utilizing Static IPs from ISP

[Swimmer]

yeah try this.. start-> run -> cmd press enter _> type netstat press enter.. this will show what is running on that current computer.  You might want to scan the computer for adware..

[fergy623]

thanks as I have checked for adware and netstat answered my question

the problem is I bought a dlink router and when I went to read up on the hardware on the web the web page offered a network program that would serve as a saviour to all network problems, called Network Magic. Its right there on the dlink support page.

So I downloaded it and installed but the program itself runs constantly using bandwidth to send and receive files within my own network. I beleive this is a bug! and I sent them a email about it, just waiting for a reply. Have you ever tried or heard of network magic?

or xnetstat? I have used this one before to see whats onlne with the advantage of other tools like whois.

[Swimmer]

yeah i have heard of network magic.. I have no idea how it works.. but I would imagine that it does send some info back and forth to make sure that the connection is still active.  They are basically a third party version of what MS offers.. I personally dont have any problem with my network.  I run a linux server to host files and user storage.  For bandwidth monitoring I have a smoothwall firewall that allow me to monitor traffic inbound/outbound and provides Intrusion Detection and a really good hardware firewall.  You can see what I have here : http://www.testmy.net/forum/t-12800

If you are looking into sharing files.. I would highly recommend setting up an old computer as a file server.  You can create a global share so that all of your computer could have access to the same space and it would be like adding another hard drive.  Basically a huge USB flash drive for your entire network.  There are product out there that provide NAS, Network Attached Storage, for under $1000.. but you can do everything for much cheaper.  For about $300 you could get a new dell box and use that.  You might run into the computer not being able to connect to the remote drive.. but a reboot or 15min, the time it takes for MS to detect boxes and shares on a network, and you should be back in business.  This would also take care of any extra traffic that is being generate by network magic.

Here is a pic of my file server.. :

[richcornucopia]

Swimmer how much did you pay for the 330? Did you get it from ebay?

[Swimmer]

I got it for about 65 yes on ebay.. the price has gone up a lot since then.. There was one on there with out a hard drive for 59 last week.. Keep your eyes open..

[just-]

For about $300 you could get a new dell box and use that.

for about 300 or 400 bucks you can buy a chasi just like if it was a dell pc

then on top of that you need to buy the HD

you can buy a nas with 2 Bay slot for 100+ bucks

and a 4 bay Nas for about 300+ Bucks

let me know if u want some more info

i am really into Small Home NAS at the moment so just give me a shout and i can give u some brands and stuff

[richcornucopia]

What would be my best bet for some nas on my network? I've looked at some of the ones on newegg that hold like 2 hardrives and have 10/100 lan ports but they all seem pretty slow from the reviews. From your experience with these products are they slower than have the drive shared on a computer wired to the network? I have an athlon xp 2400 motherboard and hardrive laying around but I would just have to buy some ram for it. Will I get better speeds with an actual computer vs. the network storage box?

[Swimmer]

http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2006/03/03/infrant_readynas_nv/index.html

take a look at that..

I personally like using a computer for this type of setup.. so that if you want to run other programs you can still do that.  With a NAS box.. storage is all that you get.

[just-]

good pick Swimmer

you know the good shit hehehe

that is one of the best one in my opinion out there

but thats not the cheapest and its 4 bay not 2 bay

richcornucopia a PC would be a tiny bit faster then a NAS device IF and this is a BIG IF, you set up linux and optimize for storage.

all this NAS devices have inside them is a pc inside them but that pc is tailored made for handling storage / network traffic. so they will be a small power suppy with a litle mother board with a built in cpu like 200mhz or somethhing and 128MB of ram, just like a cheap PC. then they will put a webserver on it with a nice interface so you can control and manage or storage device.

you can achieve all this with a pc, but don't forget that they will be using 100% of the time for a small home NAS a linux version that is very light to run and it will be all optimized for storage / network transfers. so unless you are damn good at linux and want to spend time researching in how to modify a linux version to best fit your network at home.

for maybe 98% of the population they would be better off getting a NAS then buying a cheap pc and putting hard disk on it, since the linux version that comes with the nas will have been tailored and tested by people who know a lot more then what u do.

this is my opinion i would buy a ready NAS

i was given a PC - P4 3G 512MN of ram and a 40G sata

i bought a raid controlloer and another 40G and i have windows running on it.

i use it to remote desktop into it for some storage and to download torrentz over night, to run folding @ home. but i dont achieve the same performace in that machine that i would if i had a tailoed NAS

as Swimmer said, a NAS will only do Storage and thats it

i am thinking of buying a NAS now, because a pc with so many things running is not ideal to store information, you never know what can happen to it specially with WINDOWS on it.

swimmer

i have been looking seriously at that infrant one without HD

and i also have been looking at getting the intel one

yeah intel has a 4 bay home nas, trying to get it with a discount if i can if not i dont know which i will go for

a cheap one in the market is the net gear one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833122073

99bucks

3 out of 5 rating just SO and SO nothing special

[Swimmer]

i have been looking seriously at that infrant one without HD

and i also have been looking at getting the intel one

yeah intel has a 4 bay home nas, trying to get it with a discount if i can if not i dont know which i will go for

a cheap one in the market is the net gear one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833122073

99bucks

3 out of 5 rating just SO and SO nothing special

Here is the review for the Netgear.. http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2005/10/11/review_sc101/

I personally wouldnt buy it from dlink, netgear, or linksys..  They are out to get you.. 

Here is another option that, if I didnt have a dedicated box, I would have looked into: http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2005/10/11/review_sc101/

The other thing that I was looking into was Toshiba's Magnia SG30..  Now it has mail, ftp, and web.. however, not all of them are accessable to the internet.. But it does routing, firewall, and storage..

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/network-devices/toshiba-magnia-sg30/toshiba_magnia_sg30.pdf#search='Toshiba%20Magnia%20SG30'

and it baby brother:

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/brochures/brochure_magniaSG20_Astaro.pdf#search='Toshiba%20Magnia'

It run a distro of linux.. so you could add smoothwall my guess would be.. but that has yet to be done.  Maybe that will be my next project