custom NAS appliance without the hack

Sat May 9 13:33:24 EDT 2009

Not a response, but just additional info on the subject of NAS: Linux
Journal recently did an article about OpenFiler, and how you could use just
about any (old/embedded/new) system to turn it into a powerful File Server.

The article is available only to subscribers, but here's the website, and
there are some
YouTubes
http://www.openfiler.com/
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=openfiler

Plus, a lot of hits out there comparing with FreeNAS
e.g. http://www.scribd.com/doc/29643/OpenFiler-vs-FreeNAS

On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 6:32 PM, Tom Metro <tmetro-blu-5a1Jt6qxUNc at public.gmane.org> wrote:

> I've bee looking around for a relatively low cost 4-drive NAS appliance
> that could be hacked to run Linux (or further customized if it already
> did) or FreeBSD (FreeNAS w/ZFS). They're available, but once you get
> into 4-bay devices, they become disproportionately expensive (typically
> $600+), relative to the cost of the components they are built from.
>
> (A Western Digital ShareSpace can be found populated with only 2 drives
> for a bit over $300. A great deal, given the drives alone are worth $180
> ~ $200, but it would need to be hacked in order to be customized.)
>
> Looking at the available components, if you want something compact and
> low power, the first challenge is finding a suitable enclosure. There's
> not much on the market for NAS appliances that isn't proprietary.
>
> I did find this Chenbro Mini ITX case with 4 hot-swap SATA trays:
> http://usa.chenbro.com/corporatesite/products_detail.php?sku=79
>
> Not bad, but it departs from the typical cube design, instead turning
> the drives sideways, to create a narrow tower. The power supply is
> external, and the bays aren't trayless. For a hunk of sheet metal and a
> power supply, it's also a tad expensive at $160+. To get a NAS you need
> to add a Mini-ITX board to it, which is going to run another $140 (for a
> model w/4 SATA ports), plus CPU and RAM. The low-power oriented Mini-ITX
> boards with Atom CPUs ($75) don't support enough SATA ports. A PCI card
> might be an option.
>
> Then I ran across the VIA barebones systems specifically aimed at OEM
> and DIY NAS appliances. They've got a 2-bay model[1][2] that comes with
> a motherboard incorporating their 1.5 GHz VIA C7-D CPU, so it should be
> fairly power efficient (one review said 29 watts; low noise too: 26dB).
> They've also incorporated a CF slot for storing the embedded OS, which
> is great. That can be found for a bit over $200. Add some RAM and a CF
> card loaded with FreeNAS and you're good to go.
>
> A nice box, even if it uses an external power supply and you have to
> disassemble it to swap drives. You'd be hard pressed to find any other
> built-it-yourself solution that is as small, but commercial 2-bay NAS
> appliances that are well supported by hacks aren't that hard to find,
> and some are cheaper (D-Link DNS-321). (Though I suspect most are
> probably running slower CPUs, and many don't have GB Ethernet.)
>
> VIA also has an 8-bay version[3], which sounds like it uses similar
> controller hardware (same CPU) plus Wake-on-LAN, Wake-on-Alarm, watch
> dog timer, and of course 8 SATA ports. The case also comes with hot-swap
> trays and an internal power supply. This runs $600, which again seems
> disproportionate given that most of the difference is scaled up sheet
> metal.
>
> Now if they only had a 4-bay version...
>
> 1. http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/embedded/artigo/a2000/index.jsp
> 2.
>
> http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/03/11/review-via-artigo-a2000-barebone-storage-server/
> 3. http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/embedded/nsd7800/
>
>  -Tom
>
> --
> Tom Metro
> Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
> "Enterprise solutions through open source."
> Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/
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