Cisco-Linksys Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives NSLU2
by Linksys
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List Price: Our Price: $45.00 You Save: $145.00 (76%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives NSLU2
Customer Review: NSLU2 is great, in its own niche
Summary: 4 Stars
First, let me say, that if you have space for it, go with a hand-me-down computer, jack it up with a few 2-TB drives, install Linux (free, of course), and put it on your network - then serve from it, and if needed, expand with either a small drive array or a 2.0 USB hub.
That said, if you have no space available, are broke to not have $200-300 to do the thing above, then the NSLU2 is pretty nice. I've used one for years now. It is nothing but a little LINUX computer, sans screen and keyboard. Add your USB external drive, wait for it to format into the NSLU2 system, and add files.
Downside? Yep, first, the install is a PAIN...takes about an hour to properly configure, add users, configure disk scans, etc. Once done, you are set. It holds its config, and you don't have to sweat going through it again. When you add a drive, it becomes a part of the NSLU2 system...you can't just 'unplug' the drive, take it to work, plug it into your system, and get the files again...not unless you have an NSLU2 on your work computer as well. If your drive(s) fail on the NSLU2 system, it is wise to have a backup. The NSLU2 has a maximum of 2-USB ports to plug into, so the maximum number of drives that can be installed is 2.
Bottom line...find a bare-bones used desktop, strip it down, install LINUX, put it on your network, and then add up to 25 more drives in a much-easier (though larger) package.
If you go with the NSLU2, hey, set-up properly, it is a great tool, with a tiny footprint, that will spin 2 network drives for you, without any computers being on. Your choice.
Customer Review: Doesn't Support HDD Larger than 300GB
Summary: 1 Stars
After battling for weeks with Linksys technical support and using a beta firmware 2.3r63 (which is not available at Linksys.com- you must request it from Tech Support)the following issues exist with this product:
Support for Read/write on NTFS partitions for HDD less than 300GB only. I know this to be true because although the config utility can 'see' my LaCie 1TB Biggerdisk drive and all of its contents, WinXP will not map to the drive through the NSLU2.
It will however, see & map my 300GB Maxtor drive that was previously formatted as NTFS despite the fact that Linksys states that this unit WILL NOT support drives over 250GB in capacity. Even if you have a drive that is 250GB formatted as NTFS, you cannot add a second drive! You can use a thumbdrive (using their mapping software utility) but not a second disk.
If you don't update to a newer version of firmware, the unit will force you to format your drives to their EXT3 format. If you ever choose to use the drive elsewhere, WinXP CANNOT see this partition/format or the files that exist within.
The read/writes are terribly s l o w and do not provide USB 2.0 speeds despite the fact that you are attached via ethernet.
The reason I even found this product was during a search for my 1TB LaCie drive and it was an add-on suggested purchase, so I will be holding Amazon.com accountable for the full-refund.
FYI- the similar D-Link device only supports FAT/FAT32 partitions, so as of this writing no product exists that will do what I need it to do.
Customer Review: Space saver
Summary: 4 Stars
My situation was that I wanted to share two existing USB drives on my home network. I didn't want a full Samba server running due to the electric bill and space required. This box has been the perfect answer to my requirements.
The setup instructions are weak, and there seems to be an overlap between Groups and Users in setting permissions. If you understand the general concepts of a Samba server, it's easier to setup. The setup is from a web page, and is spectacularly easier than setting up a full Samba implementation. Also, it seems to require a re-format of the drive to the Linux format. That means the USB drive will not work directly with a Windows box after the re-format, but it will be mountable on a Linux box.
My Win98 box can't find it at all, but on the XP boxes, the files are only visible to my login. Other logins on my computers and the other computers can't see inside the root directories or lower. Obviously, any user with the user name and password of the unit can access the files from any machine on the local network.
There are existing network drives that would be cheaper if I didn't already have the USB drives, and it's somewhat slower than a Linux Samba server. The speed issue only shows with very large files or a large quantity of files.
There is considerable information on the web about how to use this platform for many other network projects. I plan to buy another purely for use as a project platform.
Customer Review: Great price/performance with flexible functionality.
Summary: 4 Stars
I was looking for an inexpensive NAS box to store videos, music and photos on to share between my three computers and eventually a networked media player. The NSLU2 fit the bill. I attached a Seagate 160GB drive in a USB housing to it and fired it up. I was moving files to it in a matter of minutes.
I found out quickly that the NSLU2 has some limitations. The file transfer rate accross the network and to/from the USB disk would max out at about 4-5Mbytes/sec. This is too slow to use as a working NAS connection(on-line storage), however, for static file (near-line) storage (backups, archives, and finished media) it has sufficient speed and capability to deal with them.
All three of my computers can access the file system without any trouble. Even better, since the box runs an form of Embedded Linux, the firmware is customizable. There is a group dedicated to this and has already produced firmware that can easily have packages added to it to enhance the functionality of the little NSLU2 box. For instance, you can add a webserver package, or a UPnP Media Server, or and FTP server and many many more things.
My NSLU2 is serving up DVD Video, MP3 Audio, and JPEG photos to a wireless media player in my entertainment center.
Pros: Inexpensive, customizable, simple concept with easy setup.
Cons: File transfer speed.
I love it and will likely purchase another one when I need more storage capacity.
Customer Review: Reliability is not a feature of this unit
Summary: 1 Stars
If you want a reliable Network Attached Storage device, this is NOT the unit for you. If you google "NSLU2 problems," you'll find many reports of the unit freezing up unexpectedly.
As far as I can tell, this is the result of the unit overheating. For me, the unit will become unavailable on the network when I either a) start a large file transfer, or b) turn on the unit's built-in backup system. This backup system is a nice idea, since it allows you to connect two drives to the NSLU2, and have one automatically duplicate itself on the other at a pre-determined time.
But good intentions are wasted when the backup job fails due to the unit freezing up. During the winter, this wasn't a problem for me, since I don't keep my house very warm during the night. But now that Spring is here, and the weather is warmer, this piece of junk is freezing up daily.
And to make matters worse, you have to re-boot the unit to bring it back online, but the power button is unresponsive in turning the unit off. You have to actually pull the power and then plug it back in.
Linksys does not acknowledge the problem, so you are on your own with it. Heck, you can do what one guy that I read about does...he runs a blow dryer on Cold to cool the unit while running big file transfers. Personally, I'm not interested in blowing 15-30 minutes five or six times a day that way.
Good luck if you buy one. Caveat emptor.