I have two 3.5" USB Hard Drives (500GB and 1TB) that i use for tv programs, films etc. At the minute me and SWMBO plug them in and use them as needed, but it gets annoying having to swap, pick up etc. I also use my egg box 360 to stream media from the drives through my laptop. So what i'm looking for is the ability to access the drives as network drives like anyone does in an office, so we can both use the drives without all the normal hassle.

Today i bought one of these from Maplin:

4-Port USB Network Server > Maplin

It works ok, but is limited by the fact that you have to use software to be able to access it through my computer etc. And also that when one person is using a device no-one else can use it which defeats the object. It is a good start but obvioussly limited, it enables me to make the printer a network printer too which is good and would be handy.

All i want is the ability to set up these two drives as network drives by attaching them to the router, so anyone on our home network can access them.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Do you have an old computer lay around anywhere?

Install FreeNAS: The Free NAS Server - Home (Guide) or Openfiler — Openfiler Homepage

Both are basically a stripped down OS that just turns the machine into a server with SMB shares. I am not aware of any other system. If you dont have a machine, you can pick up something this (HP ProLiant ML115 G5 470064-786 - Servers by Servers Direct) relativley cheap and install the same software.

I have not tried either in a couple of years, but iirc open filer was the easier to use.

Thinking of doing this with an old laptop I have lying around and an external 500gb drive.

Might give it a go and see how I get on.

The only other way I know of is to buy a chepo(ish) netowork drive enclosure and whip the drives out and into the new enclosure.

Phil

Or get a Slug (NSLU2)

Basically a small box that you plug USB hard drives into and it serves it on the Lan... for the more daring there is a big community for hacking them, as they run a embedded version of linux...

I have one thats overclocked, running a media server and apache.

Pretty cheap too.. i bought mine a couple of years ago for £40. (infact i bought 3 lol)

I had not seen those before Col, cheers!

u can pick up some cheapo HDD enclosures with a network socket on. USB in general is rather slow....

Maplin definately sell them.

u can pick up some cheapo HDD enclosures with a network socket on. USB in general is rather slow....

Maplin definately sell them.

I would do that no problem bu the two HDD's are retail USB units so i don't really want to go ripping them apart.

Or get a Slug (NSLU2)

Basically a small box that you plug USB hard drives into and it serves it on the Lan... for the more daring there is a big community for hacking them, as they run a embedded version of linux...

I have one thats overclocked, running a media server and apache.

Pretty cheap too.. i bought mine a couple of years ago for £40. (infact i bought 3 lol)

Cheers,

That looks like a good bet, provided i can find one (EDIT: Tonnes on eBay around £45 ) and that it allows more than one person to access the drive at once. Says issues with Vista, but i guess this will have been sorted by now, glad that it allows FAT32 and NTFS.. wasn't going to format 1.5TB worth of data... phew.

Do you have to use software to access the drives or do they just appear as network drives?

Taking the Maplin unit back today.

Im not entirely sure about the fat and ntfs... if you format a drive native its ext3. It shows up as a network device in windows, no software required... not sure if they have sorted the Vista problem, although my "hacked" one works fine.

Leave it as ext3 and just let the thing export it as CIFS.

You can get ext3 drivers for windows if you even need to take the drive out and put it in a PC or just use a linux live CD etc.

The drives are currently pretty much full though so i don't want to re-format the drives and lose everything, been reading up today though and pretty confident i can use different firmware to enable FAT32 drive use.

Saw this on eBay but then you would need two.

USB 2.0 NAS Dongle - Make your HDD enclosure networked on eBay, also, Hard Drive Caddies Enclosures, Drives Storage, Computing (end time 19-Jan-09 00:22:38 GMT)

Wonder if you could plug a hub into it.....

Wonder if you could plug a hub into it.....

Dont know how that would work. You would assume that it would only have circuitry inside to identify one share.

You could always email the seller and ask.

This might be what your after:

NEWLink 4 port USB to LAN adaptor: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Unfortunately out of stock but gives you an idea.

Alternatively you could order the other one from eBay. They do mention that there is a no quibble return.

Bingo

USB 2.0 4 Port NAS / Print Server LAN Networking Server on eBay, also, Servers, Networking, Computing (end time 11-Jan-09 18:32:14 GMT)

Thats no good, needs software to operate the devices plugged into it. Cheers though

Thats no good, needs software to operate the devices plugged into it. Cheers though

What do you mean? For streaming?

Thats no good, needs software to operate the devices plugged into it. Cheers though

But this box does exactly the same as your laptop.

Or get a Slug (NSLU2)

Basically a small box that you plug USB hard drives into and it serves it on the Lan... for the more daring there is a big community for hacking them, as they run a embedded version of linux...

I have one thats overclocked, running a media server and apache.

Pretty cheap too.. i bought mine a couple of years ago for £40. (infact i bought 3 lol)

These devices are fantastic - I have one running Unslung and MediaTomb to stream movies to the PS3 in the living room and a mac mini in the bedroom.

As you said the range optware available is quite extensive.