Hacks to watch: SRT8132 USB NAS
Some months ago, I saw this box on DealExtreme.com, which, on paper looked like everything I would need to replace my home server in terms of being able to store files, backup my laptop and leave bittorent downloads running overnight.
I gave it a miss however, as I know how, often, such things are made to look good on paper but, in practice, the experience is very different. The comments people left on the product page seemed to agree with my hunch.
Fast forward a few months and, I’m again looking for a low powered, inexpensive NAS solution and having returned to the product page, I found my way to this Google group who are working on a custom Linux firmware, due out in beta form by the end of this month. Given the cost of this and the fact that I can buy a 1TB HDD later on, I may get one soon to try it out.
Noticeable features include:
- Samba file and print sharing – Letting me use my printer and grab files without having to plug in the USB hub. Having a big hard drive you can access wirelessly is very handy for laptop users.
- Bittorent downloading – Being able to download 24/7 without having your main computer on is a real bonus, it also makes seeding much easier when your upload bandwidth is low.
- Remote FTP – Just open a port, set a reliable password (I recommend SuperGenPass) and your files are available wherever you are. You can also scoot files back to your server remotely and let friends send you files.
- EXT3 support – Many of these NAS boxes only allow for FAT32 which has a 4GB file size maximum, making it hard to back up files and store recordings.
