Page 1 of Network Attached Storage Help Please

Hi there,

I`m hoping that someone out there will be able to help me with a question I have. I am considering setting up some network storage but am not sure how to go about it. I need about 500 Gb so the retail drives are out of the question as they cost too much! I have found two ways of doing it and am trying to decide between them . The first is this device

Netgear SC101

It takes 2 drives and can be set up in a RAID configuration. The things I don`t like about this idea is that it only had 100mb/s LAN and I am worried that if both computers I have are trying to access information at the same time it may bottleneck and run really slow. Then I thought about building a cheap server. I found these on eBay

Compaq Deskpro EN Pentium 3 System 1Ghz

I thought I could buy on of them, install a RAID card, a Gigabit network card and use it as a cheap media server. I also found a couple of dual processor units for a little more money!

Anyone got any recommendations on which would be the better idea? Anyone got a better way of doing it?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

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"The most overlooked advantage of owning a computer is that if they foul up there`s no law against whacking them around a bit."

My DVD Collection

mmmh, interesting, fed up of using hard drive caddys with my laptop quite like the look of the netgear to go into my router along with my network printer, Have had a quick look at the netgear as usual the for and against even on the netgear forum, though it seems it does have a lot of issues and many people trying use it as a solution for a mini network. However for a simple backup and small network just to keep files on looks okay and the cheaper route to go for looks and a space saver. Though I am not any expert the separate server is probably the way to go if you want to do more just store files and backup, however that does deeper into the pockets. Have a look at the netgear forum for that bit of kit gives what drives are capable with it and other tips. Youve tempted me into something similar, as I do alot of mp3 and video stuff. Sorry couldnt really answer you question in whole.


A WISE MAN ONCE SAID

There`s a review of NAS devices in PCPro issue 136 (current issue with the gold "PcPro awards" front cover).