infamous_panda
New Around Here
Hello All,
Money is tight, and it seems all the NAS drives with performance approaching that of a dedicated computer based server are $400+ without any disks....
I have an old IBM T41p laptop that I am thinking of appropriating as a NAS. I would like it to share our downloaded movie / music collection as well as our work files (photoshop, solidworks, inventor), as well as perform backups, and downlaod torrents.
Relavent specs below
1.7 Ghz Pentium M
2GB RAM
60GB 7200 Hardisk
Intel gigabit ethernet port
2X USB 2.0 ports
It will be connected to the other machines / media streamers via a gigabit ethernet switch and I intend to purchase a pcmcia card with either a firewire 800 or eSATA interface to connect to an external enclosure which houses maybe 2X 1TB drives in raid 1.
First, is what I am trying to do sensible? Is the laptop okay running 24/7 with the lid open in a cool basement. If not then ignore the below questions.
1. Is this worth while? Meaning I can copy a file from this laptop through the gigabit connect extremely fast from the internal harddisk to another conputer on the network. Will this be faster than an standalone NAS >$300. Also since this is a laptop, I would imagine that the power usage would be higher than a standard NAS, but lower than a full PC. The power adapter is rated for around 50 Watts.
2. Will i see much of a preformance reduction going to serving from an external source. Which interface should I use, USB 2.0 or firewire800 / eSata via the PCMCIA card slot.
3. We have two computers with XP and one with Vista64 Ultimate. As well as an AppleTV (using boxee) and a Popcornhour A110, and a PS3. What OS should I install on the server??
Any advice is much appreciated...
--
Infamous_panda
Money is tight, and it seems all the NAS drives with performance approaching that of a dedicated computer based server are $400+ without any disks....
I have an old IBM T41p laptop that I am thinking of appropriating as a NAS. I would like it to share our downloaded movie / music collection as well as our work files (photoshop, solidworks, inventor), as well as perform backups, and downlaod torrents.
Relavent specs below
1.7 Ghz Pentium M
2GB RAM
60GB 7200 Hardisk
Intel gigabit ethernet port
2X USB 2.0 ports
It will be connected to the other machines / media streamers via a gigabit ethernet switch and I intend to purchase a pcmcia card with either a firewire 800 or eSATA interface to connect to an external enclosure which houses maybe 2X 1TB drives in raid 1.
First, is what I am trying to do sensible? Is the laptop okay running 24/7 with the lid open in a cool basement. If not then ignore the below questions.
1. Is this worth while? Meaning I can copy a file from this laptop through the gigabit connect extremely fast from the internal harddisk to another conputer on the network. Will this be faster than an standalone NAS >$300. Also since this is a laptop, I would imagine that the power usage would be higher than a standard NAS, but lower than a full PC. The power adapter is rated for around 50 Watts.
2. Will i see much of a preformance reduction going to serving from an external source. Which interface should I use, USB 2.0 or firewire800 / eSata via the PCMCIA card slot.
3. We have two computers with XP and one with Vista64 Ultimate. As well as an AppleTV (using boxee) and a Popcornhour A110, and a PS3. What OS should I install on the server??
Any advice is much appreciated...
--
Infamous_panda