NASLite Network Attached Storage

Is there any way that someone from this forum can be so kind to email me with an attachment of the "NASLite" floppy-disk image so that I can burn the image to the starrt-up floppy and bypass the creation process from Linux?

Please understand that I am not asking this out of laziness, I am just an ignorant when it comes to Linux. As a matter of fact I am not an IT professional by any means. I am the business manager of a small local SuperMarket chain and I double as the IT person due to the lack of resources.

I am interested to try the NASLite because I can then upgrade to "higher" versions as NASLite+, etc. I want to store full disk back-up images (made with Acronis TrueImage) from 5 different stores, a total of approx. 25-30 machines and NASLite+ seems like an ideal solution.

Actually, is there a way to contact the software owner pay for the software and have the floppy image of NASLite+ emailed to me. I am, again, afraid that delving into Linux is something I am not up to.

Also, I understand that >4GB file size handling is NOT and issue for the paid versions of NASLite, I would like this officially confirmed please since most of my bakups are as big as 20 GB. Finally, I read somehere that security is an issue when using NASLite and that any user on the network can browse and have full access (read, write, delete) to the NASLite files. Since our Network is protected (!?) by a VPN, I believe, without being 100% sure, that my NASLite stored files will be protected by external attacks, to the extend that we have employed a sound security strategy. But, it is the internal users, with full priviledges, that I am concerned about. It appears as with NASLite in place these valuable backups will be at the mercy of anyone's intentional or unintentional actions.

Thank you very much in advance for your time and help and sorry for the long message!

PsfM NetAdmin,

Really your best option is to create the floppy in linux, I used knoppix its a live cd, when it booted I loaded the broweser downloaded the floppy image smb version then typed in a few commands, posted on this website in the floppy section and was done and dusted in a few mins.

Are you aware there is a floppy disk creator? this is downloadable for a fee and has all the floppy versions you might need, ftp, smb, smbg, nfs etc. it comes on a CD you boot it then select the floppy you want.
and is easy to use.

But I think you would be better off purchasing the CD or USB version as this will not limit you like the floppy version. the 4GB limit has been lifted although I dont know the max limit.

naslite was designed as a open server and any local user can read write to the server.

eden

Thanks very much for the swift response!

I will follow your advice and -I guess- can't hurt to start exploring Linux at last. I have heard about knoppix and I will try it.

Regarding the security issue, I do realize, NASLite was designed as an open server. What I have not explained clearly -and my apologies for not been forthcoming- is if there is a workaround. Simply put, implementing a NASLite+ server sounds exiting, fun, affordable and very interesting. But I would lose my sleep if I knew that my precious backups were totally or even partially wiped out due to an ignorant or (at worse) disgruntled company employee. So, since I am not a network expert, is there a way to work around this security issue? Ideally, is there a way to route access to the NAS server via another device (workstation, router, firewall - I'm just guessing here!) creating a gateway and thus enabling some sort of much needed for my needs security?

Thank you very very much again!

NASLite is only visible to machines on the LOCAL network. It doesn't support a gateway in version 1, which means it doesn't know to use your VPN router to connect with other sites. The other stores shouldn't be able to see the NASLite machine, so they won't be able to read/write/delete anything.

On the other hand, any computer at your local store that's on the same local network as the NASLite box will be able to see the NASLite machine. I would guess you only have a handful of computers at your local store. Only people authorized to use those computers could do anything to the NASLite box.

You didn't mention which operating system you're using, so I'll guess it's some verison of Windows. If you only configure one computer with a mapped network drive access, the people using the other computers wouldn't have your NASLite drive show up unless they normally use the "view workgroup computers" command.

For backups, you would have to get the files from your remote stores onto a local computer, and then move the file from the local computer to the NASLite storage. If you're on a 10Mbit ethernet network it could take a while to back up 20GB. The free floppy version doesn't do DMA so transfers are about 200kB/sec versus 9-10MB/sec with the CD versions.

If you're just trying to get a floppy already made, there is a guy selling pre-made NASLite floppy disks on E-bay. Or as was previously mentioned, you can buy the CD that has a program to make the floppy.

If you just need to make a backup copy of your backups you might look into external USB or firewire disks. You could physically disconnect them and turn them off except when you want to update files. The downside is they are much easier to "borrow" from the store unless you have some way of securing them.

WOW! This is so much info at once but I am so grateful!!!

My network is a mix of Win 2000 Professional and WinXP (Home/Pro) for workstations and Win 2000 Server for the servers. It supports 10/100/1000 Mbit transfers and even though my switches/NICs are all Gigabit it looks like the the Internet dependent VPN is the bottleneck (we have a commercial T1 to/from each store).

Each location is configured (via the corresponding VPN router) to allow file sharing among all users on the network. In other words, and I hope I am saying this right, all 5 locations behave as a "local" network, so I think I will be able to, say, schedule Acronis TruImage to make a backup and store it, over the network, to the NAS server. This is what I am doing right now, only I use a standard windows machine with three 250 GB HDs as storage. Of course if I want to log-in from an IP outside the VPN network remotely, say, from home with my DSL connection, I do have to use a "Cisco VPN Client" program first.

As far as the security issue, I totally agree with your suggestion. If we have a solid security policy, already in place, then accessing the NAS server can only be done by authorised machines.

I will have to play with some settings and will post back accordingly.

I would like to repeat how grateful I am to all of you for your input so far.

Sincerely,

DgP.-

You wrote:


If there is a router it means you have seperate "local" networks. Windows knows how to use the routers to communicate with your other sites. In the Windows IP configuration you specify a default gateway, which is usually your router. This allows Windows to have shared drives on remote networks.

NASLite 1.x does not support routing. So your other sites should not be able to see the NASLite box, only the site that the NASLite box is in should be able to see it. This was done for security reasons similar to the reasons you have, and to simplify the code

If you put in another router at your store and created a new network with just one Windows PC and one NASLite box on it, then only the one Windows PC would be able to see the NASLite box. The Windows PC would still be visible to the rest of your network, but the NASLite box wouldn't be. This would be the most secure since only people authorized to use the "special" PC could even see the NASLite box.

If you are really paranoid you could map the NASLite as a shared drive only when you are doing backups and disconnect the share at all other times.

You are absolutely right, this is exactly how this network works. As you can see I am not an expert at all, with a few questions and a couple of posts, you kind of know our setup better than I do. Anyway, thanks again for the reply and the tips. I will have to spend some time to set this up, tweak it and test it. You are also right about being me paranoid, unfortunately it is a fact that most users in this network cannot be ...trusted. Think about this, if I am the person handling IT in this business and I wholeheartedly admit that I am (to put it mildly) a novice, imagine what qall the others are capable for ...

Most obliged and will post with details soon!

Thank you,

DgP.-

Perhaps if you are using a Windows 2000 Server you could use a combination of Distributed File system (DFS) and Active Directoy to make shares to the NASLITE box. My recollection of DFS is rather hazy, however I think the permissions can be made fairly granular. This allows your Windows shares to be managed through the Windows 2000 Server, whist usingthe NASLITE for it's core purpose of dumping lots and lots of files...

For further paranoia(TM) network security you could ru na link directly between the W2K server and the NASLITE box, therefore bypassing the Hub.

My 2c Worth.

T.