[X4U] External HD Reliability?

[Dave B]

On 27-Feb-08, at 20:02, Zane H. Healy wrote:

> I'd really like to go with an enclosure that uses something like a  
> standard
> PC powersupply.  In other words a powersupply that can be replaced  
> with off
> the shelf parts.  Disturbingly one of the best solutions I've come  
> up with
> is a dedicated PC running FreeNAS.  I setup a proof of concept system,
> basically the PC I use for the one game I play on occasion, a spare HD
> inside the case to dedicate to FreeNAS, and am booting off of a USB  
> flash
> drive.  It works surprisingly well, and can provide disk space to  
> most of
> the machines I have at home.  The downside of the FreeNAS solution  
> is the
> increased cost to run it (a dedicated PC and electricty to run it).
>
> Zane

I have been running FreeNAS for quite a while now. My machine is built  
on an old PIII 500MHz Dell "something or another". It has 4 disks in  
it totalling ~600 GB. It has been rock solid. Just before I powered it  
down to clean the dust out, it had been up for 283 days (it is on a  
large UPS with a few other Macs). Before that it had been up for ~120  
days when I shut it down to install another disk and update the  
firmware. It is currently reporting 49 days uptime.

I have to boot it from a disk (and old 8GB I had on the shelf) because  
it is too old to boot from USB.I have my iTunes and iPhoto libraries  
on one disk; videos and ripped DVD's on another; and Apps, documents,  
etc on the last. Configuration is easy from the web interface.  
Accessibility and throughput is great. I plan on building another box  
that will have a RAID. It will be located in my workshop (separate  
building) and be used for backups.

If NAS is something you desire, this is probably one of the cheapest  
and most flexible options available.

Dave