meshwork - attach storage options are more abundant than ever , but jumping into the plenteous bush of NAS can be quite a undertaking , especially if you desire a system that play nice with both PC and Mac . Macs have historically been an immoderately complex challenge for many networking products , and NAS was no exclusion . Here I ’ve assessed the utility of three unlike hard currency - conscious strategies for setting up a Mac - and - PC - friendly NAS : build a NAS out of an old PC , using a router with an external USB drive and buying a consecrate product . possibly you ’re wondering why you need a NAS at all . The answer is that you have too much stuff and nonsense to not have one . How do I know ? Because even my parent have a billion photos on their hard drive , and they fuck nothing of BitTorrent and Handbrake . An NAS sit there in a recess , a blinking , quietly whizz guardian of all those song , video and photograph files . It holds it all , streams it to just about anything else on the connection , and even observe a excess transcript safe on a separate mirror RAID drive in case the shit really hits the fan . So yeah , you demand one . Here are the three systems I assemble together : • My DIY system was cook up using FreeNAS software and an onetime ThinkPad I had lie around . This was technically the cheapest of the bunch . • My router - based system was an AirPort Extreme with attached WD and LaCie USB private road , which was also “ recycling ” but cost a mo more . • The dedicated NAS contraption I essay was a two - ride Synology DS207 + , $ 330 for the loge but the drives themselves are sold separately . To evaluate the utility of each fiscal gradation up , I used three main measure : Overall performance , availability of surplus information via RAID 1 , and whether it ’s possible to add in features like spiritualist streaming , removed accession or integrated BitTorrent . In a mixed Mac / Windows environs , the main performance factor for Macs is backing for Apple File Protocol for connect web shares . AFP bread and butter is becoming more and more common in nicer NAS rigs , but it is still not a given in the flash range - every NAS animated supports SMB / CIFS , the more Windows - well-disposed communications protocol , so PCs generally do n’t have a problem . While Macs can unite to NAS using SMB — and also NFS Unix , which you may also hunt across — performance fresh , OS X ’s SMB implementation is still tawdry liken to the apparently seamless AFP . ( SMB also includes mannerism such as filename distance restrictions that can throw a Mac into fit . ) If you ’re using an NAS to its high electric potential , moving a wad of data around , SMB will have more spinning death wheel and organization hangs in OS X than AFP will . It ’s up to you whether you want to go RAID 1 or not - you’re able to also merge or stripe the drives for more memory but less protection . For me , redundancy is a must . I require to be able to give a NAS ’s drives a workout and still suspire soft in the not only improbable effect of a drive blow - out . NAS add - ons like BitTorrent , remote admittance and mix UPnP are gracious higher - death features , but they may not be as important to you .
DIY NAS With FreeNAS I took an previous IBM ThinkPad X31 I had lie around and installedFreeNAS - an open - source operating system based on FreeBSD that is similar to the operating system you ’ll find in most NAS box . It tender similar features like RAID if the auto it ’s installed on has multiple movement , and can do UPnP , FTP access and the like via a vane - based admin venire just like most consecrated turnout . Initial installation is really not too baffling - just burn the FreeNAS live CD and kick it , then follow the install instructions . FreeNAS will re - arrange your drive to the slightly unknown UFS file system of rules it prefers ( do n’t prove to run it on already - formatted parkway , it ’s not worth the immense scuffle ) . I was up and run with AFP and SMB sharing without too much sweat . Like Linux , FreeNAS running game on a ton of ironware , so unless you ’ve arrive something obscure you ’ll probably be in business .
Verdict : If you ’re wakeless on outdated personal computer and you derive pleasance from thrift and tinkering , you should give FreeNAS a try . That said , do n’t require your pig in lipstick to be a screamer . Most aging desktops would be an improvement over my 5 - twelvemonth - quondam laptop with its slow 2.5″ disc , apparently , but even consider that , my real - world tests were pretty uncut . Browsing large folders of files hung the system on numerous occasions , and streaming of telecasting file ( specially search ) was jerky . As far as extras go , my PS3 recognized FreeNAS ’s UPnP server but could not read any media , which would in all probability take some serious hackery to name . Extras like an incorporated BitTorrent customer are useable as well as opened - source add - ons , but again , require someheavy tinkering . Still , if you have unused hardware , try this option first . Total toll : Free , ideally ; component in $ 150 bucks for a few raw drives .
Router with Shared External USB Drive I ’ve had bad luck in my previous , brief attempts at attaching USB repositing to router - rough performance and dropped connections abounded . This was with a few older non - Apple 802.11 grand routers , but by nature , I assume the AirPort Extreme stem post ’s AirPort Disk feature for connecting external drives was lead to take in as bad . I was untimely .
Dedicated NAS A quick - to - go NAS is the most obvious choice for tally web storage , but it can also be the most perilous . Go too crummy , and your corner probably wo n’t support the Mac - tastic AFP . And even if it does , its performance may still be under par and its supply - on features may not be good enough to warrant the added disbursement . One of the most low-priced AFP - fit out , well - review NAS devices is theSynology DS207+which , at $ 330 before you even bribe the drive , is n’t sleazy at all . ( If you do n’t have some crusade lying around , the full cost will approach $ 500 . ) I pick it because , harmonize to NAS aficionados like the folks at Small internet Builder with their handyNAS Charts , it yielded the good value in what I was await for . Above the improved compatibility , it discombobulate in tasty perks like a BitTorrent manager for download direct to the NAS , UPnP for cyclosis to a compatible TV or PS3 , and a nice entanglement - based ascendance interface you could access from anywhere .
Airport ExtremeHard DrivesHow ToRaid
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and civilization word in your inbox day by day .
intelligence from the future , deliver to your nowadays .
You May Also Like
