08-03-2006, 07:38 PM
I posted a topic a few weeks ago RE: this same issue, and as much as I thought a NAS box was the solution, mattkime and others convinced me to use my old G4 Sawtooth as a fileserver.
I added a cheap SATA controller, an inexpensive GigE card, 3 new SATA drives, and a copy of SuperDuper for easy drive-to-drive backups. For about $300 US , it just works flawlessly, and was far cheaper (and faster) than the most basic of NAS boxes—the "affordable" NAS devices didn't have GigE.
I think the only real advantages to a NAS device are power consumption, footprint, RAID 5 capability (Check out NAS Yellowmachine and Enfrant boxes...), and ease-of-setup for the less techno-centric. There are certainly not cheap.
Personally, I loved being being able to put this older machine into service, instead of the landfill...
Cheers, J
I added a cheap SATA controller, an inexpensive GigE card, 3 new SATA drives, and a copy of SuperDuper for easy drive-to-drive backups. For about $300 US , it just works flawlessly, and was far cheaper (and faster) than the most basic of NAS boxes—the "affordable" NAS devices didn't have GigE.
I think the only real advantages to a NAS device are power consumption, footprint, RAID 5 capability (Check out NAS Yellowmachine and Enfrant boxes...), and ease-of-setup for the less techno-centric. There are certainly not cheap.
Personally, I loved being being able to put this older machine into service, instead of the landfill...
Cheers, J