NAS

Disclaimer: If computers, electronics, and digital media do not interest you, skip this post.

About once a year, my box 'o computer parts accumulates to the point that I am able to build a frankenstein out of the pieces I have laying around. I've seen these Network-attached storage (NAS) units advertised and the idea of owning one really appealed to me. For those not familiar with geek language, a NAS makes it possible to share a printer or access all of one's files, all the time, from any computer on the network. I will give a practical example. In my house, I have a desktop, a laptop, and an Xbox with the ability to stream media. I have a modest music collection, but I don't want to have to copy the collection to all three of my devices. I could just park the files on my desktop and share them with the other machines, but then I would have to flip my desktop on everytime I wanted to access the files. The solution? A NAS.

Now, it would have been easy for me to just go out and buy one like this, but it's so much more fun to build one, after all I already had all the parts with the exception of a case. So I bought the smallest case I could find (not too much bigger than a Wii) and I went to work. In addition to the 400GB hard drive, I needed another small drive to run the operating system. For the OS, I decided to go with FreeNAS, because its light (think 32MB) and stable. Stability was important because I wanted to leave it running 24/7. I figured it would be a waste to use a full-size hard drive for such a small installation, so I bought this IDE-to-Compact Flash adapter to serve my purposes. This would allow me to run the entire operating system off a compact flash drive (the same drives you would find in an SLR camera.)

So remember that small case I bought? Well it was a little too small. With the adapter in the IDE slot and the compact flash card in the adapter, the case lid simply wouldn't fit. I stewed for a awhile cursing myself for not measuring more carefully before placing my order. Too stubborn to return the computer case for a larger one, I decided to get out my dremel and make it fit. I planned to cut just a tiny coin slot just large enough for the card to fit through. I thought about measuring it, but I feared it wouldn't be precise enough. Instead, I grabbed some Wite~Out (the old skool kind with the brush) and painted the top of the CF card. I then placed the lid over the case, where it would normally sit if the card wasn't preventing it from closing, and observed where the paint marked it. I then went to work cutting. After sanding the jagged edges and making some adjustments, my coin slot was the perfect size. It could not have gone better. My NAS now resides atop my shelf, serving media as hard as its little CPU can muster.