Homebrew NAS

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rwales

122 posts

Master Geek

Topic # 13828 31-May-2007 05:27

Hey all,

I've got > 1TB of files hovering around my network on various HDDs & external drives. I'm looking for some kind of homebrew NAS (Network Attached Storage) solution (hopefully featuring raided SATA drives). It needs to be reasonably fast (USB-based storage is too slow).

Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy a commercial NAS so I was wondering if anyone else has been in the same boat & what solutions you came up with. Any advice appreciated.

cyril7

6332 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 305

Trusted

Subscriber

Reply # 72946 31-May-2007 09:30

I have been looking lately too, and will most likely assemble some hardware and run ClarkConnect as the server sometime soon when time allows.

Clarkconnect is a linux distro that has all the standard server functions you could ever want. It can be run headless (ie web based interface) or via a shell if you are linux/unix speaking.

Cyril

MackinNZ

405 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 91

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Reply # 72958 31-May-2007 10:05

I use NASLite from Server Elements.

The only thing is that to use RAID you need hardware that supports true hardware RAID. More info here.

closetgeek

39 posts

Geek

Reply # 72971 31-May-2007 10:26

I've just built a file server out of a crusty old Celeron box using FreeNAS.

I had previously spent hours trying to configure various Linux Distros and gave up as either the command line interface required too much knowledge or the GUI required too much processor power.

FreeNAS on the other hand had a setup that was within my ability and has an easy to follow Web browser interface that made install and testing a comparitive breeze. It has given an old machine new life and I highly recommend it.