NASLite Network Attached Storage

What is the difference? 'Sides
the price... I paid for the $19.99 one.

I'm planning on using a Pentium 233 as a file
server/backup machine. It will be connected (rj45)
to a D-Link router.

Which floppy type should I make?

Also, do most backup software programs recognize the
NASlite file server connected on the router?

Also.. the docs won't download from the website....

Thanks a bunch!
Kevin

... who just returned a sloooooooow 250Gig USB external that XP wouldn't
recognize.

Free NASLite fits on a floppy and boot from the floppy. To get it to fit on a floppy some features, such as DMA transfers, were dropped. So the free NASLite transfers files slower than the + versions.

The NASLite+ versions either boot from a CD or a USB memory device. Not sure why you're asking what floppy type to make unless you bought the floppy burning program on CD. For XP you want the SMB version. You can then make your NASLite disks appear as network drives.

If your backup software can recognise XP network drives it should work fine. Only the machines on the same network as the NASLite box will be able to see it. If all your machines are behind the router it should work fine.

I recomend you purchase either the CD version or the USB version of NASLite+ instead of the floppy version to get the performance upgrade.

Thanks for the reply.
I purchased the make an ISO download version.
After creating the ISO CD I booted the old computer
and it forced me to make a floppy.

So, I should make the SMB floppy. Cool.

I made a floppy... I guess it wasn't the right one.

It booted fine, and shows me the options menu...
but XP can't detect it under Add Network Place Wizard.
I 'spose I made the wrong one.

Or... should I boot from the CD and go that way??
I want to make sure it is the fastest transfer means on the
network.

Kevin

Ok, I used the SMB floppy... and still nothing.
XP doesn't show the drive when I try and map a network drive.

If the network settings show an IP does that mean the
ether connection is good???

Also... is there a way to upgrade to the _fast_ version?

Thanks again.
Kevin

Once you make the floppy and boot it, you still have to make some configuration changes using the NASLite menu that comes up.

First you have to assign an valid IP address to the NASLite computer. It defaults to 192.168.1.1 which may not work on your network (probably already used by another computer or the router). You have to know what IP addresses your network uses and assign an unused one. A network address showing up on the configuration screen doesn't tell you if your network is working. If you have a Gigabit ethernet card you use the SMBG version, otherwise use the SMB version.

Next you have to change the workgroup name to match the workgroup your XP machine is in. To find this on XP, click Start->Control Panel->Performance and Maintenance and then double click the System icon. Then click on the Computer Name tab and it will show you what workgroup you have assigned the XP computer to. It will probably show MSHOME. On the NASLite configuration menu pick the workgroup name entry and put in MSHOME. Windows won't see the NASLite box if you have this set wrong.

And finally you have to configure at least one hard disk. This will format the disk and erase everything on it and make it readable by NASLite. This might take a few minutes if you have a large hard drive.

Once you do all this and save the changes to the floppy, you reboot the NASLite box and once it comes up, Windows should be able to see it if you did everything right.

If you like the free version, but want better performance, you can upgrade to one of the NASLite+ versions. You will have to enter the IP address and workgroup name again, but you don't have to configure the hard drive again. The NASLite+ version uses the same disk format as the floppy version. Another benifit if you have old hard drives that don't support SMART testing is you can turn off the beeping in the + versions.

Thanks for the reply.

Ok, for the third time, I paid $19.99 for this.
Why isn't this version the 'better' version?

For the second time, I didn't receive the manual,
the d-load link wouldn't work from the website.

I created the SMB disk. It boots. It loads up.
Great. But....

So... how do I go about scanning for a good IP?

Kevin

What you bought is the NASLite FDU CD. It provides a simple way for windows users to create the floppies for the free version of NASLite, which are a non-standard larger format to allow as much program as possible to fit. So you paid $19.99 for a program to make the free floppy version of NASLite. You can make as many copies of the free floppies as you want and install them on as many machines as you want.

The NASLite+ or NASLite + for USB flash are $24.95 and boot from a CD or USB memory stick so there is room for the full set of features. You can only install the NASLite+ versions on one machine.

For the docs go here: http://www.serverelements.com/naslite.php and go to the bottom of the page where there is a section titled "Getting NASLite v1.x" and a table.
Click in the icon with an i in it on the SMB row in the table. (2nd icon in from the right)

This will open an Adobe Acrobat window to view the documents, so you must already have Acrobat installed for it to work. Go to http://www.adobe.com and get the free Acrobat reader if you don't have it already. I was able to download the docs very quickly. They're about 350k in size.

To help you with your IP address question we would need to know what your network is set up as. Is it a home network with just one XP machine and some sort of router to connect to DSL or cable? Or do you have multiple machines? Is it using DHCP or static IP addresses?

To find out what IP address your XP machine is using now click Start->Control Panel and then double click on Network and Internet Connections, then double click on Network Connections, then double click your LAN or High Speed Internet connection to bring up a status box. Click on the Support tab at the top to see what your XP machine's IP address and Default Gateway (router/cable modem) IP address are and the Address Type. If the Address Type says Manually Configured you have a static IP address. This means the IP address will stay the same even if you reboot. If it says something like Automatically Assigned then you are using DHCP and getting an IP address from the router/cable modem which could change every time you reboot. Write down the IP address and default gateway address. If you have other XP computers on this network, do the above for them as well to get their IP addresses. This will tell you what IP addresses are being used at the moment. I don't remember if you need the Subnet Mask numbers, but write them down just in case.

Assuming you have a home network with one router/cable modem and one PC which is assigned an IP address by the router, you can assign the NASLite box any IP address not being used.

If they are in the 192.168.1.xxx range then all you have to do on the NASLite box is configure the IP address to be 192.168.1.xxx where xxx is a number between 1 and 254 and different from the IP address of your router and any other computers on the network. I would also try to make it a number that is far away from the other IP addresses to avoid possible conflicts with future DHCP assignments.

For example, if your computer was 192.168.1.2 and the router was 192.168.1.1, I would make the NASLite IP address 192.168.1.200

Generally the first 3 numbers in the IP address will be the same, so all you have to do is pick the last number.

Don't forget to save changes and reboot to apply them.

Ok... who's the boss here. I'm trying very
hard to keep my cool.

I would like my money back, or pay the extra 5 bucks
to get the better package.

I can't believe I paid $19.99 for something other people
are getting for free. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING
ME. AND NO, I'M NOT GOING TO 'UPRADE' FOR THE RIDICULOUS
PRICE OF $16.22 WHEN THE WHOLE PACKAGE IS $24.95.

Ok...well, I failed to keep my cool. I will gladly delete the
$19.99 program I d-loaded earlier. A little clearer instructions
on your website is a good idea.

Next question. Does the $24.95 version have a boot from
floppy option with all these great options?

I disabled Zonealarm and it allowed me to d-load
the manual. Once I cool down I will re-read ur instructions.
Thanks for the reply.

Kevin

Hm…

Hello Kevlaur,

Judging from your posts, it appears that you are proficient in the English language, so let me ask you this: Did you take the time to read the product pages before you made a decision about which product is the correct one for your application?

I apologize if I’m being blunt, but I do believe the product pages are very clear regarding the capabilities and purpose of each. Your first post begins with the following:


Did you even take the time to research what you need? How did you deduce that the FDU is the way to go?

From your latest post:

As far as your needs are concerned, I’d say that you and only you are the boss, so when the boss makes a decision, it is the responsibility or privilege of the boss to absorb the consequences, good or bad. Under the circumstances, getting short and loosing your cool is simply unwarranted - especially when the good folks of this forum (thanks smeyer) are trying to hold your hand and help you with your issue.

Kevlaur,

As stated before, the NASLite+ versions (the $24.95 ones) either boot from CD or from a USB key, depending on which version you buy. There is no boot from floppy NASLite+ version. It's to big to fit on a floppy. On the configuration screen you get all the options the floppy version has plus a couple more (ability to turn of SMART testing for one). The NASLite+ versions support SMB, SMBG, and the other versions of the floppies all in one big program. It will automatically detect if you have a gigabit ethernet and load the correct drivers for it.

Your $19.99 purchase was not wasted. You purchased a program that makes floppies for you. No one is getting that program for free. Yes, you can get the data on the floppies for free, but getting the data from your XP computer onto the floppies is a difficult task. The program you bought makes it easy.

You also have the capability to make unlimited copies of the NASLite 1.x program on floppies. There is a person on ebay selling these premade floppies as a service for people that don't want to buy the CD. You could do this and make back the $19.99.

You don't have to purchase the $24.95 version if you don't want to. The floppy version may do what you want without problems. It is slower to transfer data, but if you're just doing backups and archiving data the speed of the floppy version may be fine.

I recommend getting the floppy version working and then play with it for a week or so. If it serves your needs then you're done. If you think you need more speed then upgrade to the NASLite+ version.

Smeyer,

Thanks for the help. It works great now.
I can't wait until my 300g hd comes in the mail.

Well, I'm not the type to make money off of
other people's products.

I'm quite sure I would rather have the faster version.
I'll buy another 56x cd-rom to throw in the old packard bell
or a USB flash. How big does the flash drive need to be?

Is there a way that I can be refunded and then purchase
the 24.95 version? Does it not have the same FDU capability?
Better yet, why not package it all in the same $24.95 version?
The USB version may not work on the old PB.

Thanks again,
Kevin

I see you do have a bundle.

Hmmm... well, please let me know if I can
upgrade for 5 more dollars and I'll decide which
one will work best.

Thanks,
Kevin

The CD image version is less than 64MB so if you have a 64MB or larger USB key laying around that should do the trick. Some people have used IDE to memory card adapters as well. Search the forums for info on that.

The $24.95 version doesn't make floppies. It is an ISO image that boots directly from the CD or USB instead. No need to make a boot floppy when you're already booted from CD. The CD version does use the floppy to store configuration information on, but that's it. You have to turn off floppy booting in your BIOS with the CD version.

If you go the route of using the USB version there are some "kicker disks" that work with various hardware. They are like a boot floppy but all they do is find the USB device and then do the real boot from that. Some older motherboards won't boot from USB using only the BIOS, so a kicker disk may be needed. Again, look thru the forums for posts with kicker disk in them.

Another option is to boot right from one of the hard drives. This is a lot more complicated to get working. See my post here on how to do it.
http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... d3f4ae50cd

Glad to hear you got it working. There is a program called diskwriggler that will measure your transfer speeds. I'm getting redundant here, but you guessed it, search the forums for info on diskwriggler and how to use it.

If you're using a 100mbit ethernet network you can get up to 10-11Mbytes/sec rates with the NASLite+ versions. This is a limit of the network and not a NASLite limit. I average around 9MB/s even with my old slow (200MHz) computer with 64MB of ram on a 100mbit network. Using the floppy version of NASLite you will see around 2MB/sec speeds. You can get higher speeds with the floppy version by using a gigabit ethernet card. See this post http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... 0ea686244c

So you might try buying a gigabit ethernet card for $20-30 and making a SMBG floppy and see if your speeds improve. I'm using a Netgear GA311NA card and it works fine with NASLite. ($20 at tigerdirect.com)

In the interest of full disclosure ... for the benefit of Kevlaur and others ... and I am not 100% sure, but I think there's also a 4GB file size limit on the free NASLite (SMB). ( I read somewhere that the FTP version gets around this. )

The revision history on the $24.95 NASLite+ v1.x is very clear that version 1.3 removes this 4GB limit, but the revision history of the free NASLite never makes mention of such a limit.

So ... on the free version (although still a fantastic product) other than the downside of slower performance, pending confirmation from someone, there's also that 4GB file size limit.

Georg

Thanks for the info, Georg.

So... looks like I'll be out some more money because
my English reading, surfing the net, and navigating this
website skills leave something to be desired.

I suggested informing the customers before they purchased
the FDU version that they might benefit from buying the
faster version for $5 more... Now I'm going to be out
3X that to get the version I really want/need AND, on
top of that, has a file limit size. Its not really the money,
I have a decent job... its the principle.

I was never offered my money, or even an apology
and a statement of the reason why... I was, however,
castigated for becoming upset when I found out that the
FDU version supplies a floppy that most people (smarter
than me, apparently) get for free. My fault again.

I remember a day when the customer was always right....

Anyhow, the product is a good one, and smeyer has been
EXTREMELY patient and helpful.

Now... do I d-load the USB version and hope it works
on my older packard bell, or the CD version and buy
another CD drive. 'Course, a jump drive and cd drive
are comparable in cost.

Does the USB version come with a CD option? My
website navigation skills are probably too poor to find
out and I may need someone to hold my hand, huh, Tony?