FAST NAS!! Atom 330 Based NAS 50MB/s+

[numberlpete]

Here is a Ubuntu based NAS system that sports an Intel Atom 330 chip and a 1TB Western Digital hardrive. It is uber fast seeing speeds higher than 50MB/s. It is ranked in the top five of smallnetbuilders NAS charts. The models that perform better are $1,000+. This unit is only $499.

It supports Windows, OS X, Linux, and PS3 file sharing. It can also work with Apple's Time Machine function. It only draws 26-28watts idle and 30watts load. Check it out, watch the video!

http://www.l337tech.com/products/l33...rd-compatible/

There are more videos on the site with this system. There is a review and a how to build video as well.

[oc613]

Or you can just get the acer aspire easystore h340 with 2 x tb drives, atom 230, 2gb ram, whs software, and more, for only 400$ at ncix us.

the acer is just as fast as far as transfer rates go and a far better value. also, the acer case is much better and comes with hot swappable bays...

or am i missing something?

[EniGmA1987]

Maybe Im just dumb and dont know how NAS works, but why would the CPU matter for storage seek speeds? Just get some new WD black drives and a good controller and it will be plenty fast...

[numberlpete]

CPU speed does matter alot with a NAS system. However, once you get past Intel Atom speeds and above you probably wont be able to tell much of a difference. Its the processors that are below the Atom that can slow down NAS systems. Most NAS systems used cheap SOC (system on chip) setups that run about 300-700MHZ in cpu speed. Most of these cannot get close to 50MB/s. Take a look at smallnetbuilders NAS charts and notice how the top performers have dedicated intel processors or high end SOC. The cheap SOC setups usually top out at 12MB/s. Use smallnetbuilders to see what processor each NAS system uses to give you a frame of reference by clicking on reviews of each NAS.

The reason a CPU matters in NAS systems is because they have to process and send packets over the network and decode packets sent from the other machine. Similar to Routers except their cpu's are limited to just those particular calculations. A NAS cpu has to do those calculations and run the operating system that it incorporates whether its linux, windows, or OS X.

The acer aspire easyshare h340 is definitely an awesome NAS system. It should have the same transfer rates and it should share files with PS3, windows, linux, and os x. It should be able to be used with Time Machine but the mac computer would have to be modified. Their price is also very competitive. Some disadvantages are:
1. Not running Ubuntu 8.10
2. No VGA output
3. No sound
4. Basically cannot function as a desktop computer
5. Not small and slender (no upright position)
6. No optical drive

The price of the l337tech preconfigured NAS system takes those advantages into account as well as the time and effort spent setting up the NAS software.

hope this helps

[Utnorris]

But for $499 you can put together a basic PC and use FreeNAS booting off of a USB stick. This would allow you to use a hardware RAID card like a Dell PERC 5i card or one of the Rocketraid cards and you could use as many HD's as free ports you have, i.e. 4 or 6 depending on the MB. It's also very easy to setup and you could use a AMD sempron chip which would be better than an Intel Atom chip. Just a thought.

[ecidious]

CPU speed does matter alot with a NAS system. However, once you get past Intel Atom speeds and above you probably wont be able to tell much of a difference. Its the processors that are below the Atom that can slow down NAS systems. Most NAS systems used cheap SOC (system on chip) setups that run about 300-700MHZ in cpu speed. Most of these cannot get close to 50MB/s. Take a look at smallnetbuilders NAS charts and notice how the top performers have dedicated intel processors or high end SOC. The cheap SOC setups usually top out at 12MB/s. Use smallnetbuilders to see what processor each NAS system uses to give you a frame of reference by clicking on reviews of each NAS.

The reason a CPU matters in NAS systems is because they have to process and send packets over the network and decode packets sent from the other machine. Similar to Routers except their cpu's are limited to just those particular calculations. A NAS cpu has to do those calculations and run the operating system that it incorporates whether its linux, windows, or OS X.

The acer aspire easyshare h340 is definitely an awesome NAS system. It should have the same transfer rates and it should share files with PS3, windows, linux, and os x. It should be able to be used with Time Machine but the mac computer would have to be modified. Their price is also very competitive. Some disadvantages are:
1. Not running Ubuntu 8.10
2. No VGA output
3. No sound
4. Basically cannot function as a desktop computer
5. Not small and slender (no upright position)
6. No optical drive

The price of the l337tech preconfigured NAS system takes those advantages into account as well as the time and effort spent setting up the NAS software.

hope this helps

Those other systems are either running software RAID 5 arrays or have other problems beyond the CPU speed, like the network interface and drive controller.

[numberlpete]

Yeah that is a good point about the network interface. Many of those cheap NAS systems only support ethernet 100mbps which has a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 12.5MB/s. The only NAS systems you should be looking at need to have gigabit ehternet which runs at 1000mbps or 125MB/s. And you definitely need a decent drive controller for all your drives so some of the cheap SOC have crappy controllers too.

The problem with building a basic PC and using a sempron setup is that your starting to get into power issues. I would not want to be running something at 40+watts all the time. The L337Tech Preconfigured NAS runs at 26watts idle and 30watts full load.

Sounds like there is a lot of new competition in the NAS market now so maybe the L337Tech Preconfigured NAS system's price should be lowered to $399. The main competitors being other atom based NAS's because they compete in speed and power usage (like the acer mentioned above).

[numberlpete]

haha okay the price was just reduced, its only $399!!!!!! plus shipping. Now we got ourselves a deal. Very nice price/performance.