Server

[Rubber Bullets]

I know this crosses slightly with wyrd_fish's thread, so I hoep you don't mind me starting a different one.

I have just bought a Netgear MP101 to listen to my mp3 collection on through my stereo. This works well, and was simple to set up despite some scare stories around the web.

The downside of course is that the PC has to be on to listen to the music, and my PC isn't always. (I know some people leave PCs on all teh time, but I do not want to go down that route.)

So my option is a server of some kind, with the benefit that it will act as a print serevr as well, and save me buying one of those as well.

I have 2 choices. Something like this or this will apparently do the job, but may be tricky to set up (I have no idea).

On teh other hand I am about to get my dad's old base unit, a 733MHz PIII, that I could put a larger HDD in.

The only problem with this is that it only has WinME installed (I know, don't say it) and I would want XP home at least or even Pro and that would cost. I would also need a monitor/keyboard/mouse for occasional use. A reconditioned Dell 15" TFT is around £80. Power consumption would be more than the servers above, though probably not too bad with an old PIII with few cooling fans, no graphics card etc.

What do you think? I know that Linux will be a suggestion, but I have absolutely no idea how to use it, and little inclination to find out tbh.

RB

 

[Insane]

if all it has to do is fetch files from a drive, a good option is the Synology Diskstation DS-101j from Scan.co.uk
(Linky here)

pick one of them up with a nice sized IDE drive (i have a 200gig in mine) and it'll run happy as pie in the background, it also handles USB printers as network devices (as long as it isnt a bastard all-in-one from HP or Lexmark) and can share them across the network between pcs.

its latest firmware from the synology website also allows you to run mySQL and PHP from the in-built apache webserver (apache 1.3.3 and PHP 4.1) if you feel inclined, and your own FTP service as well, and theres a handy gallery system on it as well for your photos which can be published through your website as well.

theres even people working on unslung firmware (a-la the NSLU2 thing from tomshardware.com ) to give it more functionality if you so wish. NSLU2 site for DS101

 

[inactionman]

If you want quick and simple, I have a Linkstation, and it's a doddle to use, all is setup via a web interface. It can share the disk via SMB (MS/SAMBA) or NFS, so no problems there, and it can also act as a print server. It's also a powerpc running linux, so you can add more stuff later if are feeling brave.

It's a pretty small unit, and I got it over the NSLU2 as I'd rather have one box than 2.

Bear in mind that it's not that upgradeable (barring adding an external USB harddrive to it), so you are better off getting a 250Gb over the 120Gb (Link to dabs here http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...geMode=1&NavigationKey=11159,4294957361,50327).

Two thumbs up for the linkstation from me TBH.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I guess in the end one of these little units is going to be cheaper to buy and run than the old PC, and will do as much.

I'll start looking, I missed a Linkstation on E-bay this morning but no doubt there'll be more along soon.

RB

 

[Rubber Bullets]

BTW Insane, looking at the Synology box, it says support for 120Gb and up. I currently have a 60Gb IDE drive looking for a home and so this looks like a good option, but is there any reason that the drive would not be supported? I could do without the cost of a new drive just atm and could easily upgrade that later.

Purely for music 60Gb would be ample, but looking to the future can the Xbox 360 stream Xvid and Divx films from a box like this?

I currently have a Kiss DVD player that fills all my Lost series 2 playing needs, but it is on teh way out and I am intending to buy a DVD recorder when it breaks. Most of those do not support these other video formats.

RB

 

[KevinUK]

I was after something like this but couldnt see anything remotely that cheap.

I ended up getting a 300gb usb external HD for my backup needs but this would have been nicer!

 

[Insane]

BTW Insane, looking at the Synology box, it says support for 120Gb and up. I currently have a 60Gb IDE drive looking for a home and so this looks like a good option, but is there any reason that the drive would not be supported? I could do without the cost of a new drive just atm and could easily upgrade that later.

From what I can see, there is no restriction on using a smaller size. I think they stuck the 120gb and upwards because people would instinctively slap large drives into these boxes.

Just stuck a spare 40gig drive in to test and it didnt give any errors or problems, so the 60gig should work fine. Just be wary if you update the firmware then change drive, you'll need to have that firmware available to initialise the drive . You loose about 200mb space to the firmware, its installed onto the hard disk instead of trying to squeeze it into some memory space, it only uses around 80mb so far so they might have future updates (it is essencially a mini linux server)

Its handy as well because it uses universal linux OS partitions, so when you upgrade you can plug the old drive into a PC, boot a live CD like Knoppix and copy the data onto the new drive without any worry.

the USB copy is only handy for backing up USB pen drives or similar items, but you can hook a fat32 USB HDD into the back of it and share it out transparently if you want.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Thanks Insane,

Some of the terminology you use goes over my head a bit

Basically this thing sits there running Linux, but requires no knowledge of linux to use it, is that correct?

I can load software onto it using a web browser on my main windows PC?

I believe that the MP101 needs to find running music server software somewhere on the network, not just folders with music in them. ATM I have the basic Netgear server software running on my PC, but something like Twonkyvision also does the trick, and can be loaded onto this drive.

Can it also be put on the Linkstation?

Ta

RB

 

[inactionman]

That product, no. Although if you unlock full linux functionality, and compile the open source project for the MP101 that's bound to exist, then it will almost certainly work. You'd need to research it tho.

 

[Insane]

That product, no. Although if you unlock full linux functionality, and compile the open source project for the MP101 that's bound to exist, then it will almost certainly work. You'd need to research it tho.

unlocking these devices are definately for specialists only, they cause too many migranes if you dont know what your doing.

with the MP101 needing a special media server running on the system, most NAS devices are in essence useless because of that specialist software, and twonkyvision needs you to hack most of the systems to get them working.

as for setting up NAS devices, they are extremely easy to setup, you just plug it all in, power it on then use the software to find it all, and it will set the system up for you.

best bet would be that freecom device, since you can network from it as well which is handy (second link in RB's original post) or build a standalone server which will make loads of noise and sucks power.
shame the MP101 isnt capable of handling network shares i could rant about netgears lack of forward thinking on another product

might bounce a query off synology themselves and see if they have ever thought about adding a upnp media server to the diskstation firmware, its got loads of space free.

 

[Insane]

sorry about digging up a slightly old thread, but came across something recently which would be of benefit to people who followed this thread.

Recently a company called QNAP released a NAS device called the TS-101 which is advertised as a "10 in 1" device, which seems interesting when its advertised with MMedia/P2P/Raid1 (???) capabilities, which was a bit of a surprise.

the site regarding it is here and its an interesting read, specifically that it supports bittorrent downloads and possibly normal HTTP downloads. Im not certain but some sites are reporting its Multimedia local file is based on Slimdevices (which last i knew worked with the netgear MP101)

i've managed to find it available on Scan for 200 but thats excluding a SATA drive (its SATA only tho, so more for a drive) but who knows what other retailers have it at a better price.

google search for QNAP TS-101 and you'll get a few sites, but they all seem to be lacking stock, so give it a few weeks and it should be in (and hopefully prices will have came down)

anyone fancy buying a 2nd hand Diskstation 101j?

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Thanks for digging the thread up Insane, I've not yet gone any further with my search, a general lack of funds mostly, but this is definately of interest.

RB

 

[xane]

I'd like to add as an aside that Netgear now do the SC101 NAS unit, which is a viable alternative to the NSLU2. I wished I'd known of it but ended up buying a Maxtor Shared Storage unit, which is quite good.

 

[inactionman]

Considering upgrading my NAS soon, as I'm running out of space on mine! Torn between spending loads of money on a Terastation, or buying the new Netgear (which I think looks like a toaster!).

 

[inactionman]

Forget the netgear, just found out it's not a real NAS (SMB/NFS fileserver), you need special software installed to access it. Guess I need to do more research for a NAS that can take 2 user-installed drives.

 

[inactionman]

This looks nice, http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=340118. Although looking at the cost, once I install 2x 300Gb drives in it I can get a Terastation for about £70 more... Have to think about it.

 

[xane]

The Maxtor Shared Storage can take two additional USB Drives IIRC.

 

[inactionman]

Most NAS's (including the one I have) can, but I was looking for one that uses user installed drives (IDE/SATA), mainly due to space/power contraints (and asthetically I'd prefer one box).

Currently leaning to the Terastation, ~£475 for ~a Terabyte on Amazon.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

I'm even more confused now.

Apparently the MP101 works with TwonkyVision and TwonkyMusic, and this page on the Twonky site suggests that quite a large number of the NASs mentioned in this thread would work quite easily. The latest FSG3 firmware even includes TwonkyVision built in!

Even the Maxtor Shared Storage Plus would work for just £130 ish for 200Gb.

According to that first link these units don't need anything too complicated in the way of Linux knowledge, but I can't find any instructions for loading Twonky, just assurances that it is not difficult.

RB

 

[inactionman]

From a quick look at the sight, the installation instructions look to be in the forum, here (http://www.twonkyvision.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=12&sid=f2dbe7833690aab1efdd467a990a7dd6).

 

[inactionman]

Bit the bullet last night and ordered a bunch of stuff to make a NAS.

Opty 146 (had it lying around)
1 Gb Ram
Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (new Nforce430 really nice microATX mobo with Geforce 6150 onboard, RAID 0/1/0+1/5, DVI and VGA out, nice for £60! May also use the server as a media centre with my LCD TV)
512Mb Flash (for boot partition, it's an arse to have unix booting from a RAID partition)
4x Maxtor Maxline III 300Gb Drives (I'll run them in RAID 5, which should give me 900Gb of resilient storage)
Antec Overture II Case, with 450W PSU
NEC DVD Burner

Should make a nice home server. I'm not doing 'real' hardware RAID, as performance should not be an issue, just data resilience. In fact I may underclock the processor to reduce temps.

I'd prefer to put a BSD on their, but the mobo is quite new, therefore drivers may be a problem, so I may use Linux (prob Gentoo) for now.

If anyone wants to built themselves a cheap NAS, I've find a nice project for it, www.freenas.org. Based on FreeBSD 6.0, designed to run from a 16Mb Flash card, web-based admin. Looks nice, but I need something a little more than just a NAS now.