Solved External hard drive to ethernet switch

NauticalGent

NauticalGent

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Good morning all,

My home network is wired; I use MOCA "bricks" to bring the service from my cable provider then connect my devices with an ethernet switch. I want to be able to make certain files available to all the devices that are wired in. Can an external HD be plugged into the switch and if not, what is the best way to achieve this?

Thanks in advance!
 
Looks like you are looking for a NAS (=Network Attached Storage) device.

In any case, this recent thread should contain a lot of useful info for you:

Solved - LAN question

I have built a small database for a charity and of course their network is less than optimal. They are using a peer-to-peer network so there is no designated server and of course everyone is connecting using WiFi. There will be about a dozen users but only two that will have update permission...
www.access-programmers.co.uk
 
sonic8 said:
Looks like you are looking for a NAS (=Network Attached Storage) device.
Click to expand...
Decisions, decisions....

www.pcmag.com

The Best NAS (Network Attached Storage) Devices for 2024

Network attached storage is the most versatile way to store data, but that's just one of the many benefits of buying a NAS device. We've tested the top models: See which will work best for your home or small business.
www.pcmag.com www.pcmag.com
 
John,
Perhaps ask @Pat Hartman, as she has just purchased a NAS box for a client of hers.

Solved - LAN question

Pat, the NAS will literally act as a server. That's the answer I was looking for. Thanks.
www.access-programmers.co.uk

I have 2 Dlink DNS323 NAS boxes which are quite old now, but had no problems with them. Each is setup as Raid 1.
 
I Have a Synology NAS box DS120j (single drive) , and its great. It has USB And Gbit Network connections.
It sits in the corner of the office and has a Lan cable plugged in to it.

I have various folders that are shared on it, and a media folder, that is set up as a media server.
It has a work folder that I create folders in that replicate clients network storage layouts which is very handy for checking centralised storage paths for common documents etc. I have a number of routines that map drive letters depending on which clients system I am working on.

The web based management system has pretty much everything you would need from it, loads of data:
1701271288648.png

1701271366448.png
 
Last edited:
John,
Investigate getting the disk(s) seprarately.
Amazon have Minty's NAS at £97 and with a 1TB WD Red Plus disk it is bumped to £197, yet the disk is only £49 on Amazon by itself.
Probably a little cheaper in the USA, but still. :-(
 
My next stop is a small UPS for it and my docking station, one monitor, and the fibre router.
I use a laptop so that can run for at least a couple of hours, it will let me continue working if the power goes off, and allow me to at least save anything I was working on without losing stuff.

Edit - I did buy the disk separately, significantly cheaper at the time.
 
John,
The Raid set up saved me when one of the disks went bad in my NAS.
Should be quite easy to set up. My linkstation is single disk.
 
Gasman said:
John,
The Raid set up saved me when one of the disks went bad in my NAS.
Should be quite easy to set up. My linkstation is single disk.
Click to expand...
Exactly why I was considering it. I also spent (too much) time looking at how to get the drives to split the work-load and all that happy stuff and decided I was trying to kill a mosquito with a bazooka. I don't THINK I can configure the one I bought to use RAID technology. Since the NAS feature is more of a convivence at this point and the data not all that critical, I went with a more affordable option.
 
NauticalGent said:
Exactly why I was considering it. I also spent (too much) time looking at how to get the drives to split the work-load and all that happy stuff and decided I was trying to kill a mosquito with a bazooka. I don't THINK I can configure the one I bought to use RAID technology. Since the NAS feature is more of a convivence at this point and the data not all that critical, I went with a more affordable option.
Click to expand...
As long as you have two disks :)
 
Got it today, 15 min later we are up and running. Sweet...

1701564097342.png
 
Well, it seems like this isn't a total success story...

My wife needs to use a VPN to connect to her company's website. While she is using the VPN she cannot access the NAS Server. Going to spend some time to see it the issue on my side but I suspect it is on hers.

Damn cyber security...
 
I thought the whole idea of a VPN was a tunnel where noone can see in and you cannot see out, just what is at the end of the tunnel.
 
Gasman said:
I thought the whole idea of a VPN was a tunnel where noone can see in and you cannot see out, just what is at the end of the tunnel.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is my understanding too. This isn't a show-stopper, but it does dull my shiny new toy a little...
 
I can't remember the settings, and I suspect it may be out of your control, but you can choose to route local traffic requests via the VPN or Not, and that will determine if you can see locally attached network stuff.

It will be a DNS thing from memory, when connected the DNS is using the VPN connections lookups.
superuser.com

After connect to VPN can't see local network devices by name

I have a Windows 10 machine where I've installed VPN client. It is HMA fully automatic client so not much I could do wrong. When VPN is connected - I can't access my NAS device using it's network ...
superuser.com superuser.com
 
cheekybuddha said:
If you map the new NAS as a drive in your wife's pc, will it not then be available to drag and drop files via her Windows Explorer?
Click to expand...
I can as long as she is not using the VPN. Once she activates it - *poof*

I'm asking Dr. Google and ChatGPT and even consulted the manual that came with the NAS box. No joy yet...
 
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