proxops-pete

Ok... so I find it too much of pain having too many HDDs inside my desktop to act as storage. Now, I want to look into NAS type but don't wanna spend several hudreds of $$ (or more!)...

Here are my needs...

1) 100 Mb/sec connection
2) Pref. SATA HDD connectability
3) Active cooling (it will be on 24/7 to be used by desktop or laptop)

Is there one for under $100?! Thanks guys...

jester22c

Well the price you're looking at really depends on if you want a standalone NAS unit, and if so, how many drives you want to support. I googled and found a roundup of NAS solutions here. Aside from units like that (which come with a HDD which may or may not be the capacity you're looking for), you can move either into rack-mountable 3U type trays (which I assume are out) or building your own file server out of a PC.

Using an old(er) computer and filling it with a controller card or two and HDDs is the cheapest route if you have parts to use, and is much more of a customizable solution. A server OS would work great for this type of setup, and several *nix flavors will also do the job quite well.