[vox-tech] NAS/Printer Server/Web Server?

[Chanoch (Ken) Bloom]

On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 04:20:40PM -0700, Alex Mandel wrote:
> I may have found answers to my own questions.
> 
> Option 1: a fit-pc-slim or similar with a usb enclosure for hard drives.
> Cons- would have to configure printer share, file share etc all from
> scratch.
> Pro runs straight ubuntu or gentoo and is super low power. (Though the
> drive enclosure may make it equivalent)
> 
> Option 2: A Netgear ReadyNAS Duo
> Cons- it's a netgear hacked version of debian (actually sounds better
> than the ipkg based other NAS systems so it's almost a Pro). Uses a lot
> more power 30-40 Watts. It's a 32 bit Sparc based processor, guess thats
> not that odd considering the other NAS I've seen are ARM or PPC. Nobody
> seems to use x86, atom etc in NAS, any idea why?
> Pro - simpler setup for most use cases, larger drive support and RAID
> features than simple 2 drive enclosures. Automatic usage of usb APC UPS
> units.
> 
> Cost for both methods seem to come out about the same.

I have a different model of ReadyNAS in my lab, and when the UPS runs
out of power, the ReadyNAS shuts down (obviously), but the ReadyNAS
doesn't have the firmware to turn itself back on when the power starts
up again (so someone has to actually get down to the lab and start it
up again, and then we have to wait several hours for it to fsck,
before we can actually use it again).

Make sure they've fixed these problems in your model before buying.

--Ken

> Note to self: For some reason I'd never really thought about the fact
> that you should put such a device on a UPS. In hindsite this is probably
> what killed my previous NAS drive. So in all this the key is now I'm
> getting a UPS specifically for my NAS, router since they are in a common
> room where printers can be attached.
> 
> 
> For those curious I'm probably going Option 2, for the price it just
> seems easier to manage and since it takes most debs from standard lenny
> repos should be able to run all my python based web stuff.
> 
> Hope these notes help others find their way.


-- 
Chanoch (Ken) Bloom. PhD candidate. Linguistic Cognition Laboratory.
Department of Computer Science. Illinois Institute of Technology.
http://www.iit.edu/~kbloom1/