Linksys Etherfast Gigadrive

Lack of expandability is one drawback to some network attached storage (Nas) appliances. If you run out of space on one appliance you usually have to install another, which is straightforward but not always convenient.

Not so with the Etherfast Instant Gigadrive from Linksys, where capacity can be expanded by swapping and adding disks.

Designed to be used by small businesses in place of a general-purpose file server, the Instant Gigadrive comes in a compact desktop case with a built-in power supply. The only other connectors are a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port and a parallel port to attach a shared printer.

Inside, a Risc-based server loads and runs the Linux-based operating system from Flash memory, making for fast (15-second) start-up and a robust solution. Two bays are available for storage, with a single 80GB ATA disk supplied as standard.

This can be upgraded and a second disk added to boost capacity to 240GB. Any ATA/33 or ATA/66 compatible disk up to 7,200rpm can be used.

To install you just plug in the appliance, then run the setup utility supplied to assign an IP address. Everything else is done from a browser, with facilities to assign the Gigadrive to a Windows workgroup, set up file and printer shares and manage users.

There are also options to format disk drives and take back-ups, either to a remote PC or, if two disks are fitted, from one disk to another.

Users access the Gigadrive shares as though they were on a standard Windows file server, the only small niggle being a lack of support for domains.

A built-in FTP server means Unix/ Linux users can get at the data with browser-based internet attached storage (IAS) access and support for internet printing protocol (IPP). There's even a built-in user manual on this well-conceived and affordable small business Nas appliance.

Contact: Linksys
www.linksys.com

Specifications:

• Mips processor
• 64MB of Ram
• Linux-based OS loaded from 16MB Flash memory
• 80GB disk space, expandable to 240GB on two drives
• Support for ATA/33 and ATA/66 disks at up to 7,200rpm
• Frontload disk trays
• Integrated parallel port and Windows print server
• Web-based management
• FTP server; support for IAS file sharing and IPP

See also:

Miglia Mediabank HS-R

Stress-free data backup and recovery.  11 Mar 2004

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