NAS with only 2GB RAM?

[Marcke]

Hi all,

I would like to create a NAS using my old laptop, but it's 7 years old and only has 2GB RAM.
Would installation still go (yet a bit slower), or would this certainly not go?

I would prefer the set-up below, rather than streaming directly from my NAS, certainly as I only have USB 1.0 on that laptop, the 2GB RAM limitation above, and also a crappy video-card.
Stream from an external harddisk connected to my Sony Blu-ray Home Cinema (which has a menu to access my files) towards my television.
Would this work with the freeNAS software?
Or are there hardware tools so that I could connect the harddisk both to my NAS and to my Sony Bluray Home Cinema?

Thanks in advance for your support,

Kind Regards,

Wannes

 

[ramius]

I would forget the idea to use the laptop as a Freenas server.
If you don't have any usb 2.0 available, you will have to use the harddrive to install Freenas, you will have no harddrive to share because freenas blocks the use of the complete harddrive in with it is installed. You could also try to find a pcmcia to compact flash reader, if you laptop has a pcmcia slot, and install freenas on the compact flash. Or you could get a pcmcia to usb 2.0 card and use usb stick for freenas and to plug other hardrives to the system (you will have to check if your system is able to boot from a usb/pcmcia card).
I would get a cheep Nas prebulid system, with 1 or 2 hdd bay's. It should set you back less then $100 and will give you much more performance than the old laptop. I can imagine, that the laptop only has a 100Mbit network card and an old 4200 or 5400rpm laptop harddrive.

 

[warri]

With UFS file system, it should still work though. Also you can boot from the USB 1.0 - just the bootup will take longer since the OS gets loaded into RAM after that.

 

[jgreco]

And with USB 1, every ... single ... thing ... that ... involves ... the ... usb ... goes ... like ... this

 

[Marcke]

If you don't have any usb 2.0 available, you will have to use the harddrive to install Freenas, you will have no harddrive to share because freenas blocks the use of the complete harddrive in with it is installed.

Unfortunately, my BIOS doesn't even allow USB booting. It's PhoenixBIOS for Acer Aspire 3630. I installed the latest BIOS. Anyone have a hint? Perhaps better to go for a linux distribution than FreeNAS then?

 

[ramius]

Unfortunately, my BIOS doesn't even allow USB booting.

I was afraid about that possibility. The only option would be swithing the optical drive for a second hdd and install freenas on the smaller one. My freenas in installed on a 36GB hdd, but the drive in witch freenas is installed is only for the installation. You can't use the harddrive for anything else.
As said before, using the laptop for testing could be a good idea, but I would forget the laptop and get a cheap comercial solution, similar to addonics nas enclosure (http://www.addonics.com/products/nas25hdu2.php). It will almost certainly be faster than the laptop and consume less electricity.

 

[Marcke]

I would forget the laptop and get a cheap comercial solution, similar to addonics nas enclosure (http://www.addonics.com/products/nas25hdu2.php). It will almost certainly be faster than the laptop and consume less electricity.

Do you have any idea how much less electricity it uses?
I don't want to spend too much on this, so maybe I could plug the harddisk of my laptop into that system, and connect my 3,5" 1TB external harddrive to it?

 

[tingo]

Unfortunately, my BIOS doesn't even allow USB booting. It's PhoenixBIOS for Acer Aspire 3630. I installed the latest BIOS. Anyone have a hint? Perhaps better to go for a linux distribution than FreeNAS then?

It is possible to use the Plop Boot Manager (installed on a CD or floppy) to make your laptop boot from usb. It works, but is rather inconvenient.