Just got the NEW USR8700 NAS

[dbinaz]

Couldn't pass up the deal.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...19&sku=A0705826 and it was 15% off

and 4 of these bad boys also @ 15% off http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...19&sku=A0627268

So far it's been a piece of cake. Different RAID options depending on how many drives you have. I went with RAID 0 because this is for my DVD's, Digital Audio and Pics all of which are already backed up, so I didn't need the RAID 5 features.

I don't have a gigabit network at home, so I can't tell you how those transfers are, but it's been pretty decent with 100mbps.

Definetly recommend it. Don't worry about the one star review from the guy on the dell site, he is an idiot for thinking he was gonna get the NAS and 2TB for $532!

Derek

 

[rrockoff]

Sound like a nice product. I have a homemade version that probably does not have as many features as your box from Dell.

I used a PC with an 800mhz Cyrix processor and 256MB of RAM with qty 4 - EIDE 120GB hard drives and Windows 2000 with their Windows Server Appliance add-on. It has worked great as network attached storage for over a year and a half.

Here is a link to the website that gave me info on how to create the box.

http://pcquest.com/content/handson/103101101.asp

Rod

 

[electron]

I am actually building a NAS too right now, and I am strongly considering http://www.freenas.org/ .

 

[dbinaz]

For you guys that are building, check out this link as well http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-how..._diy_raid_5_nas

I just couldn't be bothered trying to make one, even tho it is cheaper.

 

[gcimmino]

Wondering if folks who are looking for an OTB solution have looked at the Infrant product?

The ReadyNAS with 4x400 prices at around $1300, which is only $100 more than what the USR/Dell solution with 4x400 comes in as.

Infrant's solution seems to offer more software options including SlimServer.

 

[rocco]

Derek, beware of using Western Digital drives in a RAID system, if you are looking for redundancy.

http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?act=Se...sult_type=posts

I found dozens of reports of every WD drive in the RAID dying when a power supply fails. Other drives didn't seem to have this problem. I don't know if all WD drives have this problem, but the Caviars do.

 

[dbinaz]

oh damn, that sucks. It's not something you would think to search for before jumping. I'll keep an eye on them for sure now.

Thanks!

 

[gcimmino]

On the WD Drive point, take a look at the note at the bottom of this page

 

[electron]

Freenas has my Proliant 1600 bios black listed, so much for freenas (looks great tho).

What sub $100 SATA RAID controller do you guys recommend?