Cheap NAS Device for Small Business - Which One?

[gavm99]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a cheap NAS Device which has at least 2 disks and supports RAID.

I have found I can get a Netgear Enclosure for around £150 and purchase 2 x 250GB SATA Disks for around £80, therefore total is around £230.

Does anyone have experience with the Netgear NAS drives? Are they any good?

Do you know a good alternative?

Thanks.

Gavin Moorhouse

http://www.lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk

Interested in my personal blog?

http://www.thelucidview.co.uk

 

[LeeMason]

Have a look at the Thecus N299. Two disk RAID1 enclosure with a number of NAS features. Less that £100.00 for the N299 plus whichever disks you want to install.


Lee Mason
Optimal Projects Ltd

http://www.opl.co.uk

http://www.backupsanywhere.com

 

[gavm99]

Hi Lee,

Just had a quick look. Can you disable to photo web server and itunes on it? I wouldn't want these on!

Have you tried and tested this product yourself?

Thanks.

Gavin Moorhouse

http://www.lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk

Interested in my personal blog?

http://www.thelucidview.co.uk

 

[RMGBELGIUM]

I have a netgear running at home,and the speed is horrible.Getting no more then 2 Mbit,so not advisable for a business, unless it's for archiving purposes or so

rgds,

R.

 

[gavm99]

Thanks for the info.

How about I use a standard HP desktop machine, stick in a 3Ware SATA RAID Card and either use XP or FreeNas on it?

What do you think?

Gavin Moorhouse

http://www.lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk

Interested in my personal blog?

http://www.thelucidview.co.uk

 

[wahnula]

How about I use a standard HP desktop machine, stick in a 3Ware SATA RAID Card and either use XP or FreeNas on it?

That is exactly how I would approach it. The processor will be removed from RAID duties and could be just about anything, a Celeron or Sempron etc. You won't need much of a PSU either. A USB stick could be connected to the internal USB header to run FreeNAS. I like this approach because I like to build, plus I would know every piece of hardware/software in the NAS unit for future troubleshooting.

I would install a hot-swap backplane for ease of HDD access. Make sure the backplane, if you use one, is SATA II. I found out after purchase and installation of one that it dumbed-down my SATA II HDDs to SATA I. Bummer!

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[LeeMason]

gavm99,

I haven't used the N299 but I have used the 1U4500 which is a vyer much bigger brother! I know on this box you can disable any services that you do not want.

I have just checked the N299 manual on the Thecus website and you can disable the itunes and media servers if you don't want them.

I also think FreeNAS is a great idea if you have an old PC and are happy to put a bit of work in but don't get carried away as this might even be more expensive than buying a NAS box.


Lee Mason
Optimal Projects Ltd

http://www.opl.co.uk

http://www.backupsanywhere.com