Use a Linksys NSLU2 NAS appliance on 10.3
Aug 18, '04 09:31:00AM
Contributed by: victory
Today I got one of the new $99 NAS appliances by Linksys and can confirm that it works just fine with 10.3. Like the the BuffaloTech LinkStation, the NSLU2 is basically an embedded fileserver: It's a small box that you attach one or two external USB harddrives (or a USB flashdrive) to. Once properly connected and configured, the storage space on the drives is made available over your network. It provides a cheap way to add storage capacity to a small network in a hurry.
For those of you who are wondering 'why use a NAS gadget in the first place?,' look at it this way: For $99, you get a web-configurable embedded SMB server that comes in a case the size of an old 8-track tape. If one were to build a Free/Open-BSD box as a standalone SMB server, not only would it cost more and take up more space/electricity, but it would take several hours to assemble, install, configure and test everything. I had the NSLU2 working within 30 minutes of unwrapping the box. Here's a nice (non-Mac-specific) review of the NSLU2.
First, here are some of the not-so-good things I found with the NSLU2:
- Like most Linksys products, official Mac-support is non-existent. Fortunately, the NLSU2 is just an embedded Samba server running on top of Linux, and not that hard to figure out. One hurdle was getting the web configuration going without installing the included PC-only software. Knowing that most Linksys devices use the factory default 192.168.1.x subnet, I did a broadcast ping (i.e. to 192.168.1.255) and watched what responded. I found the NSLU2 configured at 192.168.1.77. I don't know if this is address is universal. Also, the default administrator login AND password strings are both: admin (unlike Linksys routers where only the password is significant, you need to enter both the username and the password).
- Does SMB sharing only. (Other NASes like the LinkStation offer AFP sharing).
- Built-in Samba is configured for workgroup mode only (i.e. no win domains supported).
- USB drives are not hot swappable.
- Only 100Mb Ethernet (this is true of other similar NAS devices, not just the NSLU2). Gigabit Ethernet would have been preferred, however at $99, I'm not complaining too loudly.
- Like the LinkStation, the NSLU2 formats the external hard drives with a linux ext3 filesystem. I understand why this is done, but it still would have been nice if the drives were formatted with with FAT32 or NTFS, so that they were at least directly readable under OS X. Keep an eye on this hint for possible future followups regarding ext3.
- Finally, face it: a consumer-grade embedded fileserver like the NSLU2 has limited memory and CPU power. If you need a high-performance fileserver, this isn't it.
While there seems to be a lot going against this device, here are some of the advantages, and the reasons I feel it is a worthy product overall:
- It's $99.
- It works. Despite the Linksys lack of Mac support, they are, after all, owned by Cisco. Cisco is no stranger to NAS, nor to network technology in general.
- Web interface makes configuration a snap.
- Really neat hard drive backup capabilities built-in.
- While a FireWire interface would have been preferred (by Mac users), USB 2.0 really isn't that bad. Reminder: When shopping for external drives/enclosures for use with this device, be sure to get ones that are USB 2.0 capable.
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Mac OS X Hints
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