Brian, I think we need to reverse the thought process here and ask from another direction. How much can you truly afford to invest *right now* for a quality NAS. Forget cost vs. quality for the time, or what OS the NAS will run, or even how large it will be. You need a number first, then you can start matching that number to quality. Because there are as many ways to accomplish what you want to do as you can imagine.
Dan Penoff has already mentioned that he has an Xserve RAID system. Can you rack mount? Do you care if it's 18 inches wide and 28 inches deep? It will definitely read HFS+ formatted volumes. Maybe a new Mac Mini with Thunderbolt, and all new Thunderbolt external drives. It, too, will read HFS+ But, is HFS+ a deal killer? I mean, once you've built or bought the NAS, you aren't going to be removing drives from it often, especially if you use a RAID option. The drives won't allow it. So you need to accept that once a drive goes into the NAS it is "lost" to you for other purposes. You will attach it and utilize it via network. So, do you have infrastructure for GigE? Have a heavyweight switch? As someone else said, do *NOT* put your NAS into a WiFi setup. Trust me, you will not be happy with that. Do you want an off the shelf solution (Drobo) or are you willing to build and maintain your own system (FreeNAS / Linux and Intel) Again, it all comes back to what *can* you spend. Because when everything is said and done do not look at this as "How cheap can I do this" you *must* look at this as "Have I used every single last possible dollar I have in my account at this time devoted to this purpose yet?" Buy more, more, more this first time so that it lasts you until neural nets become the rage in 15 years. If you cobble together a $300 solution today that lasts your needs for a year and half, then another $300 solution, then another, and another. Well, you'll still only have a solution that lasts your short term and will have spent overall what you could have done upfront and gotten what you need for a very long term solution. Again, I go back to the XServe RAID. What better NAS is there for a Macbook but an OSX solution? If you had several Windows machines and maybe some SPARC gear lying around, then something else would be a better fit, but OSX Server for an OSX Client meshes by design. So keep that in mind too. I feel like I went in a very large circle, sorry if it hasn't helped at all, EdB On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 1:25 PM, Brian Toscano <brian.tosc...@gmail.com>wrote: > Thank for the link. What's the cheapest I can put together a small, quiet, > and energy efficient box to run it on ? > > On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 11:21 AM, Tim C <bb...@crone.us> wrote: > > > On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 12:57 PM, Brian Toscano <brian.tosc...@gmail.com> > > wrote: > > > Unless it was a Linux based appliance that cost less than the NAS. > > > > Literally yesterday: > > > > > http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/01/how-to-set-up-a-home-file-server-using-freenas/ > > > > Best, > > -Tim > > has not tried it > > > > > On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 10:56 AM, Brian Toscano < > brian.tosc...@gmail.com > > >wrote: > > > > > >> If I was going to go the 2nd computer route, I'd just get a MacMini > and > > >> hang the external drives off that. I was really looking for a simple > > NAS > > >> that had high throughput. I've seen USB-NAS devices for $40 but I > can't > > >> imagine backing up a few TB through USB. > > >> > > >> > > >> On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 10:39 AM, Craig <diese...@pisquared.net> > wrote: > > >> > > >>> On Fri, 3 Feb 2012 10:30:42 -0700 Brian Toscano < > > brian.tosc...@gmail.com> > > >>> wrote: > > >>> > > >>> > I am wondering if anyone has used any SAN products with Mac and can > > >>> > share their experience. > > >>> > > > >>> > I started reading this: > > >>> > > > >>> > https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3128395?start=0&tstart=0 > > >>> > > > >>> > I wouldn't mind a Time Capsule, but the cost is $499 for the 3TB > > >>> > model. I already drives for the NAS. Ideally the NAS will > natively > > >>> > read HFS+ so I can either use the drives in the NAS or locally on > my > > >>> > computer. > > >>> > > >>> Linux has HFS+ support, IIRC. You could set up a computer with Linux > > and > > >>> put that on your network. Since MacOS is build on top of Unix, that > > >>> should work just fine with scp, rsync, ssh, and such. > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> Craig > > >>> > > >>> _______________________________________ > > >>> http://www.okiebenz.com > > >>> For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > > >>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > >>> > > >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > >>> > > >> > > >> > > > _______________________________________ > > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > -- "Das beste oder nichts." - *Gottlieb Daimler* _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
