How to share external firewire drive array over network

[mattbiel]

I have a Macbook Pro in my home office connected via firewire to an external storage drive array that has 4 drives with 6TB total storage. I want to be able to access the contents of these drives when I'm in my garage studio which has ethernet cable pulled to it.

I thought of buying a Mac Mini and putting it in my office, connecting it to the storage firewire, then sharing the drives on the local network so my macbook pro could access them.

I could also potentially get a new network-capable exteral storage device and replace my existing one?

Is there another way to accomplish what I'm try to do? What is the best/most affordable way?

Thank you!

 

[hobowankenobi]

If you want files always available, to any device on the network, I would look at a NAS (Network Attached Storage). A NAS is simply a dedicated file server. Cheaper and more rugged than a traditional file server...which is a full computer plus storage.

There are quite a few NAS options, but for a simple setup, you want low cost, reliable, and user friendly. Something like a Synology NAS would be a good choice. The low end is a simple box that you put a single hard drive in. You can buy 2 or more bay machines. A NAS can be any installed place on the network, like right next to your router.

Be warned, a NAS can do a lot of things. Does not mean you need do those other things; you can simply use the file sharing, and keep it simple.

You can also (with enough space) use it as a Time Machine backup destination for all your Macs, and back up PCs too...if you have any.

You can also (relatively easily) make your files available to you from anywhere on the internet.

The preferred method would be to put drive(s) in the NAS, and move your data there, and then also backup to a second drive. But it possible to plug in an external drive (like what you have now) and share that over the network. I would move the files to the NAS, and then maybe re-task an external drive as a backup destination.

6TB is doable on a single HD these days, but you need at least one backup, no matter what. 2 is better.

There are other brands that are well regarded like Qnap too. Be sure you consider a vendor like Synology or Qnap that plays nice with Macs and Time Machine.

 

[hobowankenobi]

Another way to share, that will be fairly cost-effective, would be to consider a router that lets you plug in and share a drive, forgoing the NAS.

Again there are options, but the last one I have used and was impressed with was the Synology Router. Great interface, lots of options (again, nobody should feel compelled to use them all), and a solid router.

Plus, the ability to plug in an external USB drive and share those files over the network. Easy to use interface, easy as it gets to set up sharing. Unless you have a shiny new router that you don't want to part with, you can effectively upgrade your network with a new router, and get the NAS function for free.

In your case, you would want a USB3 external drive large enough for all your files, plus some room to grow, plus some overhead. So you would consolidate all your data on a 8+ TB drive, and connect and share it. Don't forget you will still need a backup too, no matter what.

There are other routers that have similar features, but (likely because they are a NAS company) the sharing feature works well and is easy to set up on the Synology router. Maybe others can talk about similar features on other brands.