NASLite Network Attached Storage

It looks like a very interesting set of features...but:

Is it possible to install the CD contents on a hard disk?

If I lose a disk bay (of four) for a CDRom reader, which would be used just for booting (same function as the floppy disk, on the previous version), my total capacity comes down by 1/4 (160 Gb)
On a NAS, speed is of second importance to raw megabytes that can stored (Not so on a SAN)

At least if it could be a CDWriter, so I could burn disk backups...

Your answer will be appreciated.

Thanks & Regards & Congratulations for a Good Product.

XD

NASLite+ supports BIOS-bootable USB, SCSI, FIREWIRE, etc. CD-ROM drives, so you don’t have to boot from ATAPI drive at all.

That will allow you to keep the existing 4 drives.

tony

we have spare internal USB ports on the Tranquil PC server unit

so we should be able to load the NASLITE+ image, and config files to a USB stick and boot from that ?

this then allows us to use 4x IDE ports for data - on current cost model (efficient GB/£) that equates to 640GB server !


pls advise method of getting NASLITE+ .iso to a USB stick (under windows) and also informing NASLITE+ to use the USB stick for the config files ?



thanks


D

The keyword there was "BIOS-bootable", which means that the BIOS will facilitate loading the kernel and RAM Disk into memory. After that happens, the kernel will take over. The kernel as it stands is not capable of accessing USB, so storing the config on the USB stick is not possible.

As far as drive size, you can have 4x400GB drives for a 1.6TB server. NASLite support large drives without a problem.

Take a look at this setup: http://www.terabyteserver.de.ms/

so, we could boot from USB, but the USB can't hold data (config).

we are seeking a floppy disk less, and CDROM disk less device.

we seek to boot / read config from either a Compact flash (on IDE channel) - or boot / read config from a one of the HDDs.

once this can be done, the Tranquil Server is complete.

it will be the smallest, quietest (fanless) high capacity file server around, and all thanks to our engineers for creating the hardware, incl HDD coolers, and Tony (NASLITE) for a really tidy little appn !

I am going to attempt to create a fairly silent SMB Appliance on my network. I can easily find motherboards that support Disk On Module cards that attach to the IDE channel (plug right in as a matter of fact) so what i am wondering is if i can install the floppy disk operating system to this IDE drive? There are other Flash Devices that plug right into the USB header on the motherboard...you say that the kernel does support booting from a USB device, but that it could not save the configuration data to that USB device? Could the kernel be recompiled to do so assuming that it is intended to be placed on a flash drive with enough capacity?

in summation:

1) can NASLite be installed to an IDE Drive?

2) can the kernel be recompiled to boot, read and write to a USB device?

-thanks

redmoth

In it's current form, NASLite+ can be installed on a FAT partition and launched using syslinux, however the floppy disk will still be required for configuration.

You don't need the kernel to boot from USB, that's the job of the BIOS, however to read and write, the USB and SCSI drivers need to be compiled. Even so, the current autoconfigurator does not have the facilities to scan, configure, maintain or mount USB devices.

are you mounting the floppy or using mutils to access it? Ic it's being mounted, would it be possible to do something like just a symlink /dev/fd0 -> /dev/hda2 or somesuch? for those of us who don't mind using up one of their ATA ports with a flashdisk, it would be a real boon..

any chance a workaround might be that simple?

hda1 -> FAT, with boot files and syslinux
hda2 -> floppy image for config

hdb-d storage

just an idea.