like the dogs____ for a few neat projects...

Have you tried anything in the PCI slot?

I'm thinking that it'd make a great little iSCSI san or NFS NAS array controller if you put an eSATA card in it...

Or if you were brave I suppose you could use the USB2 for your array, but it might get a little slow....

Hmmmm, never tried that, raid5 on usb anyone? With persistent superblocks and a 2.6.x kernel it should just work. Hmmm..

rphenix

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#136799 9-Jun-2008 21:45

I would use the other sata port which unfortunately is sort outwards facing (but u could fix that I think with a little work) and instead throw in 2x 2.5" sata drives to use with linux raid although that would be expensive per GB compared to 3.5"

Otherwise Yes USB would work!

Yes it makes a few good little projects if you get one PM for an updated kernel I've compiled the latest could save u some work although things are much easier now the kurobox pro is basically supported in the mainstream kernel.

It makes a nice vpn server, asterisk box and u can load other things up on it like torrentflux. You do have to do a few things different eg I prefer to use lighttpd instead of apache for the web server to get the most out of it. Basically I use it for everything I previously would consider leaving a PC on for.

Regarding using the pci-e slot haven't used it to be honest the case design has some flaws while nice and compact leaves no room for suing the slot without modifying the case which I think is rather poor.

I have done other things like use USB sound card, usb wireless etc.. all thats easy to make work.