[Boatanchors] 6360s, 7360 equivalents and DSB & SSB respectively plus OT Network attached storage

[mikea]

On Tue, Nov 02, 2010 at 02:33:41AM -1000, Kludge wrote:

> And finally, the OT bit: In building up the external storage for the new
> box, I’ve been looking at NAS vs. USB-attached drives and really have no
> clue if I’m better off using NAS or not.  Also, if I do, can I use the same
> router that lives between my PCs and my modem or do I need to do something
> else in the way of magic?  Also, what’s the best way to isolate them from
> the modem?  The box[es] will be running Samba or Snake, if that helps at
> all.

USB is slow, even USB 2.0. The USB protocols are horrid. Now someone
will bite my head off for writing that. 

If your NAS is attached via Gig-E or similar, it'll most likely be a net
win over USB 2.0. Isolation? Attach them using fiber optics. That means
a fiber interface on each attached box, and fiber interfaces on the NAS,
but the isolation is damn good. Of course, they'll still be sharing
mains power, which can suck, but we've successfully used fiber to avoid
really nasty ground-potential differences between offices and workshops
all over the state. We've also stopped losing gear to lightning. 

Which router? probably a separate one designed for NAS service. 

If you can put a hunk of fiber between the puter(s) and the modem,
that'll improve survivability even more. 

-- 
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin