File Servers vs NAS?

Hi all... another new person to the world of file servers.

Im looking into using an old computer, beefing it up a bit, and using it
for a home office storage unit. Also, Im looking into the 'home media
center' thing where wireless adapters that plug into stereos or tvs stream
data off of computers. And just recently I heard of network attached
storage. What is the difference between the two? Some of the devices I have
looked at for an mp3 device for a stereo require certain software be
installed (which I suppose means either a computer or a file server). One
will accept NAS. Is the real difference that file serves can run programs
and things other than hard drives, and NAS cannot?

Thanks

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 18:49:11 -0000, Theo wrote:

Hi all... another new person to the world of file servers.

Im looking into using an old computer, beefing it up a bit, and using it
for a home office storage unit. Also, Im looking into the 'home media
center' thing where wireless adapters that plug into stereos or tvs stream
data off of computers. And just recently I heard of network attached
storage. What is the difference between the two? Some of the devices I have
looked at for an mp3 device for a stereo require certain software be
installed (which I suppose means either a computer or a file server). One
will accept NAS. Is the real difference that file serves can run programs
and things other than hard drives, and NAS cannot?

Thanks

Depends on the NAS and file server. Unless you get a NAS appliance a
file server usually runs a windows or unix OS, so they too can run
applications all while serving files to clients over the network.

NAS is just the description and technology used for accessing files
over the network. It's not an application itself. If the server that
holds the files has an OS that can run apps then .....
If it has a proprietary OS designed to only do file sharing (NetApp or
BueArc come to mind) then no, you can't run other apps on it.

Heck, almost anything can be a file server and used as a NAS device.
All that's required is a network and the ability to give file access
to other users/hosts. My home PC acts as NAS since another computer
can access it.

~F

Theo wrote:

Hi all... another new person to the world of file servers.

Im looking into using an old computer, beefing it up a bit, and using it
for a home office storage unit.

Look at my previous post in the thread "I want to build a 1.5TB storage
array for MythTV"

I used an old K6-III machine to build a 240GB RAID5 array, and it works
great. I can (and do) run other programs on it, too.


-WD

Faeandar wrote in
:

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 18:49:11 -0000, Theo wrote:

Hi all... another new person to the world of file servers.

Im looking into using an old computer, beefing it up a bit, and using
it for a home office storage unit. Also, Im looking into the 'home
media center' thing where wireless adapters that plug into stereos or
tvs stream data off of computers. And just recently I heard of network
attached storage. What is the difference between the two? Some of the
devices I have looked at for an mp3 device for a stereo require
certain software be installed (which I suppose means either a computer
or a file server). One will accept NAS. Is the real difference that
file serves can run programs and things other than hard drives, and
NAS cannot?

Thanks

Depends on the NAS and file server. Unless you get a NAS appliance a
file server usually runs a windows or unix OS, so they too can run
applications all while serving files to clients over the network.

NAS is just the description and technology used for accessing files
over the network. It's not an application itself. If the server that
holds the files has an OS that can run apps then .....
If it has a proprietary OS designed to only do file sharing (NetApp or
BueArc come to mind) then no, you can't run other apps on it.

Heck, almost anything can be a file server and used as a NAS device.
All that's required is a network and the ability to give file access
to other users/hosts. My home PC acts as NAS since another computer
can access it.

~F

Ok thanks... it seems to be a matter of semantics, except for the ready-
to-go NAS devices I saw on newegg I think. So, an mp3box that would
require a small program to be installed and running on the storage machine
would not work with these plugandplay ones? Most have this requirement.

Also, for a first timer would a pentium 1 pc suffice? There is an old
compaq laying around, but the drive is small and it probably doesnt have
alot of memory or a network card. If I looked around I could probably pick
a newer one cheap someplace... if this would be more advisable.

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 01:30:34 -0000, Theo wrote:

Faeandar wrote in
:

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 18:49:11 -0000, Theo wrote:

Hi all... another new person to the world of file servers.

Im looking into using an old computer, beefing it up a bit, and using
it for a home office storage unit. Also, Im looking into the 'home
media center' thing where wireless adapters that plug into stereos or
tvs stream data off of computers. And just recently I heard of network
attached storage. What is the difference between the two? Some of the
devices I have looked at for an mp3 device for a stereo require
certain software be installed (which I suppose means either a computer
or a file server). One will accept NAS. Is the real difference that
file serves can run programs and things other than hard drives, and
NAS cannot?

Thanks

Depends on the NAS and file server. Unless you get a NAS appliance a
file server usually runs a windows or unix OS, so they too can run
applications all while serving files to clients over the network.

NAS is just the description and technology used for accessing files
over the network. It's not an application itself. If the server that
holds the files has an OS that can run apps then .....
If it has a proprietary OS designed to only do file sharing (NetApp or
BueArc come to mind) then no, you can't run other apps on it.

Heck, almost anything can be a file server and used as a NAS device.
All that's required is a network and the ability to give file access
to other users/hosts. My home PC acts as NAS since another computer
can access it.

~F

Ok thanks... it seems to be a matter of semantics, except for the ready-
to-go NAS devices I saw on newegg I think. So, an mp3box that would
require a small program to be installed and running on the storage machine
would not work with these plugandplay ones? Most have this requirement.

Also, for a first timer would a pentium 1 pc suffice? There is an old
compaq laying around, but the drive is small and it probably doesnt have
alot of memory or a network card. If I looked around I could probably pick
a newer one cheap someplace... if this would be more advisable.

Far more adviseable to get a new one if possible. For US$300 you can
get a pretty decent machine by any standard, 250 will get you a fully
funtional, NAS ready machine. If mp3's is your file share goal then
just load up your windows OS, put the mp3's on it, and share the
directory. After that any machine on your network will be able to
access it by simply typing \\servername\directoryname.

This is the mystery and magic that is NAS....

~F

I too build my own rack mountable 1U NAS storage unit for my
department. It costs less than $570 with 2 mirrored 160GB IDE
Harddisks. I use an Open-E NAS 2.0 Flash IDE Module. (It is a
self-boot NAS O.S. installed in a solid-state IDE module). A low-cost
1U rack server made by ColoMachine. It works great at ½ of the price
of a comparable commercial NAS unit.

Embedded NAS O.S.: http://www.open-e.com
1U Colomachine : http://www.colomachine.com

Will Dormann wrote in message ...
Theo wrote:

Hi all... another new person to the world of file servers.

Im looking into using an old computer, beefing it up a bit, and using it
for a home office storage unit.

Look at my previous post in the thread "I want to build a 1.5TB storage
array for MythTV"

I used an old K6-III machine to build a 240GB RAID5 array, and it works
great. I can (and do) run other programs on it, too.


-WD

(RCman) wrote in
om:

I too build my own rack mountable 1U NAS storage unit for my
department. It costs less than $570 with 2 mirrored 160GB IDE
Harddisks. I use an Open-E NAS 2.0 Flash IDE Module. (It is a
self-boot NAS O.S. installed in a solid-state IDE module). A low-cost
1U rack server made by ColoMachine. It works great at ½ of the price
of a comparable commercial NAS unit.

Open-E NAS is quite expensive for a home unit like he's apparently trying
to build.

A freebsd, linux or windows server with samba or windows file sharing will
do fine for most, if not all, entry level systems.


--
/Jesper Monsted

Jesper Monsted wrote in
4.163:

Open-E NAS is quite expensive for a home unit like he's apparently
trying to build.

A freebsd, linux or windows server with samba or windows file sharing
will do fine for most, if not all, entry level systems.

Thats what its looking like, thanks. One thing I was hoping to avoid was
having another big box to have to find a place for. Has anyone tried those
adapters that have enthernet plug in one end (for the network) and USB
drives on the other for the storage?

In article ,
Theo wrote:
Thats what its looking like, thanks. One thing I was hoping to avoid was
having another big box to have to find a place for. Has anyone tried those
adapters that have enthernet plug in one end (for the network) and USB
drives on the other for the storage?

There was a long discussion on slashdot.org last week about one of them that
turned out to be a Linux box. The discussion was mainly on the "hackability"
of the box, but I was thinking that it sounded like a pretty useful little
gadget... and you can be sure that the people beating on the box will be
the first to shake loose any problems.

An unconventional way to do your research, perhaps, but probably worth looking
into.

http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article85.php
http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article86.php
http://www.batbox.org/nslu2-linux.html

--
I've seen things you people can't imagine. Chimneysweeps on fire over the roofs
of London. I've watched kite-strings glitter in the sun at Hyde Park Gate. All
these things will be lost in time, like chalk-paintings in the rain. `-_-'
Time for your nap. | Peter da Silva | Har du kramat din varg, idag? 'U`

On 23 Aug 2004 13:41:00 GMT, Jesper Monsted
wrote:

(RCman) wrote in
. com:

I too build my own rack mountable 1U NAS storage unit for my
department. It costs less than $570 with 2 mirrored 160GB IDE
Harddisks. I use an Open-E NAS 2.0 Flash IDE Module. (It is a
self-boot NAS O.S. installed in a solid-state IDE module). A low-cost
1U rack server made by ColoMachine. It works great at ½ of the price
of a comparable commercial NAS unit.

Open-E NAS is quite expensive for a home unit like he's apparently trying
to build.

A freebsd, linux or windows server with samba or windows file sharing will
do fine for most, if not all, entry level systems.

Might want to check out http://www.openfiler.org/

~F