Just got a Thecus N4200pro NAS

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Mark

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#83553 18-May-2011 15:23

Sort of network related :-)

So far so good, seems nice and fast, easy to setup (though I am a storage bod and if I can't setup a home NAS then I should quit now! :-)
Found a few minor niggles (spelling mistakes, typos in URLs) but nothing show stopping.

Now I just want to find out how to roll my own kernel for it to give it eSATA port multiplier support!

Spec wise it is:

4 drive bays (3Tb+ disks supported, I put in 4 * 2Tbs)
2 * Gbe ports (supports link aggregation)
6 * USB 2.0
2 * eSATA
PCIe slot
Built in mini-UPS
Dual core Atom CPU and 1Gb of DDR3 RAM (which I'm hoping I can upgrade)
iSCSI, EXT3/4, ZFS, FAT32, CIFS, NFS, AFP, rsync, FTP, Mailserver
Supports applications like media servers etc as well as an SDK to create your own.

So far I like :-)

Mark

nakedmolerat

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#470565 18-May-2011 15:33

nice, i have n4200, 4x2Tb (raid 5)

PANiCnz

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#470663 18-May-2011 17:18

How much did it cost? Less than a DIY job with a e350?

Mark

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#470841 18-May-2011 22:40

$868+gst for the N4200pro plus 4 * $116 for the drives.

So yes you can build a DIY cheaper, but you don't get anywhere near the quality in finish and have the hassle of doing the software stack yourself.

I took the easy option and just paid for it, I build humongous SAN and NAS setups for my job, really not in the mood to do it for home and I've learnt long ago that there are brains far bigger than mine to do the hard work for me :-)

JimmyH

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#471330 19-May-2011 21:50

Interesting. I am looking at the QNAP 410, which seems to be a slightly cheaper equivalent, albeit with only 1 ethernet port and fewer USB ports. However given how busy I am with other things, it will probably turn into a Christmas project before I get around to it :-)

Hopefully by that time 3TB discs will be somewhat more affordable. Interested in the type of 2TB discs you are using, and where you managed to find them for $116? The cheapest decent 2TB drives I have managed to find readily available are around $165, or $NZ155 each if I buy 4.

My other question is whether the eSATA connectors support port multiplication? The QNAP ones do, which allows for future expansion and is the main reason that was the model I am looking at. 5-bay eSATA enclosures, that can be configured in raid 5 and which will hang off the QNAP go for around $NZ 350. Hanging 2 of these off the QNAP using 3TB drives allows for expansion to 33TB in RAID5, which (famous last words!) is several times the storage I think I will need for years - currently need between 4TB and 5TB.

Mark

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#471358 19-May-2011 22:36

Hi there,

I got the Thecus and the drives from PB Tech, the $116 needs GST added, sorry forgot to write the (+GST) bit :-) so they ar really $133 each.

The disks are Western Digital, model number WD20EARS ... not on the Thecus support matrix but seem to work fine.

The N4200 doesn't support eSATA port multipliers, and it seems to be a case of wait for them to enable it or roll your own kernel ... I think i have enough storage to last me for a little while ...I hope! :-) I'll probably buy the USB 3.0 board to add to it though then do similar to yourself and attach a multi-bay USB 3.0 enclosure for future growth ... at the moment I've hooked up my old USB 2.0 drives (that it replaced) to it and have it do backups to them. Next year might get a second one and stick it in the sleepout and have them mirror each other :-)

The Qnap was on my shortlist as well ... just liked the look of this one a bit better in the end and it fitted in nice with my mainly Apple house, but I couldn;t find one with the performance I wanted in the same price bracket, the go faster Qnaps cost more I think.
Another brand you might want to look at is Synology, those apparently are very quick boxes, but I hear they are a bit fiddly to set up.

Regards!