external h/drive on router?

[mad]

Morning all
Is it possible to connect a external hard drive to a router and then access it from the pc/lappy?
At the moment I store all my music on my pc which is upstairs in the bedroom and i have set up the network so i can access my music files on my pc from my lappy. The problem with this is i have to leave the pc on all the time to get access over the network! Therefore I am thinking of getting an external hard drive to store my files on but i dont want to have to connect it and disconnect every time i visit either computer.
On my berklin router i have 1x usb input and 4x e/net inputs which are all free as both pc and lappy are on wifi

Any ideas if this is possible and if not are there any other option?
cheers
mad

 

[hatab]

yes somebody post about this a little while ago, u can get an external box for a hdd that has a network card in that connects direct to your network.

couldnt find thread but have a look here, these are by no means the only manafactures but to set u off

h**p://www.lacie.com/products/range.htm?id=10007

 

[mad]

cheer hatab
with that link i was able to decide what to search for
I have now found a couple of options the best of which i can see is HERE

Just a quicky what differrence would i see between a hard drive with speed 4600rpm and 7200rpm is it much? also cache difference between 2mb and 8mb I am generally good with computers but trying to rate a hard drive is not my speacialised area lol
cheers
mad

 

[hatab]

yes u will see a difference with a bigger cache and higher spin speed

7200 will give faster access time and the larger cache will increase the number of times u can hit cache rather than have to read from disk.

go for faster and bigger untill your wallet groans

 

[mad]

yes u will see a difference with a bigger cache and higher spin speed

7200 will give faster access time and the larger cache will increase the number of times u can hit cache rather than have to read from disk.

go for faster and bigger untill your wallet groans

lol My wallet groans and my missus moans

Cheers mate your a star it is all clear now

regards
mad

 

[osborne82]

does anyone know if it would be possible to mount a cifs drive on the external lan drive? ive tried but to no avail

cheers for any advice



osborne82

 

[totalgenius]

Hello Mate

You could either buy NAS ( Network Attached Storage) for connecting it directly to your router, or you could buy a wireless storage router which are quite cheap.

These routers have USB port in them for connecting usb flash drives and or usb hdd's.

You could buy from either DLINK or NETGEAR.

Cheers.

 

[revans3]

Watch out for USB 1 connections on the routers that allow attaching USB HDs. I got one and it takes about a week to copy anything to or from it. Streams avis ok though.

 

[Macr0]

you can also get nas storage enclosures, to use with any ide drive (internal)

for instance
http://www.datakits.co.uk/store/product_info.php/products_id/883

 

[traga]

Similarly, do a search for a Ximeta Netdisk and / or Smartdisk Netdisk. I like to think of it as a baby NAS system that is essentially a small external hdd that can also be hooked up via ethernet straight into your router etc.