Very, very cheap NAS?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/250413

£8 (+P&P). Just add a USB HDD and you have a NAS apparently. Anyone tried
one of these?

 

Yep. (I'm using them as network interfaces for intelligent sensor boxes
based on arduinos.. I can't buy or make ethernet shields for that price )

You will find several articles about hacking them eg
http://emprex-nas.blogspot.com/

At least one drive needs to be formatted in XFS (all drives unless you
hack it).

I can't really comment on them as NAS boxes, as, to me, NAS boxes need
speed and redundancy and these have neither. YMMV.

If you want a basic box for some reason, I guess that they would do.

Ebuyer also does a different "media" box, which takes a SATA/IDE hard
drive, for not a lot more and that may be a better bet...

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/247811 @19.98

I have several of these too -also hacked extensively - mostly with
extra holes drilled in, as the drive runs hot otherwise...

 

It's now (1650 Wed 16th Feb) out of stock.

Another Dave

 

I still think that the ME1 is better value - the IDE<>SATA converter
must be worth a couple of quidlets, to start with.

 

I think the other one (the one I posted) may still be available in the BT
shop, but I agree with you that something that has a native HDD interface is
better.

 

Oh, and I suspect that compared to a freenas device made out of an old PC,
these will pay for themselves in a couple of years in saved electricity.

 

I'm confused, doesn't the ME1 need an IDE drive?

 

The more recently released version comes with an IDE<>SATA adapter that
can be put between a SATA drive and the internal PATA cable, when a SATA
drive is used.

Note that there are size limitations for the drive that can be fitted -
there is a webpage listing drives known to work - sorry, I don't have it
to hand at the moment.

There can also be temperature problems, as the fitted fan is pathetic.
So you need to use a low consumption drive*.

* Or add additional ventilation holes. As I was expecting to to this to
more than one, I programmed my NC mill to drill the holes and add a
groove for an electroluminescent wire... Boys' toys - I know

 

Thanks, I think I need one! Confusingly, one of the sites says they support
1TB

 

I have to admit to having a deprived existence, NC mill-wise.

 

I use this:

http://www.sandberg.it/product/USB-All-In-1-Hard-Disk-Link

£21.99. Just add the disk you need. No fans necessary, as the disk just
sits on your desk in the open air. I have two, running whenever the
computers are on. Ideal solution, IMHO.

Hugh

 

Similar much cheaper on eBay, but it's USB anyway, not networked.

 

Thought you might like a result on this

Saw your post, for 12 quid total, its got to be worth a punt.

Missed the postie on Monday, got it yesterday. Have it up running after a
bit of fiddling.

Have it connected to a netgear wireless router & using an old 80GB drive
in an enclosure as storage.

Generally I use linux, PCLOS2010 KDE at the moment. The setup tool runs
under wine but to format the drive had to connect it to a windows machine.

So far, a simple setup, use FTP to move files around and firefox to view/
listen movie/audio files. Laptop (PCLOS E17 / windows) wireless connects
fine via the router.

Maybe not for the experts but possibly ok for a small home system. How
long it will last is another question, my usb enclosure could do with a
fan.

 

Have you replaced the firmware with a Debian kernel (which I think is what
http://tinyhack.com/agestar/debian-noserialneeded.html that does), or
something else entirely?
--
Tony Evans
Saving trees and wasting electrons since 1993
blog -> http://perceptionistruth.com/
books -> http://www.bookthing.co.uk/
[ anything below this line wasn't written by me ]

 

I'm trying out "something else entirely", at the moment - but, at the
moment, what I am trying to do isn't working

Still, I've always believed that you can learn a lot more from something
that isn't working than you can from something that is ..

 

And it's already broken, so further breakage doesn't matter. )

 

But what's /really/ annoying is when you actually manage to fix it, and
just as you're tidying up you kill it irretrievably.

 

BTDTGTTS. Too often. (

But you live and learn.

 

Of course, if you have a suitable flash programmer, you can whip the
chip off the board and dump the contents into the programmer. Farnell
will sell you a blank flash chip for three quid or thereabouts (once
they are back in stock). It only has pins running up two edges, so
removing and replacing it shouldn't be too big a problem - as long as
you don't make a habit of it.

IIUC, It does have the serial port pins (albeit at three volts, so you
will need a voltage converter, such as a Max). So you should be able to
unbrick it.

I'm trying to get it to work with an Arduino emulating a USB device to
provide a bi-directional data link between some sensors and a driver on
a PC....

 

Ah, an Arduino. One of our programmers at work has been playing with
one to see if it could be a viable replacement for a PLC. It seems to
be a halfway house between a microcontroller and a PC104-style PC.

From a hardware geek's point of view, I thought it looked well-made,
though it's a pain trying to house things like that neatly.

Have you looked at the Beagleboard? beagleboard.org