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NAS recommendations?
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Chicago
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I'm looking for recommendations for a NAS device. I have a 1.33 GHz iBookG4, a 1.07 iBookG4, and a 333MHz iMac on a wireless home network. The 1.33 is on Tiger; the other two are on Panther. I want to set them all up on an automated incremental backup system, ideally running every night. I also want to back up the entire hard drive on each, so that if one of them gets corrupted I can quickly and easily restore it. But I've been reading bad reviews on this forum of several NAS devices. Major issues seem to be that the wireless connection is very slow for data transfer and a 2 gig transfer limit seems to be pretty common. I might be able to survive the slow speed (since I'll be sleeping thru it) but the 2 gig limit could pose a serious problem.
Any suggestions?
(I posted this elsewhere w/no response so I'm thinking maybe it was in the wrong forum. Sorry for the redundancy if you're seeing it for the second time.)
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: College Park, MD
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1) Wireless is slow[er than wired]. That's not going to change. For backups going all night it might not be a problem. Especially for incremental.
2) 2GB transfer limit is something I have never heard before.
Also make sure you have a backup going offsite, and that you test your backups to make sure they are working.
Personally I'm going to hang some firewire drives off a mini, or else build a linux box (more likely, even if I do the mini first).
--Scott
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Chicago
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I'm thinking now that I can make an ethernet connection to the NAS (assuming it supports this) straight from the router, so I can go wireless if I want the convenience but also wire in for bigger transfers.
Here's a link to one place a saw the 2 gig limit. I've seen this elsewhere but can't recall where offhand - will post when I do.
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: College Park, MD
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Ahh, you said 2GB transfer limit, not 2GB file limit. The file limit one is well known, but I'm not sure which protocols solve it. I know rsync will be fine.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Chicago
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Sorry for the confusion. So the file limitation is in the specific backup software used, not the device?
I've heard of rsync. I'll check it out. Do you know if Retrospect suffers from this problem? I bought it awhile ago and have yet to set it up (found the instructions a bit daunting).
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
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I use one from Coolmax, their model CN-550. It's adequate, though the 100BaseT speed is a pain when transfering large files or lots of them. Fortunately, this one also has a USB 2.0 connection, so I can move large amounts of data quickly when I want to.
My NAS is connected to my router; I gave it a static IP address so it could work that way. It is indeed slower (sometimes much slower) when accessed by wireless, but not so much that it's unusable.
Is that helpful?
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Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Aug 2005
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Originally Posted by ghporter
I use one from Coolmax, their model CN-550. It's adequate, though the 100BaseT speed is a pain when transfering large files or lots of them. Fortunately, this one also has a USB 2.0 connection, so I can move large amounts of data quickly when I want to.
My NAS is connected to my router; I gave it a static IP address so it could work that way. It is indeed slower (sometimes much slower) when accessed by wireless, but not so much that it's unusable.
Is that helpful?
Yes, thank you. The Coolmax is an enclosure, right? I've never quite understood these. What's the advantage to an enclosure over a unit that comes complete w/a drive?
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
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An empty enclosure gives you the option of which drive to put in it-and you can get enclosures and bare drives for a LOT less than you get charged for a "complete external drive" product. I have a 300GB drive in mine at present, and it hosts a bunch of things, including my iTunes library.
There are also "USB to ATA adapters," which are not anywhere near what most people want for external drives-I have one that's great, but it's a cable and a power supply, nothing more. Useful for occasional backups, but not for a regularly connected device.
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Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Madison, CT
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The Coolmax looks great for my needs. Can I buy a SATA drive or does it have to be IDE?
Thanks
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
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The model I posted about takes an IDE drive; I don't know if they have a SATA version or not.
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Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
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I am interested in the Coolmax CN-550 myself primarily for sharing my iTunes music folder on our home wireless network. It looks like an ideal product for me. However, I've been a little concerned about the whole FAT32 issue. I've read that you can't put single files on FAT32 larger than 2GB. My iTunes music folder alone will be over 20GB! Have you run into this problem, and if so, did you find a way around it? Thanks.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Body in London, mind elsewhere
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Originally Posted by weatherninja
I am interested in the Coolmax CN-550 myself primarily for sharing my iTunes music folder on our home wireless network. It looks like an ideal product for me. However, I've been a little concerned about the whole FAT32 issue. I've read that you can't put single files on FAT32 larger than 2GB. My iTunes music folder alone will be over 20GB! Have you run into this problem, and if so, did you find a way around it? Thanks.
You answered your own question, you'll be fine as long as no single file is over 2GB in size.
the iTunes folder is made up of smaller files, so unless one of the music/video tracks isn't over 2GB it'll copy to a FAT32 formatted drive.
A more common problem is that the file name may be too long or contains illegal characters.
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
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Originally Posted by weatherninja
I am interested in the Coolmax CN-550 myself primarily for sharing my iTunes music folder on our home wireless network. It looks like an ideal product for me. However, I've been a little concerned about the whole FAT32 issue. I've read that you can't put single files on FAT32 larger than 2GB. My iTunes music folder alone will be over 20GB! Have you run into this problem, and if so, did you find a way around it? Thanks.
MY iTunes library is on MY CN-550. I ripped my CDs at the highest bitrate MP3 supports (320kbps) and have yet to find a song anywhere near that 2GB limit. For SOME things, you may have problems with FAT32, but not this particular use.
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Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
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I'm really glad to hear that. Are you able to stream your music from the CN550 for playback? What about sharing the same iTunes folder between two iBooks? You'll have to forgive my enthusiasm; I've been trying to find an NAS solution for quite a while, and it's nice to hear about one that may be what I'm looking for. Thanks again.
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
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I don't stream anything-just store the files on teh NAS. Frankly I don't have the time to set up streaming anything! Anyway, there's a delay in accessing the device at first, but once you're actually using it, it seems like no noticable delay. Because of this, I figure you should be able to stream your heart out! Remember, the music will like this: iTunes will access the NAS and retrieve the file, then it will configure itself and set the file up for streaming. It's really coming from your computer (the one running iTunes), not the NAS, so it should be no problem.
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Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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