NAS, Do you use one?

Hey there all,
My first post

Right im really new to Mac's, just brought my first one after being on PCs for years. Ive brought myself the MacBook Pro.

Anyways, what im interested in is NAS (Network attached storage).
Current setup so theres 1 pc attached to the router, access point making wireless connection for my Mac.
Ive been looking at some NAS's, i want to add my own HDD's and chop and change so looking for once that i can interchange.
Problem im seeing is getting it to work on both Mac and PC.
Would it really matter was OS the NAS is working from if its connecting straight into my router?

Any help much appricated, and sorry my first post is not so simple.
Cheers, and looking forward to gettin to know you all.
Andy

Going2fast said:

Hey there all,
My first post

Right im really new to Mac's, just brought my first one after being on PCs for years. Ive brought myself the MacBook Pro.

Anyways, what im interested in is NAS (Network attached storage).
Current setup so theres 1 pc attached to the router, access point making wireless connection for my Mac.
Ive been looking at some NAS's, i want to add my own HDD's and chop and change so looking for once that i can interchange.
Problem im seeing is getting it to work on both Mac and PC.
Would it really matter was OS the NAS is working from if its connecting straight into my router?

Any help much appricated, and sorry my first post is not so simple.
Cheers, and looking forward to gettin to know you all.
Andy

Click to expand...

I'd suggest adding some more storage space to the PC and using it as a file server, instead of purchasing NAS. It will save money, space, and headaches.

FYI: When you add hdd's to the PC and share them on your network, it does not matter how they are formatted. (As long as the PC can read and write to the files, then any computer that connects to it will also be able to do so.)

Hey,
Thanks for the speedy reply. Unfortantly i can not run the PC as a file server, i know what you mean it would of been cheaper.


Thanks for that extra information as well, ive been reading up on the NAS's and some say Windows OS only. Actually thinking about it, may have answered my question. NAS is a computer really, just smaller & basic, so it is no different to having a PC running a windows OS on it on the network. Am i correct in saying that?

Cheers,
Andy

Try not to complicate things,...

NAS is just that NAS. Not a computer. Some lower end NAS units will be running a basic linux kernel to manage basic authentication of users and process tcp/ip and other connection protocols as well as disk utilities. Some NAS come with Windows® embedded OS to provide more capabilities and security. Most all NAS can be used in a cross platform enviroment however native Mac files can become corrupted more easily when stored on non HFS volumes. Most NAS solutions are FAT32 or NTFS. Some NAS solutions require configuraton through the use of a Windows PC and don't offer a native Mac setup utility. Companies that don't offer Mac setup utilities probably don't offer good Mac support either.

Decide your storage requirements now and in the future as well. Then decide a backup strategy for all of this new storage. LaCie is a Mac friendly company as well as a reputable supplier of peripherals. I recently sat in on a sales pitch and learned a bit about what they offer. They tend not to be the cheapest solution but TCO can play a lot into a solution that is well supported and user friendly.

Cheers for that =D

Andy