I am looking to build a low power NAS, and was looking at the Kurobox/Linkstation. Basically a low power ARM/PPC box which can accept multiple HDDs either via SATA or USB.
In particular the KuroBox Pro has SATA and a PCI-i slot, so should be fine for at least six drives plus USB.
I am having real trouble finding good info on these devices though. I have used Linux before and got an A on my Unix exam back in the day, but was really just thinking about a "plug and play" solution, probably Windows 2000 based since I prefer to use NTFS.
Anyone used one of these boxes? I can't see any plug-and-play distros for them...
Kurobox/linkstation and other low power Linux servers
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Well, since no-one replied I will share the information I have found in case it is of use to others thinking along similar lines.
On the low power NAS front, there are a few options. The Linkstation and Kurobox are basically the same thing, except that the Kurobox is oriented towards experts and you basically need to install and configure Linux yourself on it. It can run the Linkstation firmware if you want.
The Kurobox, being a Japanese product, has a fair bit of documentation in Japanese and a healthy forum. My Japanese is not that good though and English documentation is a bit lacking. It will get you started but basically you need to really understand Linux and be able to figure things out for yourself.
On the plus side, the Kurobox is very low power (17W approx plus HDDSs) and the latest revision has both SATA and USB2.0. The downsides are that the CPU and RAM are quite limited and non-upgradeable, so don't expect massive performance, and because you get either an ARM or PowerPC processor you can't run Windows. NTFS might be possible with Linux, but I never managed to get it to work for write access myself.
On the subject of filesystems, NTFS really is the best option for Windows machines. FAT32 has some nasty limits on file names (no Unicode for example) and worse still a 4GB maximum file size which is not enough for DVD ISOs etc. Most Linux based solutions use EXT3 which is better, but has two potential issues. First, file names are case sensitive, so if you try and "copy notes.txt" and the actual file is named "Notes.TXT" it won't work. Second, it does not support Alternate Data Streams (ADS). The primary result of this is that files downloaded with IE will not show the "Are you sure you want to open this?" warning, but there could be other issues too.
An underclocked Mac Mini would be an ideal system for a low power NAS, but they are simply far too expensive. There are the VIA boards, which have come down in price quite a bit but are still a tad pricey. In the end, it boils down to a trade off between using extra electricity with an underclocked Sempron/PIII type system or paying extra up front for a low power system. Of course you also trade off things like form factor and performance.
The most interesting possibility now is the Thin Client. Basically a miniature computer with minimal resources, designed to run applications over a network. Low power is the key, and often they lack much in the way of expandability. However, all have at least 100Mb network and most have USB2.0 ports with an x86 processor, so are ideal for running Windows 2000.
On the low power NAS front, there are a few options. The Linkstation and Kurobox are basically the same thing, except that the Kurobox is oriented towards experts and you basically need to install and configure Linux yourself on it. It can run the Linkstation firmware if you want.
The Kurobox, being a Japanese product, has a fair bit of documentation in Japanese and a healthy forum. My Japanese is not that good though and English documentation is a bit lacking. It will get you started but basically you need to really understand Linux and be able to figure things out for yourself.
On the plus side, the Kurobox is very low power (17W approx plus HDDSs) and the latest revision has both SATA and USB2.0. The downsides are that the CPU and RAM are quite limited and non-upgradeable, so don't expect massive performance, and because you get either an ARM or PowerPC processor you can't run Windows. NTFS might be possible with Linux, but I never managed to get it to work for write access myself.
On the subject of filesystems, NTFS really is the best option for Windows machines. FAT32 has some nasty limits on file names (no Unicode for example) and worse still a 4GB maximum file size which is not enough for DVD ISOs etc. Most Linux based solutions use EXT3 which is better, but has two potential issues. First, file names are case sensitive, so if you try and "copy notes.txt" and the actual file is named "Notes.TXT" it won't work. Second, it does not support Alternate Data Streams (ADS). The primary result of this is that files downloaded with IE will not show the "Are you sure you want to open this?" warning, but there could be other issues too.
An underclocked Mac Mini would be an ideal system for a low power NAS, but they are simply far too expensive. There are the VIA boards, which have come down in price quite a bit but are still a tad pricey. In the end, it boils down to a trade off between using extra electricity with an underclocked Sempron/PIII type system or paying extra up front for a low power system. Of course you also trade off things like form factor and performance.
The most interesting possibility now is the Thin Client. Basically a miniature computer with minimal resources, designed to run applications over a network. Low power is the key, and often they lack much in the way of expandability. However, all have at least 100Mb network and most have USB2.0 ports with an x86 processor, so are ideal for running Windows 2000.
how about this:
http://www.logicsupply.com/products/d201gly
plus a sata card would make a pretty low-cost file box.
http://www.logicsupply.com/products/d201gly
plus a sata card would make a pretty low-cost file box.
how bout an applebred duron, with a decent matx board for that generation? that'd be fairly cheap... on the order of 50 bucks or so for a used duron and mobo, and it'd still have quite a bit of muscle for doing whatever you wanted to do (now or in the future)
reason i suggest that, is to my knowledge, the applebreds were 35watt consumption. i figure anything that low is low enough...
reason i suggest that, is to my knowledge, the applebreds were 35watt consumption. i figure anything that low is low enough...
Thanks for the comments.
I am wondering about laptops now. Since the idea is to keep the cost and power consumption down, an older laptop might be ideal. By nature they are low power, and USB2.0 ports or SATA PCMCIA cards allow for expansion. Plus, built in keyboard and screen. The only down side is that you don't get power for the HDDs, but an external USB HDD tower like the Century ones will take care of that.
I am surprised no-one has created a case for an ITX based NAS. Basically a box with space for the board, PSU and four/six/eight HDDs. Cooling options of course. Here in Japan you can buy drive cages with mountings for six HDDs and a 120mm fan for about 12 pounds. You can get a slightly more expensive version with a connector for an ATX PSU that powers it up too. I was thinking of pairing one with an ITX board. Enclosure wise, the mobo box would do. It doesn't have to be pretty.
I am wondering about laptops now. Since the idea is to keep the cost and power consumption down, an older laptop might be ideal. By nature they are low power, and USB2.0 ports or SATA PCMCIA cards allow for expansion. Plus, built in keyboard and screen. The only down side is that you don't get power for the HDDs, but an external USB HDD tower like the Century ones will take care of that.
I am surprised no-one has created a case for an ITX based NAS. Basically a box with space for the board, PSU and four/six/eight HDDs. Cooling options of course. Here in Japan you can buy drive cages with mountings for six HDDs and a 120mm fan for about 12 pounds. You can get a slightly more expensive version with a connector for an ATX PSU that powers it up too. I was thinking of pairing one with an ITX board. Enclosure wise, the mobo box would do. It doesn't have to be pretty.