Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Networking Considerations
For the most part, the network setup of a NAS is straightforward. Usually, it will acquire its own IP through DHCP
and provide access to the disk through the services of CIFS/Samba. Sometimes you will need a Microsoft Windows
machine to run the setup software, but this is becoming less common as configuration is done through a web page
running on the NAS. The main warning here is to look out for machines that don't have a Samba service and instead
rely on something such as ZFS.
ZFS is a filesystem that originated at Sun Microsystems and features on NAS systems such as the Netgear
SC-101. But despite the ZFS specification and its use in larger commercial systems, it does not yet have a suitable
kernel driver (because of license incompatibilities). It is currently only possible to run it in conjunction with the
Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE) project or the supplied closed Windows drivers. Consequently, if only a ZFS service
is provided (such as the aforementioned SC-101), it is necessary to install specific drivers on every device that wants
to read data from the NAS. This makes it annoying for PC users and impossible for other hardware such as the
Squeezebox.
Controlling a NAS through Windows Vista
5
can be problematic because some NAS systems use alternate
authentication systems. This can be fixed with a registry hack here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
by setting this:
LmCompatibilityLevel = 1
Extra Functionality
With many NAS drives being little more than embedded Linux machines, adding extra software is trivial . . . for the
manufacturer. Typical applications include the following:
u
Printer server
u
BitTorrent client
u
Backup support
u
iTunes server
If you want to add your own software, then you are usually out of luck, unless you have one of the variants that
has been already hacked, such as the NSLU2, or have a lot of time on your hands to discover the hack yourself! When
planning a much larger home installation, you will probably only need a very basic NAS drive, because it's likely
you'll soon upgrade to a custom Linux server that will support all the extra functionality you can possibly throw at it,
with the NAS service being available for free.
When buying your first NAS, do not worry about the extra functionality but of the storage space it supports
because you might not have enough free space left to warrant running a BitTorrent client on it, for example. So many
NAS machines are available, at fairly cheap prices, that you don't need to be concerned about having everything in a
single box. It is not uncommon to have one NAS with several terabytes of space for the primary media storage area for
DVD and CD rips and another used as a secondary store and a function server. This second NAS then acts as a daily
backup for your desktop PC and printer server. These roles allow you to power down one NAS (through X10, perhaps)
for the times when it isn't needed.
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