Hi Guys,

I have just about finished pulling in all of the Cat5 cable in my new house, there are 16 points in total (not too over the top in a 3 bed place!) it is all wired back to a central point on the ground floor, where there will be a small comms cab (12U), 2 PC's (HTPC/media stuff and CCTV server) and all the other network and HiFi stuff.

In the past I have made do with what networking stuff I could afford at the time, I have never been happy with it, so this time I want a nice solution, I am looking to buy a 19" Rack Mount Switch and some sort of NAS and print server (already have one of those but it would be nice to find an all in one solution).

I have my eye on a few things, but I could really do with a few opinions before I jump in I know we have a few network experts on here, so here we go...

Switch short list - Linksys SRW224 or Netgear SF526T

NAS Short List - Linksys NSLU2 or Buffalo LinkStation

These are at the max of my budget, in fact they are going on the plastic, but it is getting really messy here and I want to get up and running ASAP.

Cheers

Cris.

I've got the Netgear switch at work, it seems to do the trick, it's got rack ears and withstood some numb nuts utility engineer sticking 600v up it in its previous job.

As for the NAS, i'd build a box to that, but if you don't want to do that, or let me help you cobble something together then the NSLU2 seems to get good reports and seems to be quite easily hackable.

I second the idea of building a box for the NAS. Linux/Samba and configure it how you want. You're paying way to much for an unupgradable/unconfigurable "solution" when you get a NAS device, IMHO.

Jim

If you care about electricity usage, then it might pay to assemble your own Linux-based firewall / DHCP / NAT / NAS / PrintServer / email-server / WebServer / whatever box. Suprisiingly easy to do these days. Mine is a mini-ITX mobo, with a laptop 80GB hard disk (courtesy of Paul). Draws 18W at typical load, measured at the AC power cord plug.

Cheers

Mark,

Someone mentioned your box in my other thread about power-miser media servers. Which board and case do you have? Any other details?

Mark's Box is decribed here:

http://empegbbs.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=offtopic&Number=217539

I wouldn't exactly call 80GB NAS though. I'm looking for more like 800GB of space for simply everything (mainly TV recordings in HD, MP3s, digital pictures etc.). 200GB drives are the sweet spot, so I'm considering going RAID5 with 4 or 5 of them for 600 or 800GB.

Won't be such low power then unless the drives spin down (which is entirely possible) and those EPIA boards usually only have 1 IDE interface, which makes more than two drives a little more complex (i.e. extra IDE/SATA card)

Tons of USB2 ports, though.. faster than the built-in IDE usually (strange as it may seem..)

>those EPIA boards usually only have 1 IDE interface

This one has two IDE PATA interfaces (up to four drives), one PCI slot, and a gazillion USB2 ports for external drives!

Cheers

True, I'm still debating with myself over the price/size/performance components of those raptors. As far as I'm concerned, the 36GB is just not big enough for my uses these days. That leaves the $177 76GB drive. That's a lot for 76GB But if I'm getting a Shuttle, I want a good performer for my main drive. I'll have to think it over.

There are other differences, too. The larger Raptor supports tagged-queuing, whereas the smaller one does not. Also, the seek program for the larger Raptor is optimized for short random accesses (server), whereas the smaller drive is optimized for larger sequential accesses (desktop).

Cheers

Quote:
Dear Sir or Madam,

The order you have placed with Simply Computers for the item: 45284 Netgear 24x 10/100 Smart switch + Gigabit Port

The price has been put on our website incorrectly. The correct price is: £114.89 INC VAT.

Please let me know if you still require this item.

The price was at £119, has been for some time and the stock level has been going down etc... the price is now £135 inc VAT, so where does that leave me, do they have to honour the £114 inc VAT they have quoted me on e-mail ???

I am fed up with this happening with these online stores, it happened with misco.co.uk just before Christmas. Even if they do ship this item at the lower price, I won't be using simply again, I had a big wire it all up day planned for monday, now the switch won't be here in time

Cheers

Cris.

The T&Cs of most UK based big e-commerce now seem to include phrases stating that there is no contract between you and them until they have taken your money. I believe this has been tested in court and found to be valid. I'm too lazy to try and dig out any proof of this though...

I have recently used the new Distance Selling Regulations to good effect though. I managed to get £340 back from scan.co.uk after deciding I didn't like the monitor I bought from them. They took £24 to cover the postage there and back, which I think is reasonable for a 30kg package.

Well I am hoping that they take £135 from my CC, I can then contact my bank and get the difference back, I have it in writing the price is £114.

It somehow feels wrong that they can advertise at one price and then change their minds when someone orders one, I could understand if it was up at 19.99, that would be a mistake, but with a £16 difference it hardly seems worth pissing off potential new customers.

I will wait and see what turns up.

Cheers

Cris.

The last time I called my CC company to complain about an overcharge (merchant filled slip out for one price, I signed, but when submitted to VISA it had new numbers on it..), they told me they (that particular CC) NEVER refund a difference. Either the charge is valid, or it isn't. So they refunded the entire $855 to my account.

I never heard from the merchant again, and the woodworking tools in question are still going strong in my shop.

Cheers

After a brief call (I did keep my cool) they agreed to ship it for a total of £119, they even said sorry for all the messing around.

Still I won't be using Simply.co.uk in a hurry in the future, a good price in the end but hardly worth the trouble, lesson learned, stick with suppliers that you know and trust!

Cheers

Cris.