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NAS vs. Shared HDD on Home LAN - Pros and Cons
I am considering adding additional network storage to my home LAN. It consists 3 desktop PCs running WIN XP Home on Linksys gigabit NICs. One of the PCs is used infrequently and has room for additional HDDs. I am considering adding 1TB to this unit and setting the share permissions to save $$$ and exploit the gigabit LAN since most low cost NAS units are only 10/100. Am I overlooking something here that would make this a no-go? Or is there a compelling reason to use NAS over this concept?
7th Sep 2007
Answers (2)
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really the same thing.
NAS or network attached storage is nothing more than a bunch of hard drives [or flash drives or connected to the network either via ethernet, USB, Firewire or a wireless connection.
NAS boxes typically have their own software but if you fill up a PC running Windows [or other O/S's]with HDDs and allow users to access it for storage, it's the same thing as going out and buying a NAS device and hooking it up on the network for users to access and store stuff on.
NAS boxes typically have their own software but if you fill up a PC running Windows [or other O/S's]with HDDs and allow users to access it for storage, it's the same thing as going out and buying a NAS device and hooking it up on the network for users to access and store stuff on.
7th Sep 2007
Replies
Most of the NAS boxes support hardware-based RAID 0 and RAID 1 which is a plus... can be done at a software level with a PC ... or at hardware level with RAID motherboard/add-in card but then you may have driven cost well beyond the NAS units...
I'm on the fence here myself... but need to do something for centralized backup....
I'm on the fence here myself... but need to do something for centralized backup....
CorporateLackie
13th Feb 2008
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Votes
NAS
1) NAS takes up less space and does not need a keyboard/mouse/display (or KVM port).
2) NAS never goes to sleep or hibernates accidentally.
3) Most NAS machines use RAID to prevent data loss, and are fairly quiet.
4) NAS machines cannot be used to surf the web by pesky children, mistresses, pets, etc.
5) NAS machines don't get viruses or spyware
6) A new NAS machine has a new power supply and fewer fans to go squeeeeeeek when they go bad. Old PCs have old power supplies and old power supplies have old fans.
7) In the case of a fire, you could unplug and run out with your NAS box about 20 seconds faster than your shared PC.
2) NAS never goes to sleep or hibernates accidentally.
3) Most NAS machines use RAID to prevent data loss, and are fairly quiet.
4) NAS machines cannot be used to surf the web by pesky children, mistresses, pets, etc.
5) NAS machines don't get viruses or spyware
6) A new NAS machine has a new power supply and fewer fans to go squeeeeeeek when they go bad. Old PCs have old power supplies and old power supplies have old fans.
7) In the case of a fire, you could unplug and run out with your NAS box about 20 seconds faster than your shared PC.
13th Feb 2008
