NASLite Network Attached Storage

I have a D-Link DIR-655 Gigabit Router. I have four PCs connected to it via CAT6 cables:

1 Destop PC running XP Pro - stores my email PST file and is my regular 'workstation'
2 Media Centre PC running XP Media Centre Edition - stores movies and music
3 Home brew Pentium PC running NASLITE HDD - this one is the network data server where I keep my data, docs, spreadsheets, photos
4 Dell GX-270 running NASLITE HDD - this one is a backup server where everything gets copied from time to time from all the other machines

All four PCs have Gigabit NICs, either PCI cards or on onboard.

I also have a Toshiba Tecra laptop connected to the lan via the router's Wireless N capabilities.

The router's IP address is 192.168.0.1. The DHCP server is set to automatically allocate IP addresses in the range 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.199.

The NASLITE backup server has a static IP address of 192.168.0.250
The NASLITE dataserver has a static IP address of 192.168.0.251

All machines are part of the Windows workgroup HOME.

I think this is all standard stuff so far.

The problem is all the PCs (inc the laptop) can see the backup server by drilling down through My Network Places in Windows Explorer, but can't see the dataserver. It's not listed under Entire Network\ Microsoft Windows Network\ Home. This means I cannot map a network drive to the NASLITE drive.

However, opening Internet Explorer and typing in the IP address of either NASLITE allows access to the Admin screens and all the features, including launching a Telnet session.

The other peculiarity is that the desktop PC often CAN see both servers (but not always), but the media centre and laptop never see the data server.

I have checked the IP addresses and checked the Workgroup name is consistant on all machines.

Can anyone tell me why all machines can see the backup server (4), but can't see the data server (3) ?

Both NASLITEs are fully bought and paid for unlocked licensed legal installs.

Many thanks,

Des.

You could try changing the IP address of the data server to move it away a bit from the backup server.

Are they both named the same? I had a similar problem and solved it by renaming one of them.

Both have different names, one is dataserver the other is backup.

Can't imagine that similar IP adresses would be an issue.

Is there anything else I should be checking ?

Thanks for the replies so far.

D.

The description of your setup indicates that everything is set correctly, so I'd have to assume the problem is hardware related. First try to ping the data server and if you can then type the IP address in a browser to see if you can get to it via HTTP.

If you can't ping and can't access the web interface, then check cable, NIC, etc.

I know those are obvious things, but I suppose it is best to start there.

Is it possible that you are out of the range for which your Router:
i.e. my router ---IP Address Range: 192.168.1.100 to 150
Address 151 on your server may be out of the range .

CarolinaGuy

Nope, that is in reference to the DHCP addresses that are leased out to requesting devices on the network. if you have a network in the 192.168.0.1 area and a netmask of 255.255.255.0 then you have a network range of 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.0.255. Remember the the 192.168.0.0 and 192.168.0.255 are not usable but all the others are in that range, provided that they are not in use by another MAC address.

Mike