Linksys NSLU2 for a cheap and quiet NAS

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

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Ramses
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Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2003 4:20 pm
Location: Montréal

Linksys NSLU2 for a cheap and quiet NAS

Post by Ramses » Wed Sep 01, 2004 1:35 am

I've just bumped onto this seldom talked about NAS option: the Linksys NSLU2 Network Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives (reviewed here). Some very good points in my eyes:
  • Silent. The drives you add will make the noise.
  • Connects up to 2 external USB 2.0 drives/enclosures, any capacity
  • Linux based (hackable) with SAMBA
  • Schedule backups from drive to drive, or from any LAN client
  • Cute and easy to understand web interface à-la Linksys
  • Web server included to serve files to the outside world if you want
  • Small footprint and attractive simple design
  • Price: around 80-90 USD
It's not perfect, but it's definitely more attractive than other consumer/SOHO products I've been eyeballing lately.

My apartment is rather small (ok... tiny), I need decent storage capacity and I'm on a budget: adding yet another full-size old PC or building a quiet SFF does not rate high on my desirability list. The NAS will sit relatively close to me and needs to be quiet and safe. Therefore, I was considering the following neat setup for a convenient NAS:
  • $80 - Linksys NSLU2
  • $130 - Seagate 200GB 7200.7 (or any larger capacity Samsungs/upcoming 7200.8s)
  • $40 - Speeze USB2.0 enclosure (with apparently great fanless heat dispersion)
  • Total: $250. I can always add more/upgrade later! :)
Cheap, simple, small, quiet, expandable, almost maintenance-free, almost turn-key and ready to serve. Of course, anyone with a larger house/budget may want to move it further away than I will, and either go for 300GB Maxtors or those near-silent Samsung notebook drives. It might be a good option for HTPCs or LAN music devices. What does everyone think?
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Blappo
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 10:21 am
Location: Waterloo, ON

Post by Blappo » Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:27 am

I was considering one as well (but I'm going to build a PC first).
You probably noticed this, but here's a link to hack into the thing. http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article88.php
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Kingcow
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2004 9:08 pm
Location: Sydney,Australia

Post by Kingcow » Wed Sep 01, 2004 6:12 am

Will you consider the Ximeta NDAS Netdisk Enclosure - http://www.ximeta.com/products/network_ ... /index.php ?

:lol: :lol:

Kingcow
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quix
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Location: Switzerland
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Post by quix » Wed Sep 01, 2004 6:31 am

the nslu2 is indeed very interesting. especially since it's open-source.

but the ximeta needs some proprietary network drivers to work. it doenst have smb/ftp or something like that built-in.
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