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coolest+isnowonline

Q: NAS / SAN / best solution for network storage for sharing between Macs?

I know the Xsan-forum might not be the best place to ask, but I didn't find a general networking category.


I want 2 Macs to be able to access the same documents, even when one of them is shut down, so the File Sharing option in the Preferences is not the solution for me. I found NAS to be helpful, however, many NAS available have a lot of features I don't need, like streaming, etc. and are too complicate.

For the Synology NAS, for instance, the Drive has to be accessible over the internet (https://www.synology.com/en-us/knowledgebase/tutorials/563), which I don't want to activate because of privacy issues. I only want to share data on the local network, probably it should come up under shared in the finder app then, I thought.

I looked up Airport Time Capsule as well, of course. But I don't need all the Wifi connectivity. The Macs are only connected via Ethernet. I think TC could be a solution, but if there is another product that fits my needs better, I would probably not spend the money for the TC.

The third one I discovered, is the "Transporter", which merged with Drobo: http://www.filetransporter.com/for-individuals/. It has again the access-your-files-from -anywhere-in-the-world-feature, which I would try to deactivate, I'm not sure if that's possible. And it bothers me that it sounds like I need an account to manage the drive. Or is local networking possible without being forced to register?


 

I heard about SAN and tried to find a product, but couldn't find one in my price range and I don't know if it would help me. Can anyone help me find a way out of this jungle? Thanks in advance ;-)

Posted on Mar 2, 2015 7:50 AM

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Q: NAS / SAN / best solution for network storage for sharing between Macs?

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  • by Strontium90,Helpful

    Strontium90 Strontium90 Mar 3, 2015 5:08 AM in response to coolest+isnowonline
    Level 5 (4,067 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Mar 3, 2015 5:08 AM in response to coolest+isnowonline

    SAN is not what you are looking for.  Unless you are a two person video department with massive storage requirements.  I provided a similar reply some time ago.  Building home SAN  The logic still stands.  Xsan is an excellent product for very specific environments. 

     

    Why not just roll out a Mac mini as a Server?  What are your storage requirements?  If you are considering a TC then I suspect not large.  A Mac mini is affordable, can be configured with up to 1 TB of internal storage, and has Thunderbolt to allow the chaining of much larger arrays.  It can run as a file server and thus always be running.  It has a number of other services available as well and it remains fully under your control.  None of that NAS-I-really-need-to-be-in-the-cloud nonsense.

     

    Reid

    Apple Consultants Network

    Author "Yosemite Server – Foundation Services" :: Exclusively available in Apple's iBooks Store

    Author "Mavericks Server – Foundation Services" :: Exclusively available in Apple's iBooks Store

    Author "Mavericks Server – Control and Collaboration" :: Exclusively available in Apple's iBooks Store

  • by coolest+isnowonline,

    coolest+isnowonline coolest+isnowonline Mar 3, 2015 5:23 AM in response to Strontium90
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 3, 2015 5:23 AM in response to Strontium90

    Thank you for your answer. I actually thought about a Mac Mini. But then I thought it's overkill for just sharing some files between 2 computers 10 feet apart from each other ;-). Plus, I don't know how to configure it without a Screen/Keyboard, because now I want to share only between 2 Laptops.

    So do you think a TC could do the job? I'd like to deactivate the Wifi story and then use it as a network-connected HD.

     

    Basically, I just need an HD which I don't want to plug out and in and out an in and so on, therefore I had the idea to connect it to the network

  • by Strontium90,Helpful

    Strontium90 Strontium90 Mar 3, 2015 10:04 AM in response to coolest+isnowonline
    Level 5 (4,067 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Mar 3, 2015 10:04 AM in response to coolest+isnowonline

    A Time Capsule can do it.  It is basically what you are looking for:  network attached storage.

     

    Your challenge will be backing it up. 

  • by coolest+isnowonline,

    coolest+isnowonline coolest+isnowonline Mar 3, 2015 10:43 AM in response to Strontium90
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 3, 2015 10:43 AM in response to Strontium90

    wow, that helps me

     

    why is the back up a problem? I have an external backup volume, which I can just plug in to the TC via USB, I guess? I heard that Time Maschine won't work with it, only with the TC-intern drive, but I could just use Carbon Copy Cloner or something else, right?

  • by Strontium90,

    Strontium90 Strontium90 Mar 3, 2015 2:09 PM in response to coolest+isnowonline
    Level 5 (4,067 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Mar 3, 2015 2:09 PM in response to coolest+isnowonline

    Yes.  Sorry.  In my head I am thinking of automated solutions and the TC is sort of a closed box.  But yes, manual backup mechanism will work fine.

  • by proofisinthepunn,

    proofisinthepunn proofisinthepunn Apr 2, 2015 3:51 PM in response to coolest+isnowonline
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2015 3:51 PM in response to coolest+isnowonline

    The Synology DSM software has built-in support for Macs including Apple Fileshare Protocol (afp) and Time Machine support. It has an iTunes server in addition to a regular DLNA Media server.