[ale] off the shelf NAS for school with Linux, Mac and Windoz PCs

[Jeff Hubbs]

I've dealt with these and LaCie units before.  The takeaway:  Don't, if 
you run Linux/Unix.

The LaCie people admitted to me over the phone some months back that 
they hadn't put a whole lot into the NFS implementation (think of the 
tiny proportion of customers that actually use it) and when you consider 
that you can't tweak very much on the server side of the NFS arrangement 
even if it worked perfectly in any shape, manner, or form, they're not 
good for much compared to a purpose-configured Linux NFS server where 
you can enable/disable kernel goodies and have have access to decent 
userspace tools. 

James Taylor wrote:
> I have a Buffalo TeraStation and a TeraStation Pro in my office.
> The base unit does RAID 0 &1 and the Pro does RAID 5.
> The management is via a web interface, and you can do local authentication or redirect to a domain.
> They support SMB, FTP and NFS. 
>  
> -jt
>
>
> James Taylor
> The East Cobb Group, Inc.
> 678-697-9420
> james.taylor at eastcobbgroup.com
> http://www.eastcobbgroup.com
>
>
>
>
>   
>>>> Chris Fowler <cfowler at outpostsentinel.com> 9/7/2008 08:01 PM >>> 
>>>>         
> Brian Pitts wrote:
>   
>> The disadvantage of NAS appliances is that the manufacturers
>> differentiate the products by enabling or diabling features in the
>> firmware. For example, does the school use Active Directory for
>> authentication? If so, and you wanted the NAS to utilize that, you'd
>> have to upgrade from the LinkStation EZ to Linkstation Pro.
>>   
>>     
>
> I've not looked at these products but how does the price delta
> compare against a PC running a Linux disti geared toward file sharing?
>
> The benefit of the PC could be raid.  I'm not sure if you can get raid 
> with off the shelf NAS devices that are super cheap.
>
>
>