BruceHartman.net

I’ve been meaning to post about my experience with my NAS for sometime now, but things have just gotten past me. Now that I have a second I figured it be good to update you guys on how the NAS has been performing now that it’s been running for a few weeks.

I had the machine put together, plugged in, and on its way to configured in about fifteen minutes once I opened the boxes. It’s a neat little system that goes together very smoothly.

At first it seemed a little loud, but the fans quickly calmed down. The drives are a bit noisy, even through the server enclosure, but it’s not bothersome enough to really complain about. The Infrant configuration wizard is pretty sharp. After about a dozen or so screens, the system is configured and ready to go except for the RAID syncing process that takes quite a bit of time. At this point, the unit is functional, but not yet redundant.

Once everything is chugging along, the shares appear just like any other shares on your network. You use the web interface to add shares and change configurations. Firmware upgrades are so simple it’s hardly worth mentioning. I’m currently not using any of the FTP or streaming server features, so I can’t really comment on them.

I am, however, processing my RAW camera files directly from the NAS over my 100MB network without any hassle at all. Granted, I’m just tweaking exposure or color balance and then generating JPGs, so it’s not like I’m doing major editing or anything. But it’s nice not to have to stage everything and then move it later. As soon as I get home form a shoot, I move everything from the CF cards direct to the NAS in one step, and then I go to work on processing.

Dave has mentioned that his friend Adam (the guy who turned him on to this product) is using his NAS in a 1000MB network and is able to edit files of all kinds direct form the NAS as though it was an attached disk. So, for those interested, upgrade your network hardware and you should be set. Whenever I get around to it, I’ll probably put a new router in to to speed things up too.

Overall, I’m very please with the machine. It does exactly what it’s supposed to, and the peace of mind it provides me is immense. I like it so much that two days ago I ordered another 1TB setup for the office to act as backup storage.

I just have to say that RecordedBooks.com is one of the best companies that I’ve ever done business with. I’ve been getting CD’s from them since September of last year through their Netflix-like rental program. You set up a queue and they send you four books at a time. The CD selection could be a little bit deeper, but I’ve always been able to find something to listen to without too much hassle.

On one occasion I had to contact them by email because it appeared a selection had been lost in the mail on its way to me. They responded to my inquiry very quickly, taking care of the situation by sending out a second copy of the disk set right away without any questions.

Today is another example of their fine customer service. Apparently I had let my queue run a little short and the last two books on said-queue are backordered at the moment. A few minutes ago a nice woman called on the phone to let me know what was up and that I should add some more books to my list.

See… that’s just plain nice.

Lessie and a few others will be happy to know that I’ve exceeded my promise to have pictures uploaded by Thursday. As I write, part one of what will likely be a four stage upload is in process. The current batch is the Strip photos from Friday.

I’ve processed the photos from the drive to Grand Canyon, the first session on the Rim, and the sunset pictures. I still have to make my way through the sunrise and scenic drive photos. I’ll probably make another stab at those tomorrow after work.

All in all, the break from looking at the photos while I was sick was a good thing. I’m really pleased with the photos from the Venetian on Friday, and there are many more keepers in the Grand Canyon photos than I expected. I know a lot of my stuff is lacking in technical proficiency, but I think for being completely self taught I do a fair job.

Next week I’m going to pick out a dozen or so Grand Canyon shots and get big prints made.

By the way, I’m feeling much better today. The sinus congestion is almost gone and the cough isn’t nearly as persistent.