Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

warnec · 2010-07-08 13:30:50

Now I know this thread's title might be a little ambiguous.

I'm trying to find the best network storage which will allow me to host multiple types of data, like movies, tv shows, etc. and stream it through my LAN, so that it can be accessed with any of my TVs with appropriate hardware (with access to LAN).

The thing is, I'd also like it to be able to download data from Bittorrent and Rapidshare, then unrar them.
That's why I think I need a NAS which will be able to run Linux with a lightweight GUI session to use many programs available on Linux, like JDownloader (will it handle Java?)

I don't even know if drives like these are available. I know about drives like WD My Book which could have such functionality (progams like pyLoad), but AFAIK, they only allow to login to them using ssh, and that's full CLI, as I understand it.

It doesn't need to be NAS, it can also be a router with an external hard drive, I'd just like it to have the functionality as listed above.
I have some basic Linux knowledge, and am not afraid of installing custom software, as long as it's not so hard.

PS: It would be also great to be able to log into it from the Internet, not only inside the LAN.

PPS: I don't know if hardware requirtements are that important, but they'd include:

*) Gigabit Ethrnet preferred, 100Mbits otherwise
*) At least 1 TB of storage

Thanks in advance!

Last edited by warnec (2010-07-08 13:32:06)

tomk · 2010-07-08 13:57:12

Here's a good place to start.

karol · 2010-07-08 14:09:16

> At least 1 TB of storage
Often you can add external drives. You should also backup your data.

> Gigabit Ethrnet preferred
May I ask what for? Are you saturating 100Mbits?

warnec · 2010-07-08 14:14:10

karol wrote:

> Gigabit Ethrnet preferred
May I ask what for? Are you saturating 100Mbits?

Well, I am not sure if 100Mbits is enough for streaming full 1080p material. Besides, who wouldn't want faster speeds when moving data over their LAN?

warnec · 2010-07-08 14:17:43

I knew about alternative firmware for routers, but it seems harder to do than modifying a NAS like My Book.
Besides, it seems like an overkill - I'd only like to use it for a small number of certain tasks.

karol · 2010-07-08 14:22:15

> I'd only like to use it for a small number of certain tasks.
So why do you need a full-fledged Linux? ;-)

> Well, I am not sure if 100Mbits is enough for streaming full 1080p material.
> Besides, who wouldn't want faster speeds when moving data over their LAN?
OK, seems reasonable.

.:B:. · 2010-07-08 16:11:25

GUI sessions... Excuse me?

A NAS should run SSH, maybe some services with web frontends. A GUI is a waste of RAM and CPU cycles.

100 Mbps is more than enough for 1080p streaming, there will be plenty of headroom if your network is well-configured (and performing accordingly). If power consumption is a factor, keep in mind gigabit ethernet needs more power than Fast Ethernet.

Qnap has some systems that run embedded Linux (and allow you to install e.g. Debian on it), and they provide several add-on packages if you stick with the stock firmware (which I think are maintained by the community using their devices). The lower models tend to be ARM-based. The higher-end models are mostly just Intel Atom systems with a load of RAM.

Check out http://www.cyrius.com/debian/ for info.

My server here runs an NFS server, SSH server, an rtorrent 'server', lighttpd for the ruTorrent frontend, NTPd and MPD. Seldomly hits 256 MB RAM. rTorrent consumes most of the RAM (but we're talking lots of torrents).

$ free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          2013       1961         51          0         18       1730
-/+ buffers/cache:        212       1801
Swap:            0          0          0
$ uptime 
 18:10:41 up 35 days, 18:12,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.01, 0.00

Last edited by .:B:. (2012-09-03 20:45:19)

karol · 2010-07-08 16:21:00

> My server here runs an NFS server, SSH server, an rtorrent 'server'
Does it get hot / noisy?

.:B:. · 2010-07-08 17:46:18

Silent as a whisper. Has a Be Quiet 300W PSU and a Zalman CPU cooler, and two HDs. Case is an Antec P-180.

karol · 2010-07-08 17:54:48

> Silent as a whisper.
Mmmmm. Me likes. Sth tells me it's a bespoke one. Are the specs somewhere on your blog?

Mektub · 2010-07-08 18:27:47

warnec wrote:

PS: It would be also great to be able to log into it from the Internet, not only inside the LAN.
PPS: I don't know if hardware requirtements are that important, but they'd include:
*) Gigabit Ethrnet preferred, 100Mbits otherwise
*) At least 1 TB of storage
Thanks in advance!

I have a Dlink DNS-323,

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=509

which has a Gigabit Ethernet and in my case, 2x2 TB sata disks.

It has a very active support/hack group: http://forum.dsmg600.info/index.php

It has ssh access, web access, ftp daemon, samba, rsync daemon.

For torrents you probably will be better with a Web admin menu access, like rutorrent, whatever:

http://forum.dsmg600.info/viewtopic.php?id=2719

I don't use it for torrents, I use it for backups through rsync (the Gigabit makes here a huge difference) and for media storage.
I can access it from the Internet, that's a router configuration, though.

Mektub

.:B:. · 2010-07-08 21:18:26

karol wrote:

> Silent as a whisper.
Mmmmm. Me likes. Sth tells me it's a bespoke one. Are the specs somewhere on your blog?

Yes: http://nauseamedialis.org/server

Fans are the stock fans btw (the Antec ones coming with the case) at the lowest speed. CPU is at 35° C idle, which is almost as much as the outside temperature around here today

FxF · 2010-07-09 23:24:58

.:B:. wrote:

GUI sessions... Excuse me?
A NAS should run SSH, maybe some services with web frontends. A GUI is a waste of RAM and CPU cycles.

I agree with you about the GUI for a NAS.... but the OP also wants to run JDownloader, which requires Java, and I believe, a GUI. I'm looking for the same sort of thing, and the Java and the GUI are where I get stuck.

I do have an NSLU2, but haven't set it up... I don't think it has the horsepower or RAM to do what I want, which means hacking the hardware -- yuck!

The OP may want to consider Marvell's PlugPC platform, which will do much of what he's looking for, minus the Java/JDownloader (I think). It's a nice compact, low-power solution, and there are companies that have taken the platform and added software and hardware to make it a more finished product. I believe the PogoPlug is an example of this, other ones can be found on Marvell's website, or by Googlizing "PlugPC"

An old PC and FreeNAS is another alternative that I've considered. That, or a lightweight version of Linux, would provide the GUI and Java features to run JDownloader for not much more money than a stand-alone NAS. Less, actually, if you have an old PC with Gigabit or 100 Megabit Ethernet available. The downside to this alternative is space and power. An Atom-based one might solve those issues (Asus makes a nice one about the size of an external USB HD for $200), but even that would not have the low low power consumption of a PlugPC or an NSLU2.

I've been playing around with my WD TV and Patriot Box Office Media Players... the WDTV can be hacked to host torrents (the Patriot does it natively) and they can sorta handle fileserving as well. No Java or JDownloader solution, unfortunately... but they are a reasonable stopgap measure for me right now.

The beauty of all these various solutions is that they've largely been enabled by Linux and the FOSS movement. It's truly remarkable what Torvalds started and the community has embraced and extended...

If I come across other solutions I'll report back...

rwd · 2010-07-22 08:33:48

I prefer to just run Arch on my Intel Atom based system because I'm familiar with it and I like to tweak stuff. But there are a few distros specifically for a homeserver, and they usually come with a web-based gui. You can let them do the torrenting/downloads/sharing/streaming without much configuration. Examples:

- Amahi
- Clearos (formerly Clarkconnect)
- Freenas (or the yet to be released Debian based implementation Openmediavault)
- Tonido

Last edited by rwd (2010-07-22 09:58:22)

litemotiv · 2010-07-22 10:17:40

i would vouch for an ION(1) system like the Asrock nettops. you can run a full Arch install on it (that's what i do), while still having a low heat/noise/energy footprint (~20W). it has full-hd video output and a dual-bay raid-0/1 controller, so you can put plenty of storage space in. they sell for around 300 bucks.

Last edited by litemotiv (2010-07-22 10:18:15)

Spacenick · 2010-07-22 11:35:16

You can get a good Atom D Series server board for like 100 $ and built it on your own. I think thats by far the best solution

fukawi2 · 2010-07-22 23:05:05

As far as off-the-shelf NAS devices go, I've had a D-Link and recently a Qnap.

The Qnap aces the D-Link in everyway. The D-Link is useless and I wouldn't wish it on anyone (granted it was the lowest model, but if they can't get 1 even close to right, the rest probably aren't much better). The Qnap has Samba, NFS, AFP, rsync, iSCSI and 452* other protocols for sharing data. It also has a torrent and HTTP/FTP download client.

I am highly impressed with it. This one was a TS-210 for work purposes (ad-hoc backup of Linux servers in our data center) with 2tb RAID-1. I will be purchasing a TS-410 shortly for home and filling it with 6tb RAID-5.

* Not an exact figure

Last edited by fukawi2 (2010-07-22 23:05:32)

loudtiger · 2010-07-22 23:22:38

how about something that runs optware? netgear wnr3500L

Arch Linux

#1 2010-07-08 13:30:50

Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#2 2010-07-08 13:57:12

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#3 2010-07-08 14:09:16

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#4 2010-07-08 14:14:10

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#5 2010-07-08 14:17:43

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#6 2010-07-08 14:22:15

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#7 2010-07-08 16:11:25

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#8 2010-07-08 16:21:00

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#9 2010-07-08 17:46:18

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#10 2010-07-08 17:54:48

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#11 2010-07-08 18:27:47

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#12 2010-07-08 21:18:26

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#13 2010-07-09 23:24:58

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#14 2010-07-22 08:33:48

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#15 2010-07-22 10:17:40

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#16 2010-07-22 11:35:16

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#17 2010-07-22 23:05:05

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

#18 2010-07-22 23:22:38

Re: Best NAS for full-fledged Linux?

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