NASLite Network Attached Storage

Assuming I built a micropower NASlite containing a single laptop drive as a "master".....could I then stage multiple larger NASlites as the real information stores?

Could these slave NASlites be switched on and off the network?

In practice...what is teh performance hit with such a scheme?


Due to bad policy decisions, the average power cost in this state is approaching $0.16/kwhr. Efficiency is becoming an almost overwhelming consideration with "server toys".

When not in use - they need to be shut down. When in use, the unused drives should be spun down, and robust power on "recovery" is a must.

Sorry but there is none of that with NL2.x.

You will either have to wait for Tony and Ralph to add it or roll your own NAS box with the features you seek.

Mike

You're sure about the remote shares feature becoming inactive at powerdown with no chance of recovery without rebooting the master server? You've actually tested this?

This is not a "theoretical" question. I need to know before I purchase another license.

Tony or Ralph will have to weigh in in this but I am about 99.9% sure if I read your question correctly. I have been known to miss a bit here and there, right Superboss?

NASLite2.x supports nothing more than hitting the power button and having the server do a gracefull shutdown. No sleep or spin down or remote wakeup or anything else I can recall.

Sorry,

Mike

Think about this - the server has powered down - doesn't make a difference whether it is a "master" server or one hosting remote shares - how does it know when you need it powered back on?

There is a way to remotely power on a system known as Wake-On-LAN (WOL), but, for WOL to work, it must be supported by both the system BIOS and the network card - this will add another layer of compatibility requirements to NASLite.

The "how" to achieve it is also just the tip of the iceberg, the "why" and the "when" are even more complex considerations - how do you determine what is a usable sleep delay - will the application software that you are using wait for the share to become available after it has fallen asleep, or will it time out with an error and possibly lose data.

There is a reason that servers in the real world run 24/7, and business invest significant sums to ensure that those servers run 24/7/52.

BTW - $0.16/kwhr is dirt cheap - try $0.25/kwhr

Fordem’s response is very valid here, but on a slightly different note, you may get some relief by spinning the drives down. Keep in mind that spinning disks up is very stressful on the hardware and will greatly increase the possibility of a hardware failure. I’d not recommend it, but if it’s important to you, maybe you can give it a try.

Most modern BIOS implementations support disk spin down on some level. Not all will be compatible with NASLite running, but most should do. The trick is to set the drive spin down in the associated BIOS and prevent NASLite from hitting the drives during status updates.

In other words, disable the SMART monitoring for the local drives in question or set the status updates event to 8 hours or so.

One can spend some time testing settings for optimal results, but the goal is achievable on some level by using the BIOS facilities.

I know that this is not your ultimate goal, but it is an option. Hope that helps.

Folks, I really appreciate the quick response and the efforts you've expended on this But my primary question is still unresolved.

Perhaps better illustrated:

1. Assume a "master server" is built and is running 24/7.

2. Now assume that I've found a way to power up or shutdown slave servers at will (might be pretty stinky...which is why I won't reveal methods here. Might give the designers a heart attack).

Will the master server still recognize the slave servers and accept their "exported shares" even when they are switched on and off the network? I've read everything I can find (including the manual) - but this issue remains a mystery. Just what *is* the "discovery process" for remotely hosted storage? How robust is it? How long would it take to recognize that "server x" is now online and available?

Tony or Ralph can correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it the only time "discovery" is done is at initial boot.

For example, NASLite 2 supports USB attached drives but expects them to be "permanently" attached. If you unplug a USB drive and then hours later plug it back in, I wouldn't expect NASLite to see it.

Same thing if you boot up NASLite 2 and then plug in a portable USB drive. I wouldn't expect NASLite to notice it's there.

As I said, this is only my understanding of how it works and I may be wrong.

Well, you should be able to.

Set all the servers and configure the remote storage IPs on the master. With all remote storage servers turned on, boot the master. The master should find and mount the remote volumes.

Turning a remote server off will cause the status update on the master server to hang, waiting for the remotes. That has no effect on the master operation, but tends to be sloppy in my opinion. I'd just turn the status updates off on the master.

Give that a try and see how it works for you. Although not intended for such use, the remote storage should become available once the remotes boot.

Thanks! Will place another PC on order tonight.

If this works, I've already picked out the low power hardware for "storage cubes". Four drives to each cube + IR or RF power button control. Then just string em together as required ... Infinitely expandable storage?

We don' need no stinkin DLNA