fast home NAS

[tg]

I'm currently using a Linksys NSLU2 for home networking/storage but not
too happy with its speed. I have a couple of usb hard drives plugged into it
and 5.5Mb/sec seems to be the fastest I can get out of it. Having googled
around about this is it seems that this is the normal max for this device,
even with the latest firmware and overclocking etc.
So I'd be grateful for opinions/experiences about a faster NAS. It would be
good if I could use my existing USB drives...
I'd like to aim for about 15-20Mb/sec if anyone knows of a low power home
device that will do this, thanks for any pointers.

 

[mike]

I'm currently using a Linksys NSLU2 for home networking/storage but not
too happy with its speed. I have a couple of usb hard drives plugged
into it
and 5.5Mb/sec seems to be the fastest I can get out of it. Having googled
around about this is it seems that this is the normal max for this device,
even with the latest firmware and overclocking etc.
So I'd be grateful for opinions/experiences about a faster NAS. It would be
good if I could use my existing USB drives...
I'd like to aim for about 15-20Mb/sec if anyone knows of a low power home
device that will do this, thanks for any pointers.

have you done the math?
Hint: What's the throughput of a 100mbit ethernet?
I've found the cheapest way to NAS is with a Dell GX270 SFF
computer. Has gigabit ethernet and can be had for under $20
at garage sales and swapmeets. Downside is power consumption...save
the planet...

 

[John McGaw]

I'm currently using a Linksys NSLU2 for home networking/storage but not
too happy with its speed. I have a couple of usb hard drives plugged into it
and 5.5Mb/sec seems to be the fastest I can get out of it. Having googled
around about this is it seems that this is the normal max for this device,
even with the latest firmware and overclocking etc.
So I'd be grateful for opinions/experiences about a faster NAS. It would be
good if I could use my existing USB drives...
I'd like to aim for about 15-20Mb/sec if anyone knows of a low power home
device that will do this, thanks for any pointers.

I have a couple of Iomega NAS units and they are about the same speed as
yours although I can't test to obtain an exact number right now because of
some other stuff running on the network.

Have you looked at the PogoPlug device?

http://www.pogoplug.com/products-pogoplug.html

These have a gigabit ethernet connection and may work a bit faster for you.
The device connects multiple USB2.0 storage devices although I don't know
exactly how many.

 

[Paul]

I'm currently using a Linksys NSLU2 for home networking/storage but not
too happy with its speed. I have a couple of usb hard drives plugged
into it
and 5.5Mb/sec seems to be the fastest I can get out of it. Having googled
around about this is it seems that this is the normal max for this device,
even with the latest firmware and overclocking etc.
So I'd be grateful for opinions/experiences about a faster NAS. It would be
good if I could use my existing USB drives...
I'd like to aim for about 15-20Mb/sec if anyone knows of a low power home
device that will do this, thanks for any pointers.

There is a list of devices tested here.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-charts/view

USB2 is limited to about 30MB/sec or so. Maybe 35MB/sec tops. So you
wouldn't expect USB2 to set any records. It would be better to put
the drives inside the device, if it has the hardware to go faster
than that.

Just for chuckles, the fastest one in the chart, is $640 and has four bays.
For that price, I'd rather build my own computer to do the job.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822108059

Paul

 

[tg]

have you done the math?
Hint: What's the throughput of a 100mbit ethernet?

I don't know what 100mbit throughput is and I'm unfamiliar with the math,
but I also run an old cobalt raq4r server connected to the same router as
the linksys nas and that gives 12Mb/sec so its not the network.

 

[Gorby]

I'm currently using a Linksys NSLU2 for home networking/storage but not
too happy with its speed. I have a couple of usb hard drives plugged
into it
and 5.5Mb/sec seems to be the fastest I can get out of it. Having googled
around about this is it seems that this is the normal max for this device,
even with the latest firmware and overclocking etc.
So I'd be grateful for opinions/experiences about a faster NAS. It would be
good if I could use my existing USB drives...
I'd like to aim for about 15-20Mb/sec if anyone knows of a low power home
device that will do this, thanks for any pointers.

I am currently using a "NetDISK" from Iocell, over a Gigabit ethernet.

I'm using this from 3 local PCs. Seems to work well, and is simple to use.

http://www.iocellnetworks.com/netdisk-solo-newfast/

(oh! it seems the new link is
http://www.buyalldisk.com/index.php/netdisk-solo-newfast-enclosure.html)

the technology was originally developed (I believe) by Ximeta.
http://www.ximeta.com/web/

 

[mike]

I don't know what 100mbit throughput is and I'm unfamiliar with the math,
but I also run an old cobalt raq4r server connected to the same router
as the linksys nas and that gives 12Mb/sec so its not the network.

Ok, I read your first post more carefully.
The low numbers led me to infer bytes instead of bits.
My Bad.
You want 20 megaBITS/second. That should be dead easy.

I'm getting 3MBYTES/second out of a Hawking NAS-1. That's one of the
slowest devices on the planet. Way too slow for my attention span.
I was getting 14MBYTES/second out of a Dell GX270 with a USB2-connected
slow green drive and gigabit ethernet.

Why not just put the usb drives on one of the computers and share 'em on the
network?

 

[GT]

There is a list of devices tested here.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-charts/view

USB2 is limited to about 30MB/sec or so. Maybe 35MB/sec tops. So you
wouldn't expect USB2 to set any records. It would be better to put
the drives inside the device, if it has the hardware to go faster
than that.

Just for chuckles, the fastest one in the chart, is $640 and has four
bays.
For that price, I'd rather build my own computer to do the job.

Exactly - and use that old motherboard and CPU combo that's lying around
from the last upgrade...

 

[tg]

On 2/05/2011 11:51 PM, tg wrote:

I am currently using a "NetDISK" from Iocell, over a Gigabit ethernet.

thanks, and what data speeds are you getting with this device?

 

[tg]

Exactly - and use that old motherboard and CPU combo that's lying around
from the last upgrade...

I've got loads of those lying around but they eat up electricity, way more
than a dedicated NAS. It isn't financially sensible and I'm struggling to
pay the bills as it is...

 

[tg]

tg wrote:

Why not just put the usb drives on one of the computers and share 'em on
the
network?

that's a good solution but expensive, it means having a pc running all the
time, which burns up juice and pushes the electricity bill beyond
financially sensible. Whereas a desktop nas runs off a tiny trickle.

 

[GT]

I've got loads of those lying around but they eat up electricity, way more
than a dedicated NAS. It isn't financially sensible and I'm struggling to
pay the bills as it is...

I've got an old SocketA MB with an Athlon 2400 sitting on my desk here. I've
turned down the voltage and FSB on the CPU by a fair bit. Forgotten how
much, but the heat output has gone from 65w to less than 30w and its cool
enough to run it without a cooling fan - just a decent heatsink. I have a
fanless graphics card and a silent PSU. All old spares. I rather suspect the
draw would be similar to any NAS. I have not yet connected a screen in order
to set everything up, but that's my next plan - time permitting!

Incidentally - could such a setup run without a graphics card? Would it
POST?

 

[mike]

that's a good solution but expensive, it means having a pc running all the
time, which burns up juice and pushes the electricity bill beyond
financially sensible. Whereas a desktop nas runs off a tiny trickle.

Yep, all depends on your usage patterns. If you frequently require
large data
transfers at high speed to non-computer devices with ethernet
connections at times when
it's impractical to have a computer running, this won't work for you.

If your requirements do not include instant access, wake-on-lan
can mitigate the power usage. Haven't used it recently, but today,
you may be able to wake from sleep and reduce the startup time.
Think I'll try a few experiments on a laptop.

People are doing interesting things with router firmware.
Google tomatousb.

Every time I've considered taking some function out of the computer
and putting it externally, I've come back with the analysis that
it's more costly and more hassle for little benefit.
A thumb drive in my pocket serves 99% of my data storage needs. YMMV.

But, you're allowed to want what you want.
There exist media servers that connect storage to the network.

http://www.mrt-communication.com/NAS-R104.htm
claims 10MB/s

 

[Gorby]

thanks, and what data speeds are you getting with this device?

I've just been playing with transferring a 1.5 Gig file from my internal
SATA2 to the external NDAS disk (also a SATA2 drive).

I get about 50MB/sec transfer rates. The transfer rates were taken using
the Drives Monitor gadget written by Hans Olav Norheim.

What I like about Netdisks is that they appear as internal drives,
however they don't appear on any network sweeps, so more secure.