I have owned an NSLU2Storage Unit for about 1 year now. I used it out of the box as standard for about 2 months before deciding to hack it. Mainly due to its instability. I then modified my unit to run at double speed and not only serve as a network storage device but also to run a simple web server and MP3 streaming server.
NOTE: Hacking this device is not for the faint hearted! This kit runs Lynux and hacking it requires you to be confident working with Lynux. It is more than possible to turn this kit into a £50 door wedge if you play and mess up! PROS:
Low-cost, can be found for less than £50.
Small size, almost too small.
Low-power consumption, about 1.5 Watts so there is no worries with leaving it switched on.
Easy to use, un-modified, straight out the box it's fairly simple to get working just be sure to follow the instructions.
Runs Lynux, this means it's open source and you're free to modify it as you wish. Making it a great experimentation platform for those of you so minded.
CONS:
Tips over, being so small and light, the weight of the cables alone is enough to tip it over.
Once you have connected the power, RJ45 cable and USB leads it quickly becomes a cabling rats nest.
Slow! This device uses a very basic micro controller. It works hard and barely cuts the mustard. Transferring large numbers of files can take a while.
The original firmware was unreliable and hung frequently. Once the latest firmware was downloaded from the Linksys web site this problem got much better.
Requires an external USB harddrive.
If hacking hardware is not your thing, or you consider yourself to be a techie novice then you may be better off looking elsewere. There are too many things that can go wrong; particuarly with NTFS formated drives - which it did not support when I purchased my unit. If on the other hand you're interested in hacking this device, then I would suggest a quick google for NSLU2. There are several very good and active user forums.
I'm giving this device a rating of Poor for it's original purpose, but for hacking I would rate it as excellent.
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network storage link from Linksys. This tiny device connects USB 2.0 hard drives directly to your Ethernet network. You can connect up to two stand-alone USB disk drive...
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