Using old PC to build NAS box

This is a project I'd like to do, and I have several old PC's lying around. I would need to add a gigabit NIC, a SATA controller, and the drives. But I'm curious if there are any bottleneck issues I'd run into when using an old PC for this purpose. I don't know off the top of my head exactly what hardware I have lying around, but most of it is around 10-12 years old. We're not talking about supporting a huge network here, just a very small home network, so multiple connections wouldn't be an issue. But even if only one client connects to this box to transfer data, would the processor speed, memory speed, FSB, etc, of, say, a Pentium II system be significantly slower than the transfer speed of SATA or gigabit Ethernet, so as to present a bottleneck issue?

 

I would say you would be wasting your money on a 1GBit NIC as the rest of the computer won't keep up. If this project calls for you to buy an SATA controller AND new drives too just to make an NAS, then I would just buy an NAS enclosure.

If your goal is to use this old system for backup storage, why not use old IDE drives? Backups can be scheduled for times when you are idle or asleep, then speed would not be critical.

 

The other advantage of a NAS box rather than a full blown PC is that the PC has many more parts that can (and will eventually) fail causing headaches trying to figure out why it isn't working...

 

If using a NAS for primary storage (music, video, photos, etc.) I would strongly consider getting one that has a RAID1 option. RAID1 uses two drives that mirror each other. If one drive in the NAS crashes, you don't lose all your data.

Another possible concern is file security if there are multiple users (kids, roommates, co-workers) accessing it. Some NAS units (such as the D-Link DNS-323, below) allow you to password protect and limit access to specific folders. Without this feature, all data and files are open to anyone accessing your network.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...55003&cm_re=d-link_nas-_-22-155-003-_-Product

Finally, buy a unit that allows you to purchase and install your own drives such as the one above. Many NAS units with pre-installed drives are sealed: If one of the drives dies you can't do a quick swap and rebuild the RAID copy yourself.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. For now, my primary use will be backups, and I am the only user, so perhaps I will start with the old PC method for that purpose and upgrade later on as my needs change.

I looked at that D-Link box on Newegg and it really looks cool. I definitely like the idea of purchasing just an enclosure and adding my own drives. Just as I would replace a drive if one fails and it would copy the data back over from the mirror drive, could I do the same if I wanted to upgrade my drives? Say I start out with 1TB drives and two years from now I want to upgrade to 2TB. Could I swap one drive, have the unit copy the data, and then swap the second drive? Furthermore, would I be able to move the matched pair of drives to another unit (PC or dedicated NAS device) that uses RAID 1 and retain the data on the drives?

How does the access control to the NAS work? Is it based on Windows (assuming you are using Windows) user name? Host name? MAC address? Other?

 

If it is only for backup, then you don't need 1Gbit networking. Mirrored RAIDs typically need sets of identical drives.

Moving a RAID array from one computer to another would be a real challenge and I don't think possible unless the controller is the same. Note there are NAS units with RAID.

To learn how a NAS unit works, I recommend you find one you are interesting in, then go out to the maker's site and download the manual for it.

 

You might look at http://freenas.org/ or http://www.serverelements.com/

I have used NASLite at home & deployed several old boxes here at work for people to backup to. It's cheap & easy.

The NASlite is managed from IE via a web interface & is easy to manage.
More info
http://www.serverelements.com/naslite-2.php

 

I've looked at FreeNAS before. It's exactly what I had in mind when I originally posted. NASLite looks interesting, too. Perhaps I'll play around with both of them.

I'm well aware a mirrored RAID 1 requires identical drives. That's why I was wondering if it is possible to upgrade a RAID in the manner I suggested.

I've never set up or used a RAID, so I'm not familiar with them in practice, only in concept. If the device you are moving the RAID to supports the same type of RAID configuration, why would not be possible to move the RAID and retain your data, just as if you were moving a single drive?

 

You might be able too. Certainly you could move each drive separately and rebuild the RAID array from there. But there are several different types of RAID controllers and I am just not sure if it is possible to move an array as a single unit, and have the array seen as an array if the controllers are different. I think if me, if I knew I was going to be moving whole arrays between computers, I would be a RAID controller card and move the drives and card at the same time.

 

I look forward to reading it. I have WHS but have not set it up yet - I'm supposed to be getting rid of all my old systems instead of trying to find new uses for them!

 

Windows Home Server = $100.
FeeNAS = um...free. :-D

Ha! I know the feeling. I just can't bring myself to get rid of an old computer. That's why I have a stack of them sitting in the corner. Turning one of them into something actually useful would definitely be a fun project, and that's why I started researching this topic to begin with.

I also just found out that I *may* (this isn't certain yet) be coming in to possession of a crap ton of 250GB SATA drives soon. If that does turn out to be the case, then all I'd have to do is add a SATA controller to one of those systems and I'd be set. I agree I don't need gigabit just for backup purposes, and SATA cards are cheap enough nowadays that I don't mind picking one up rather than using old IDE drives.

 

Like said I used Server Elements on an old box, it is a very cheap solution for a central file share & file backup. I did go to a WHS from HP because I wanted a full backup solution. But it does cost some money for the OS & will not run on old hardware, I believe I read it was a stripped down Windows 2003 server. I'm glad they're still (last I read) developing WHS only in 64bit. It has saved my bacon a few times.
You may be able to do the same type of thing if you can image a live system to the NAS box. I've heard Acronis does real time backups. Its an idea.

 

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one whose computer room looks like a geek version of Sanford and Son. :-D