I think I might be in the market for some network/direct attached storage soon, so I’m going to start listing interesting NAS/DAS devices I’ve come across so that I can make a decision some other time when I feel like spending (a lot of) money. I need a new UPS battery first anyway. Anyone have any experience with any of these devices?
I should also spend some time at NAS Central.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. The problem with these bloated solutions is that they are way too expensive for what they are. A raid controller, network card, perhaps a custom board for managing a few hd state leds, an almost silly administration interface that never has all the features you want, and an enclosure. At first I didn’t see why it was necessary to spend so much more for simply taking an operating system out of the picture.
But on the other side, an os requires a bit more in the way of hardware and configuration, which is why most people would prefer to just throw money at the problem. So what to do? Spend an assload on someone else’s plug and play solution, or build a fileserver and call it a day?
I think neither. Personally, I’d rather develop my own solution. The problem is, essentially, managing a stack of raided drives(backups, notification of drive space limits and failures), connecting them to a network, having a good set of tools to set permissions and the like, and not breaking the bank. An enclosure, stripped down hardware, a lamp install, and a bit of time is all that should be necessary. And more likely than not, even with money lost on a raid card or motherboard that doesn’t work out, the price will more than likely end up under 1k. We’ll see.