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mattrixx
join:2004-02-18
Orland Park, IL

mattrixx to koitsu

Member

to koitsu

Re: What sort of network storage do you think?

Interesting comments regarding USB HDD connections to Router.
I have the Asus RT-N66U Router and have a Rosewill SATA to USB (&eSATA) Enclosure with a W.D. 2TB "RED" (NAS) 3.5" HDD connected via one of it`s 2 USB (2.0) inputs of the Router,
and I could not be happier with the networked accessibility and also media playback.

Originally connected with a W.D. "BLACK" 1TB HDD (which I quickly ran out of space), I did have minor problems accessing network drives till I upgraded to the latest Asus Router Firmware
which resolved several issues, like having to re enter the Router`s interface to allow networked drives including the enclosure to reappear.

I recently substituted this original 1TB "BLACK" Enclosure with a new 2TB "RED" (NAS) HDD and Enclosure to the USB connection on the Router.
This switch over was accomplished after I successfully was able to transfer ALL files from the original 1TB enclosure (still connected to the Router), to the newly purchased 2TB HDD via Networked connected computer
and a second attached Rosewill External enclosure containing the 2TB "RED". This second (2TB) HDD and Enclosure was itself connected (via eSATA), to yet a different Networked computer!
All this transferring done without problem(s) initiated through the Router`s USB port, though it did take a quite a while to complete.

As for media playback, I can access my "always on" Router w/ USB connected Enclosure to 5 Networked computers, also to a dedicated W.D. "Media Player" via Ethernet for viewing on a 42" LED HDTV with NO problems.
Playback on 3 of the 5 are Ethernet connected Desktops with the remaining 2 Wireless Laptops.

I have to add that the Enclosure I am using has it`s own power source and does NOT depend on the Router`s USB port. Also the W.D. 2TB "RED" (NAS) HDD not only provides me extra space,
but is I think a factor in easy accessibility, and also is very quite.

koitsu
MVM
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA
Humax BGW320-500

koitsu

MVM

said by mattrixx:

Interesting comments regarding USB HDD connections to Router.
I have the Asus RT-N66U Router and have a Rosewill SATA to USB (&eSATA) Enclosure with a W.D. 2TB "RED" (NAS) 3.5" HDD connected via one of it`s 2 USB (2.0) inputs of the Router,
and I could not be happier with the networked accessibility and also media playback.

I'm glad to hear that, but most of us engineering folks (as well as end-users -- see thread) disagree. Reference material for my statement about Samba and Linux sendfile(2):

»www.linksysinfo.org/inde ··· 0.52240/

The root cause (kernel performance bug) is discussed further down in the thread.

The firmwares impacted vary, but the reference discovery was found in what's called asuswrt-merlin, which is a direct spin-off of the source code which Asus provides of their firmware (since they have to release it given that it's under GPL). The commit to that fork which shows the problem:

»github.com/RMerl/asuswrt ··· ca351696

So that leads me to believe that Asus' native firmware has the same problem. Maybe they've since fixed it? My money wouldn't be on that though, since the commit in question to asuswrt-merlin was done only a month ago.

Not much else I can say. It's been analysed, and the Linux kernel performance problem was also tracked down too, so I think some people just higher expectations than others. I guess I'm one of those who does.

mattrixx
join:2004-02-18
Orland Park, IL

mattrixx

Member

said by koitsu:

so I think some people just higher expectations than others. I guess I'm one of those who does.

Not being an engineer, I can only agree

The only remaining "problem" I have with my Asus Router is the infrequent and unexpected dropped connections I`m getting usually when downloading.
However they used to occur more frequently with a previous older Netgear Router, which leads me to think it`s some other issue other than the Router.