print servers and device servers

Last week I purchased the linksys storage link. This product is an excellent example or a device that does not try to be all things to all people. Essentially, it is an tiny computer or embeded device with a tiny os that runs code that provides SMB or Windows file sharing. It is 100% compatible with windows, linux, or mac as long as you dont have a personal firewall installed.
Installation is simple.
1. Unbox device
2. Use CD-ROM to set up address, if you have dhcp this is not neccesary
3. Connect drive
4. Format drive via web interface
5. Set any password information
6. Add Users and permissions
7. Enjoy
This is not as complicated as it sounds. The manual is excellent and not neccesary for anyone who is vaguely familiar with file sharing. Performance is excellent. On fast ethernet I was transferring 100 meg files in less than a minute. Over slower networks such as wireless your performance will suffer. This is not the devices fault.
THE BEAUTY OF THIS DEVICE IS NO DRIVERS ARE NECCESARY AS LONG AS YOU HAVE CLIENT FOR MS NETWORKS TURNED ON WHICH IT USUALLY IS. Other NAS drives require you load a proprietary driver, linksys, got it right.
- If you are having performance issues check to make sure that the device is running full duplex when plugged to a switch and half duplex when running to a hub. Over wireless it will be slow, that is the nature of wireless generally speaking.

What a neat device. Now you can setup a file server at home for under $250, very nice solution for sharing files, videos, and photos with the your family PCs or a place to backup stuff.

Note a few warnings before purchasing this device. From the user manual "If the USB hard drive has not previously been used in a Storage Link, its format must be changed. You will be asked to verify if you want to change the format." This means you will lose what ever files you have on the disk before installation. Second big warning "IMPORTANT: The Storage Link's format is NOT compatible with Windows. You cannot swap USB hard drives between Windows systems and the Storage Link." So the drive will become dedicated as a file server, if this device goes down there is no way to read the files on it.

Another warning would be that the speed of the drive would be greatly governed. The speed of USB 2.0 (480Mbits/second) connection would be reduced to 100Mbits/second by the Ethernet connection. So don't except the same speed that you would have with a drive installed locally in your PC.

I wanted a file server that I could leave up and running 24/7 on my home network. First, I tried the Ximeta 160GB NetDisk, but it wouldn't work on one of my machines (a month later, I'm still working with tech support to try and figure out the problem. Their tech support is to be congratulated for sticking with it so long, though!) Since the Ximeta is not working out, I decided to try the Linksys Storage Link. Here's what I've found:
PROS:
-It's dead silent and uses little power, unlike running most PCs as a server.
-You don't need special drivers on the other machines unless you want to access Flash drives with it
-It works with all my systems, unlike the Ximeta (so far)
-It can be set up to act as a webserver to the net
-You can adjust it more accurately to your storage needs than with the Ximeta
CONS
-The fact that it uses a Linux/proprietary format for the drives is a drag, but not a deal-killer.
-You'll need a second USB2.0 drive to do backups on if you want them to happen in a timely manner.
-Not hot swappable. You have to power down the device to add or remove USB devices.
-Can't be used as a fast local back-up drive like the Ximeta.
-Takes up more space and has more wiring than the Ximeta.
NOTES
-Data transfer rate seems slower than a full-bore PC, but I haven't tried any benchmarks to confirm this. Note that you will NEVER achieve anything like USB2.0 speeds; you have to compare it to transferring from other devices on your network.

So there you have it. If the Ximeta worked for me, it would definitely be a more elegant solution, except for the fact you have to install drivers and it's a lot trickier to upgrade.