Storage Central 80 Gb

[santapod01]

I'm interested in the Storage Central 80 Gb hard drive but with modifications. I already have a 250 Gb drive in my PC which is networked via an ADSL router with another PC. The 250GB is set up as the op system (C drive), programmes (D drive), data (F drive) and photos/music (I drive). Drives F & I are shared as network drives to a second PC. I find this has a very slowing down effect on my PC because both PC's run music off the one partion along with data being modified. What I want to know is if I buy a second 250 GB hard drive and also the 80gb central storage unit can I:
(A) remove the 80 GB drive and install it in my PC for programmes and op system.
(B) install the new and existing 250 gb drives in the central storage unit and set them up as either mirrored or striped array.
(C) defragment the discs as necessary being in a remote unit.
(D) how would I set them up for Mirror or Striped array

Also how do they connect in?
Are they permanently connected to a power source or need to be turned off?

Any feedback on these and any other useful information would be gratefully received.

[gwendes]

Hi santapod01,
A)The Netgear Storage Central creates a file system that is only recognised by the SC. If you removed the drive from the SC and placed directly on a PC IDE channel it would not be read successfully, but there is no reason why the drive could not be reformatted and then used in a PC.
B)Yes, you can create a new RAID array but both drives will need to be formatted.
C)There is no way to defragment this storage solution.
D)The RAID is setup using a supplied utility.

The SC has an ethernet port and is connected directly into the network via any available router ethernet port and there is no issue with leaving the unit connected to a power supply.

Hope this helps

[santapod01]

Thanks for that info. As my current 250GB could not be used directly, have you any suggestions on how I can get it into use without loosing the data and photos/music. If we assume the raid option can you put one disc in (a new 250 GB disc) and format it for raid use copy the 2 drives of info to the raid prepared disc and then replace the 80 GB with the current 250 GB disc and raid prepare this to work with the other one. Then install my current OS and programmes onto the 80GB in my PC.
If there is no way to defag the SC how is fragmentation prevented is it just allow to fragment and cause problems.

I am looking for an option to negate the use of one of my PC's as a server and not to have to buy a new PC as a server.

Thanks again for your help so far.

Ian

[gwendes]

As I understand it the 250Gb drive in your networked PC is currently working. Is this the case?
If so, how else do you want it to be used?

Fragmentation does not cause problems per se, but may lead to reduced speed over time. On NAS this tends not to become so much of an issue as a system drive in a PC as the network perfoms at a lower speed than the IDE port inside you computer and the drives tend to be used as a storage or backup and the data is not moved or deleted as frequently, so much less fragmentation occurs.

Would a simple USB external harddrive solve your problem? You could define the drive as a shared resource, allowing access from other computers.

[santapod01]

What I want to have is 2 PC's, that although networked via the router, do not rely on 1 or the other to be on for stored data, photos, music, etc. The SC appears to be an ideal answer where it is connected to the router and available to either PC that is switched on. I am then trying to utilise the current drive situation where I can exchange the current 250 GB hard drive in 1 PC to be the storage in the SC and the 80GB hard drive that comes with the SC as the replacement hard drive for the PC. The raid side of things is to try and improve security against loss of data. What I am concerned about is loss of current valuable data amounting to approximately80 - 85 GB. I would also be concerened about security of the data with reference to hackers and possible virus problems.

Thanks.

Ian

[santapod01]

What I want to have is 2 PC's, that although networked via the router, do not rely on 1 or the other to be on for stored data, photos, music, etc. The SC appears to be an ideal answer where it is connected to the router and available to either PC that is switched on. I am then trying to utilise the current drive situation where I can exchange the current 250 GB hard drive in 1 PC to be the storage in the SC and the 80GB hard drive that comes with the SC as the replacement hard drive for the PC. The raid side of things is to try and improve security against loss of data. What I am concerned about is loss of current valuable data amounting to approximately80 - 85 GB. I would also be concerened about security of the data with reference to hackers and possible virus problems.

Thanks.

Ian

[gwendes]

Like you say, the SC does appear to offer a suitable solution for your needs. Purchasing a bare SC with a 250GB drive will allow you to create a RAID array of 250Gb available storage, mirrored for additional data security.

This NAS does not offer any additional security against an external attack, and is around as secure as any non-firewall protected PC on your network. Viruses should not be considered a threat as these tend to act on software. I have not been able to find any reference to a viral security risk for these units.

[robt]

Hi Santapod01

It is likely that your router should guard against hacking vunerabilities. If your router has an enabled built-in firewall, you have little to worry about on this front. Consult your router documentation for peace of mind.

Robt