<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">The usb gigabit adapters are just USB-2. Not USB-3. They are old, and probably not of any relevance to your situation as Adam and Chris clearly articulated. But you’re welcome to have them if it is of any use. <br><div><br><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Jan 24, 2023, at 07:13, Hartmut W Sager <hwsager@marityme.net> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><title></title><div><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;">Now my detailed response.</span><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"> I initially asked:<br></span></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="x_font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;">Can someone here recommend some specific USB3 to Ethernet hardware adapters, to make a reliable NAS drive. I want this architecture because the
external USB3 drive will frequently need to be disconnected from NAS usage and connected locally to another computer via USB (for certain data updates).</span></span><br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">When I initially received several "interesting" responses, I already realized I had better consult with Bill Reid before I stick my foot any further into my mouth. :) Thank you, <b>Bill</b>, for the detailed phone discussion we had on Monday evening.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">When I referred to "<span class="x_font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;">USB3 to Ethernet hardware adapters", I completely forgot that this could so easily refer to those USB adapters that simply provide an <span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;">Ethernet port (or an additional <span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;">Ethernet port) where needed on a computer/laptop/whatever. <b>Adam</b>, I'm sure you at least, and maybe others, got confused by this. (I love your "orthogonal" comment, though I never did mention a NIC in my query.)</span></span></span></span></span><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><b>No, I meant</b> an intelligent device/box/adapter that would have some NAS server logic in it. <b>Chris Audet</b>, you got me 100% right.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><b>Applicable tagline:</b> I know what I meant to say; I said this instead. :)</span><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Adam> Also, I'm afraid I have to point out that "USB to Ethernet adapter" and "reliable" don't belong in the same sentence to begin with.<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">LOL. Good one! And I agree.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Vijay> I have some USB-2 Gigabit Ethernet adapters you can try if you like. I found it to be quite reliable for the following use cases — I used two of them on a ThinkPad as a firewall (Shaw gigabit and MTS). It worked quite well to create an HA VPN. I also have used it to test virtual Ethernet performance (vether on OpenBSD).<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you, <b>Vijay</b>. I'll keep these in mind, though they are USB2 (or did you mean USB3 <b>to</b> Gigabit Ethernet?).<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Chris Audet> I'm going to make the following assumptions:<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">* You're trying to do this using a USB portable hard drive like these<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">* You want to use the USB hard drive as a NAS most of the time<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">* You want the flexibility to connect the hard drive directly to a computer sometimes<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">* Your USB portable drive isn't using USB-C<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Chris</b>, you nailed it 100% on all 4 assumptions!<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Chris Audet> Some recommended solutions:</div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">* Many home wifi routers include a USB port which can be used to make USB storage available on the network. For example, Mikrotik hEX. If your router has this feature, this would be a quick solution<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Both I and the person (Lynn) that I'm doing this for have the <b>Shaw Hitron CGNM-2250</b> cable modem/router combo, and, upon me looking closely several months ago, it does have two such USB ports (blue inserts, so maybe even USB3). However, even a <b>cusadmin login</b> into the modem has nothing in the menus for these ports. Web research did reveal that those ports can accept NAS, but configuring requires a secret URL into that part of the Hitron, and there are a few digits in the URL that vary across these modems, depending on carrier (Shaw), firmware version, etc, and the phase of the moon.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">I'd rather not pursue this possibility (even if it's USB3), in case the modem ever fails and Shaw can't give the same model anymore. They already don't like issuing this model, preferring their new consumer "Mars lander" contraption.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">> * If you have an existing home server or PC that's always powered on, plugging in your USB drive and configuring the drive to be shared over the network might be OK as well<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">I had considered, and still am considering, that solution. My computers are always on, but Lynn's computer is not (so far). This does remain an attractive solution though.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">> * If you don't have existing hardware that can be used, then you could consider buying a single board computer or refurb PC to convert it into a NAS or use an off the shelf NAS unit<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">An SBC is attractive, except that the learning curve doesn't work for me at this time. A refurb PC is too bulky for me and Lynn (we both have very small residential premises). Off-the-shelf NAS doesn't (?) give USB access, and we already put good money into this high-end external USB3 unit. It's a Seagate high-MTBF 3.5-inch 8TB drive in a 5.25-inch case (with AC power adapter of course).<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">> Cursed solution:<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">LOL!<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Trevor> It cannot be done. There has to be a "smart" device, ..... Ah, Chris found .....<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks <b>Trevor</b>, for your very detailed reply. You too got fooled by my poor terminology in my very first sentence. And in any case, even after "Chris found", USB2 is a deal-breaker.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Trevor> I will warn that external USB HDDs are (usually) the worst quality garbage drives the companies can produce. Especially Seagate. They often explicitly state FOR BRIEF USE ONLY, i.e. not always-on in a NAS. They aren't lying. The motors/bearings are designed to fail after a tiny number of hours. WD might be slightly better.<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Oh I know, and I totally agree. I often give this "junk HDD" lecture to others. And WD is no better - those two companies must have used RAID to synchronize their junk in real time.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Adam> ..... the use of snapshots or daily/hourly backups, in either case stored on a second non-mobile drive.<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">It's a thought, but nah, see further down. This isn't really a snapshots/backups scenario.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Adam> I hadn't thought of the drive quality and fragility issue, but I can confirm Trevor's right. And even if you buy the best HDD money can buy and are using (e.g.) a USB-SATA adapter with it, all that moving around WILL reduce the drive's lifespan.</div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Adam</b>, agreed - see my comment to Trevor above. But, we do have a high-end drive, and the movement won't be all too frequent, and will be done with care in small premises (i.e., not big movements). And depending on exact location details, we might even be able to just plug/unplug and move the USB3-type-A connect at the other end.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">(Ironic aside: No 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch HDD (of the high-MTBF kind) in daily use has ever failed me over the decades, while <b>every</b> 2.5-inch HDD I've ever had in daily use has failed me.)</div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Adam> Hartmut, can you elaborate on why you think you need to connect this drive to a PC directly, in the first place? There may be a better solution for your problem.<br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Adam</b>, I'll give an initial answer here now, but this might be fruitful to expand on in further forum posts in this thread.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">This 8TB drive shall contain Lynn's life collection of photos, music, and a few other things, adding up to about 5TB at this time, which seems to rule out reasonably-priced cloud storage and access (like the Dropbox I subscribe to). The music and photos need to be accessible to her wireless Android devices (plural) and her computer, at least while she is at home, and the access from her wireless Android devices would also be desirable while out-and-about.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">The whole collection is still in need of much re-organizing, which needs to be done on an ongoing basis, as time permits, from her desktop computer, and once in a while even at my place from my computers (we currently live in the same building). The re-organizing consists of identifying and deleting duplicates across the whole directory tree, and also lots of grafting, pruning, merging, splitting, and renaming of folders.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Whew! I hope that sums it up.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">Again, in true MUUG tradition, I appreciate all the thoughtful input I've received.<br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;">Hartmut</span><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;">On Mon 23 Jan 2023 at 23:14:19 -06:00, Hartmut W Sager <<a href="mailto:hwsager@marityme.net">hwsager@marityme.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote type="cite" id="qt" style=""><div><span class="qt-font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;">> Hartmut, can you elaborate on why you think you need to connect this drive to a PC directly, in the first place? There may be a better solution for your problem.</span></span><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="qt-font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"></span></span><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="qt-font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;">Thank you to all the folks here who responded. I hope to produce a detailed reply during the coming night, so please be patient, and "hold your further fire". :) As some of you know, my neurology limits how quickly and how thoroughly I can respond.</span></span><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="qt-font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"></span></span><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="qt-font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;"><span class="font" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif, sans-serif;">Hartmut</span></span><br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;"><br></div><span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>Roundtable mailing list</span><br><span>Roundtable@muug.ca</span><br><span>https://muug.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable</span><br></div></blockquote></div></body></html>