SATA HDD Enclosure Dorm room set up

[patchcr 0]

My roommate and I have been looking for a way to share a network drive. I recently bought a 250GB SATA HD for my computer because I desparately needed more space. When I go to college in August, my rommie and I want to share that space. Is there any enclosure that will support a SATA HD and still allow two computers to access it simultaneously.I know that this doesn't seem like a network issue but there is the possibility that we would use an Ethernet enclosure and try to attempt some type of NAS set up. We do not have a router and we really just want an ad hoc network. Also, he must be able to access the data even if I have Linux running, or if I'm restarting, and vice versa.We both have Firewire, USB 2.0, and Gigabit Ethernet.Thanks

[rodneylay 0]

My roommate and I have been looking for a way to share a network drive. I recently bought a 250GB SATA HD for my computer because I desparately needed more space. When I go to college in August, my rommie and I want to share that space. Is there any enclosure that will support a SATA HD and still allow two computers to access it simultaneously.

 

 

Here is a PC to PC Networking Procedure

 

The process of establishing sharing between these PCs is really just a lot of steps involving software settings. It takes a while to do, but is pretty straightforward. This setup assumes that both computers hae Windows XP installed as the operating system.

 

1. The first step is to make sure both computers have a distinct name and are using the same workgroup name.

a. To do this, click the "Start" button in the lower left corner and select "Control Panel." In the left channel, you'll want to click on "Classic View" if you haven't previously done this.

b. Double-click on the "System" icon and then on the "Computer Name" tab. On this screen, click the "Change" button to set your computer name and workgroup name.

c. Each computer will need its own computer name. I recommend changing it to something easy to identify such as "desktop-den" for a desktop computer in your den. You can't use non-standard characters and it can only be 15 characters.

d. Then you will need to enter your workgroup name. This must be the same on all computers you would like to connect to the network. Make sure you write this down because it must be exactly the same on all computers in order for them to communicate. It can be as simple as "home network."

5. Your computer will need to be restarted for these changes to take effect.

 

 

2. Now that you have created a network, the next thing you'll need to do is set up your computers to share files. Here's how to do that.

a. On the primary computer that you'll be sharing files from, right click on "My Computer" and click "Explore."

b. Find the folder or entire drive you would like to share and right click on that item. Select "Sharing and Security" from the drop-down list.

c. If it isn't already selected, click on the "Sharing" tab at the top.

d. In the "Network sharing and security" section, click to put a check beside "Share this folder" if it doesn't already have a checkmark beside it.

e. There is an "Allow network users to change my files" selection as well. You may want to leave this unselected if you don't want to make any changes to your files or mistakenly delete any of them.

f. Now that the main desktop system is set up to share files, go to the second computer and set it up on the same workgroup and enter the name of that computer just as you did to the primary system.

g. Then from the Start menu, choose "My Network Places" on the second computer. The folders you selected for sharing on the primary computer should be available.

 

 

This setup can work with either a wireless router and wireless NIC cards, or using a hardwired router system. Have fun with that huge hard drive space. Windows XP has good instructions in the help files on setting up a network and sharing files. Make use of those resources if this tutorial does not quite work for you.

 

Rodney Lay

[patchcr 0]

Rodney, Thanks for the reply. I already knew how to do that in windows but I'm sure it will help someone. I know how to set up a network through windows.. the problem is that I con't have a way gurantee access to the drive for my roomate if my computer is booted into linux or broken. That's why I was looking for a HD enclosure so the HD could be accessed regardless of the state of my computer. If you have any insight into how I would be able to share that SATA HD without the need for a functioning Windows O/S on my side. -PatchCR

[kam1405241509 0]

If you have any insight into how I would be able to share that SATA HD without the need for a functioning Windows O/S on my side.

-PatchCR

1064317561[/snapback]

Most NAS enclosures are expensive (250quid is the cheapest I've seen) and just run a customised embedded UNIX distro on a low-end low-power board! The most famous/popular is by SnapAppliance and is iSCSI based (SCSI over TCP/IP/Ethernet). Have you thought about buying a low-cost mini-ITX board, and setting it up as a file/print/anything-server?

 

One other idea might be to use a dual-ported SAS drive ... but that would mean buying a new drive, which I'm guessing isn't a solution for you. If you are interested, take a look at http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Basically, a SAS drive has two SAS ports on it that can connect to two independent SAS controllers, for redundancy purposes. As far as I can tell, the two controllers could be in two different PC's ... but I haven't tried that out so it's best to ask your drive manufacturer before spending this sort of money ... I'm interested in trying it out, but that's most likely only after I can find a cheap SAS controller!!