Possible solution to network storage probs

[Shamus_McFartfinger]

After fighting with my Netgear SC101 I went looking for alternatives to this overpriced piece of junk and found what seems to be ideal. Basically, it?s a linux package that runs entirely from a single floppy disk and turns any PC into a file server using SMB shares. (SMB explanation here) The package is called NASLite and comes in a variety of flavours. I?m using the no-frills (free) floppy disk version which doesn?t support RAID drives, SATA drives or gigabit. The full commercial version (about $25) comes on CD and supports all sorts of stuff - even booting from a flash drive.

 

The basic idea is to use an old machine (like a P1/166 or P2/300 or something) as a place to store files. EG. Instead of throwing the old clunker into the bin, pull all the obsolete cards and CD-ROMs out of it and throw in 4 large harddrives of any size and map them as normal Windows shared drives ready for use. All it costs is the price of your harddrives.

 

If you?re low on HD space and have a crappy old machine sitting around doing nothing, give it a go. If anyone wants to try this and isn?t sure what to do, I?d be happy to help.

[kirk1701™]

I remember playing around with something like this shamus when I was a bloody student

 

Is this the one that gives you a GUI and allows you to brows the internet all from the CD? You just can't save anything from the internet because you are not using a hard drive, your pulling everything from the CD

[Shamus_McFartfinger]

I remember playing around with something like this shamus when I was a bloody student

I?m finding linux has a lot more things to explore than windoze, particularly when there?s something like 700 or so different versions to play with. It?s very much like learning how to use a computer again. In a sense, being a student.

Is this the one that gives you a GUI and allows you to brows the internet all from the CD? You just can't save anything from the internet because you are not using a hard drive, your pulling everything from the CD

 

Nope. I think you mean Knoppix. It lets you play around with linux without actually installing it. http://www.knoppix.org/. NASLite is a bootable floppy disk that sets up available harddrives as SMB shares. Its total size is 1.8MB. A great piece of programming.

 

EDIT: There?s a review on NASLite @ http://www.michaelhorowitz.com/naslite.html