Attaching a hard-drive Wirelessly

Hi there,

I have a usb hard drive that I use for backing up my desktop. What
would like to do is attach this trhough my router wirelessly, anyon
any ideas how to do this.

I assume I would need soem kind of wirelss USB server, but I'm unabl
to find one.

cheer


--
gwr-golfer

"gwr-golfer" <gwr-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:gwr-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Hi there,
>
> I have a usb hard drive that I use for backing up my desktop. What I
> would like to do is attach this trhough my router wirelessly, anyone
> any ideas how to do this.
>
> I assume I would need soem kind of wirelss USB server, but I'm unable
> to find one.
>
> cheers
>
>
>
>
> --
> gwr-golfer

What you want is NAS (Network Attached Storage), something like
http://www.buffalo-technology.com/pr...&categoryid=16

Depending on your OS you may like
http://www.netgear.co.uk/digital_home_sc101.php, where you can add your own
hard drives, and the data is mirrored for security.

Both of these plug into an Ethernet port on your router, and can be accessed
wirelessly.

Jerry

Jerry,

Thanx for the info - the Netgear looks like what I want. I have a us
drive already that I use for backups.

Would I be right in saying that I could attach this to my route
wirelessly if I pugged a wireless card into it? rather than hardwire
into my router. Ideally what I want to do is put it in my loft, s
that's it's out of the way (ie. secure) and I can set it up to ru
backups on a daily basis.

cheer


--
gwr-golfer

gwr-golfer wrote:
> Jerry,
>
> Thanx for the info - the Netgear looks like what I want. I have a usb
> drive already that I use for backups.
>
> Would I be right in saying that I could attach this to my router
> wirelessly if I pugged a wireless card into it? rather than hardwired
> into my router. Ideally what I want to do is put it in my loft, so
> that's it's out of the way (ie. secure) and I can set it up to run
> backups on a daily basis.

Don't think the Netgear device has the option to plug in extra external
USB drives, only two internal IDE drives; the Buffalo one does and
includes a print server but at the extra price, perhaps wasted in the
loft :-)

If backup is all you want it for perhaps a really cheap budget case,
motherboard and Linux OS might be better in the long run, maybe a bit
more expensive initially but definitely more options later.

Geoff Lane

Thanx Geoff,

I actually have a 200mb hard drive in an enclosure, but it's sittin
beside my desktop. What I really wanted to do was hide it away & the
run regular backups. That way if, god forbid, I was burgled then
still had my backups safely out of the way.

I didn't want to run cables anywhere....perhaps I could use a homeplu
solution that way all I need is power.

cheer


--
gwr-golfer

"gwr-golfer" <gwr-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:gwr-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Would I be right in saying that I could attach this to my router
> wirelessly if I pugged a wireless card into it? rather than hardwired
> into my router. Ideally what I want to do is put it in my loft, so
> that's it's out of the way (ie. secure) and I can set it up to run
> backups on a daily basis.

Putting a hard drive in a loft is a Really Bad Idea. Even with cooling, a
drive would be likely to exceed its specified maximum operating temperature
on a sunny day, and without heating it might sometimes be below the minimum
during the winter, too.

Making a backup over a wireless network isn't ideal. Wireless networking is
painfully slow for any significant volume of data, even with the best
signal. Cabling would be much better - HomePlug (as you mentioned in a later
post) is another option, but I don't know how it performs in practice (plus
it is expensive).

That aside, the first step, as has already been suggested, is to put the
drive in a NAS device. If you really want it to be wirelessly linked,
connect the NAS to a wireless client bridge (AKA gaming adaptor), preferably
one that supports WPA, such as the Linksys WET54G.

Alex

gwr-golfer wrote:

> I didn't want to run cables anywhere....perhaps I could use a homeplug
> solution that way all I need is power.

I've not used homeplugs before but understand they are a good option,
trouble is you need TWO to get started and the technology is changing
with choice of transmission speeds, the faster the speed obviously the
more expensive the unit.

Whatever way you go you will need a power extension in the loft so the
homeplug may be an easy option.

The loft is a good idea from the security point of view.

Another secure option provided it isn't masses of data you want to back
up is http://www.btdigitalvault.bt.com/

Free for 2GB

Geoff Lane

Alex Fraser wrote:

> Putting a hard drive in a loft is a Really Bad Idea. Even with cooling, a
> drive would be likely to exceed its specified maximum operating temperature
> on a sunny day, and without heating it might sometimes be below the minimum
> during the winter, too.

Ooh, never thought of that one :-)

Geoff Lane

Alex,

Thanx for the advice...much appreciated....I hadn't considered th
temperature of the loft, what you are saying makes a lot of sense.

I also like your suggestion of using a wireless bridge.

cheer


--
gwr-golfer

"gwr-golfer" <gwr-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:gwr-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Hi there,
>
> I have a usb hard drive that I use for backing up my desktop. What I
> would like to do is attach this trhough my router wirelessly, anyone
> any ideas how to do this.
>
> I assume I would need soem kind of wirelss USB server, but I'm unable
> to find one.
>
> cheers
>
>
>
>
> --
> gwr-golfer

AS you already have the usb drive, take a look at the Linksys NSLU2. Again,
it's not wireless, but as has been said, wireless would be slow for backups.

Allan