Getting a USB drive to be accessable via the network

[jnelsoninjax]

I have a USB HDD which is water resistant and fire resistant, and I would like to be able to plug it into the network to make it accessible to the other computers in the network. On the previous router there were USB ports and I was able to plug that drive into the router, turning it into a NAS, but since upgrading the router, that is no longer an option. Is there a method to do what I am trying to do, or am I just going to have to plug it into one of the desktops and copy the data that way?

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I think there is an adapter that changes it from USB to Ethernet. Just plug it into your router and have it sharable. Or just use a switch.

 

It does have its own power brick, right? (the hdd enclosure)

[jnelsoninjax]

1 hour ago, Mindovermaster said:

I think there is an adapter that changes it from USB to Ethernet. Just plug it into your router and have it sharable. Or just use a switch.

 

It does have its own power brick, right? (the hdd enclosure)

Yes it has it's own power. I will look for USB to Ethernet  (I know they exist). Cheapest one is going for $10 on Amazon, so I might just buy it and see what happens!

[blocker1]

You can unplug USB device from your PC and give it to another user.
Disadvantages: according to different circumstances, not always there is a possibility to give USB device to another user, even for a while.

You can allow another user to work with that device on your PC.
Disadvantages: not always there is a possibility to allow someone else to work with that USB device on your PC (especially if another user is in the another office, city or country).

It is possible to purchase the same USB devices additionally.
Disadvantages: additional USB devices could be purchased but it depends on the cost of the device and quantity required.

[+BudMan MVC]

22 hours ago, jnelsoninjax said:

I have a USB HDD which is water resistant and fire resistant

What is the exact make and model of this device so we can look to see how you could turn it into a nas, what optional device (usb/ethernet dongle as example) if any, etc.

 

You can also just plug it into any computer and share it via normal sharing methods, smb, nfs, afs, etc. to put it on your network.

 

A for sure way to turn turn it into a nas would be to get say a raspberry pi, and then share it via the pi.  You can get "kit" to get you started with pi for under 100, the new 4 models are out - which if going to use as nas prob best since the new models have gig ethernet vs older models only 10/100.. Most of the places I have looked for the new 4 kits are sold out currently..  But this would prob be your best option for putting your usb disk on network without needing to use a full pc to do it.  Unless you got another router that supports this feature.. Do you have your old router still.  You could always just use the old routers "nas" feature without using it as your actual router.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

7 minutes ago, BudMan said:

You can also just plug it into any computer and share it via normal sharing methods, smb, nfs, afs, etc. to put it on your network.

  

A for sure way to turn turn it into a nas would be to get say a raspberry pi, and then share it via the pi. 

Yeah, didn't think of those. Thanks for mentioning

[+BudMan MVC]

If you had to do it on the CHEAP.. you could use a pi zero even..

 

You can get a dongle to put those on ethernet for a like $10..  I see some zero wireless "kits" for like 35$ add a usb ethernet dongle for that and your less than $50 total..

[jnelsoninjax]

39 minutes ago, BudMan said:

What is the exact make and model of this device so we can look to see how you could turn it into a nas, what optional device (usb/ethernet dongle as example) if any, etc.

 

You can also just plug it into any computer and share it via normal sharing methods, smb, nfs, afs, etc. to put it on your network.

 

A for sure way to turn turn it into a nas would be to get say a raspberry pi, and then share it via the pi.  You can get "kit" to get you started with pi for under 100, the new 4 models are out - which if going to use as nas prob best since the new models have gig ethernet vs older models only 10/100.. Most of the places I have looked for the new 4 kits are sold out currently..  But this would prob be your best option for putting your usb disk on network without needing to use a full pc to do it.  Unless you got another router that supports this feature.. Do you have your old router still.  You could always just use the old routers "nas" feature without using it as your actual router.

The drive is an IOSafe Solo G3. It was working as a 'NAS' on the other router, but I was just curious about any way I could access it short of plugging it into my desktop, which I am not opposed to doing, I was simply looking into all the options, and no, I no longer have the other router, sold it a neighbor.

[+BudMan MVC]

Well if you don't want to use a computer to share it to the network.  And you no longer have the old router that worked with it.. You could look for cheap router that supports the "nas" feature.. But per their site, they state that they make no promises of it working with such a device.

 

I would go the pi route if really want to be able to put it on the network and support multiple options to access the files on it.. It can be done on the "cheap" depending on what you have on and hand and skill set.   They do sell some travel sort of devices that are meant to share a usb disk with clients wireless.

 

say something like

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HZWOQZ6/ref=psdc_300189_t3_B07PBG99P1

 

You might be able to share that via ethernet to your network?  But prob not going to be very speedy.. Cheapest option for speed would prob be new pi 4 model.

[jnelsoninjax]

1 hour ago, BudMan said:

Well if you don't want to use a computer to share it to the network.  And you no longer have the old router that worked with it.. You could look for cheap router that supports the "nas" feature.. But per their site, they state that they make no promises of it working with such a device.

 

I would go the pi route if really want to be able to put it on the network and support multiple options to access the files on it.. It can be done on the "cheap" depending on what you have on and hand and skill set.   They do sell some travel sort of devices that are meant to share a usb disk with clients wireless.

 

say something like

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HZWOQZ6/ref=psdc_300189_t3_B07PBG99P1

 

You might be able to share that via ethernet to your network?  But prob not going to be very speedy.. Cheapest option for speed would prob be new pi 4 model.

So in your opinion, what would be the better method? A USB to Ethernet adapter ~$10, the travel router you showed ~$22, or the pi route?

[The Dark Knight]

As BudMan says, your best bet would be to connect it to a RPi 4. The new v4 boards don't share the USB and Ethernet bus, so you get full gig on them. To make things easier to setup and manage, run OpenMediaVault on the Pi. Gives you a nice GUI for running it as a NAS. Sure, the file shares can be done with plain old Raspbian Lite, but this is easier. Bonus - if you get the 4GB Pi 4, you can run quite a few Docker containers as well from within OpenMediaVault! 😎

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

22 minutes ago, jnelsoninjax said:

So in your opinion, what would be the better method? A USB to Ethernet adapter ~$10, the travel router you showed ~$22, or the pi route?

basically, BudMan is saying, what is best for you. All of them do about the same workload.

 

(don't start acting like that one hdd kid...)

[+BudMan MVC]

1 hour ago, jnelsoninjax said:

A USB to Ethernet adapter ~$10, the travel router you showed ~$22, or the pi route?

I don't think the usb to ethernet adapter route will work to be honest.. You might be able to get some travel router to work as a nas for your usb device... Might be worth the $22 test - but not sure what kind of speeds you would be able to get out of the thing.  And not "sure" that they can work the nas feature to the ethernet port?  I don't have one to play with.

 

Or just buy the same router you were using before that allowed you to share it out - what model exactly was that.. If older tech/model they can normally be had for cheap.. And then you could just use it as your nas vs wifi and router..

 

As mentioned the new pi 4 ethernet speed and overall horsepower has been drastically increased and very confident would work with min effort, and give you vast amount of "nas" features with min cost..  And be able to leverage your fireproof disk enclosure you have.

 

The zero cost option is just to connect it to a pc you have and share it out with whatever network sharing protocols your OS supports, be it as mentioned smb, nfs, or afs, etc..

[PGHammer]

On 7/6/2019 at 2:08 PM, BudMan said:

I don't think the usb to ethernet adapter route will work to be honest.. You might be able to get some travel router to work as a nas for your usb device... Might be worth the $22 test - but not sure what kind of speeds you would be able to get out of the thing.  And not "sure" that they can work the nas feature to the ethernet port?  I don't have one to play with.

 

Or just buy the same router you were using before that allowed you to share it out - what model exactly was that.. If older tech/model they can normally be had for cheap.. And then you could just use it as your nas vs wifi and router..

 

As mentioned the new pi 4 ethernet speed and overall horsepower has been drastically increased and very confident would work with min effort, and give you vast amount of "nas" features with min cost..  And be able to leverage your fireproof disk enclosure you have.

 

The zero cost option is just to connect it to a pc you have and share it out with whatever network sharing protocols your OS supports, be it as mentioned smb, nfs, or afs, etc..

The no-cost option is indeed using an existing PC to share it out (this was, in fact, my old option until I got a router that is capable of doing it (which is any router that supports USB devices, pretty much; examples include all Netgear routers that have USB ports)).  I'm in the immediate process of sharing my printer out via USB - using the port on the router.

[Grey Ghost]

Set up a shared folder that the other PC's connect to