Hard drive box on wireless network

Hi there,

Don't know if you can help me or not but here goes....


Basically I have 3 pcs which are networked together by means of a wireless
network. I also have a 250 Gb IDE hard drive which is housed in an
external hard drive housing box and contains a usb port at the back. What
i'm wondering is ..... is there any way I can set it up so that the external
hard drive in the box can be used as a standalone file storage area for the
3 PCs on the network *WITHOUT* having to connect it to one of those three
PCs in order to gain access to it. The idea being that there wouldn't be
any need to have a specific PC switched on.

If anyone has any ideas which can help i'd be very grateful

Thanks

David.

No, without more the HD must be shared through a running computer OS or some
hardware device which provides this function. There are standalone devices
which can do so, and prices are coming down. eg. see:

http://netgear.com/products/consumer...e_wired_hm.php

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

"David Gartrell" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:dq3l58$pk6$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi there,
>
> Don't know if you can help me or not but here goes....
>
>
> Basically I have 3 pcs which are networked together by means of a wireless
> network. I also have a 250 Gb IDE hard drive which is housed in an
> external hard drive housing box and contains a usb port at the back. What
> i'm wondering is ..... is there any way I can set it up so that the
external
> hard drive in the box can be used as a standalone file storage area for
the
> 3 PCs on the network *WITHOUT* having to connect it to one of those three
> PCs in order to gain access to it. The idea being that there wouldn't be
> any need to have a specific PC switched on.
>
> If anyone has any ideas which can help i'd be very grateful
>
> Thanks
>
> David.
>
>

Is there anything i could plug into the usb port at the back of the unit
that would allow wireless access - a usb wireless adapter perhaps?

"Doug Sherman [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> No, without more the HD must be shared through a running computer OS or
> some
> hardware device which provides this function. There are standalone
> devices
> which can do so, and prices are coming down. eg. see:
>
> http://netgear.com/products/consumer...e_wired_hm.php
>
> Doug Sherman
> MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
>
> "David Gartrell" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:dq3l58$pk6$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hi there,
>>
>> Don't know if you can help me or not but here goes....
>>
>>
>> Basically I have 3 pcs which are networked together by means of a
>> wireless
>> network. I also have a 250 Gb IDE hard drive which is housed in an
>> external hard drive housing box and contains a usb port at the back.
>> What
>> i'm wondering is ..... is there any way I can set it up so that the
> external
>> hard drive in the box can be used as a standalone file storage area for
> the
>> 3 PCs on the network *WITHOUT* having to connect it to one of those three
>> PCs in order to gain access to it. The idea being that there wouldn't be
>> any need to have a specific PC switched on.
>>
>> If anyone has any ideas which can help i'd be very grateful
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> David.
>>
>>
>
>

Unless the "external hard drive housing box" provides something much more
than an IDE/USB interface, no. Of course, you could attach USB wireless
adapter, and it might even get an IP address; but I don't see how that would
allow you to access the drive unless the box is actually a network storage
device. Typically a network storage device would have an ethernet RJ45
port.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

"David Gartrell" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:dq3ol1$3p5$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Is there anything i could plug into the usb port at the back of the unit
> that would allow wireless access - a usb wireless adapter perhaps?
>
> "Doug Sherman [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message
> news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> > No, without more the HD must be shared through a running computer OS or
> > some
> > hardware device which provides this function. There are standalone
> > devices
> > which can do so, and prices are coming down. eg. see:
> >
> > http://netgear.com/products/consumer...e_wired_hm.php
> >
> > Doug Sherman
> > MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
> >
> > "David Gartrell" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:dq3l58$pk6$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> Hi there,
> >>
> >> Don't know if you can help me or not but here goes....
> >>
> >>
> >> Basically I have 3 pcs which are networked together by means of a
> >> wireless
> >> network. I also have a 250 Gb IDE hard drive which is housed in an
> >> external hard drive housing box and contains a usb port at the back.
> >> What
> >> i'm wondering is ..... is there any way I can set it up so that the
> > external
> >> hard drive in the box can be used as a standalone file storage area for
> > the
> >> 3 PCs on the network *WITHOUT* having to connect it to one of those
three
> >> PCs in order to gain access to it. The idea being that there wouldn't
be
> >> any need to have a specific PC switched on.
> >>
> >> If anyone has any ideas which can help i'd be very grateful
> >>
> >> Thanks
> >>
> >> David.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>