The AirLink 101 ANAS350 External Hard Drive Enclosure provides a cost-effective network attached storage solution (NAS).
It is specifically designed for small office and home office needs, providing a reliable and centralized data storage solution, with it you will be able to access your shared files from any desktop or laptop within your network.
The setup is easy, create a root folder or an individual folder and use the CD-ROM to create a drive letter for it on any computer needing access to the NAS.
It has a maximum of 20 user accounts, the various options are; a shared folder which can be accessed by anyone and private folders which can only be accessed by each user. You can specify the disk space for each folder; each user must have a username and password.
The Office NAS is a Samba server; Samba provides file and print services for various Microsoft Windows clients and can integrate with a Windows Server domain, either as a Primary Domain Controller (PDC) or as a domain member. It can also be part of an Active Directory domain.
A few more positives are:
1) It uses FAT32 for the hard drive so if something goes wrong, you can use a Windows recovery tools to retrieve your data.
2) There is more than one way to connect to it; it has a USB 2.0 port to directly connect to a computer for extra storage and an RJ45 jack to use as an NAS on the network.
3) It has built in Samba, FTP and DHCP.
4) It has a drive down setting. 0 means the drive is always on and you can set it to power down the drive when it’s not in use for a specific time period to save energy and extend the life of the hard drive.
5) It can media stream to client computers, so no wait time on downloads.
There are a couple negatives/limitations for example its only 10/100mbps (network speed) and there is no “Read Only” type protection from users deleting files that they have access too.
I bought the Office NAS by Airlink101 about two years ago, I know that seems like a long time to wait to write a review but I am writing the review now because recently a few people have asked me about an easy to use inexpensive storage solution and this is one of the solutions I use.
The Office NAS by Airlink101 has been a good stable product for me, I have a 500 Gig hard drive in it which is fine for my needs, if you are going to use it for media streaming I suggest getting a larger hard drive. I use it in a mixed environment of various Windows products and a Mac without any issues and it is very inexpensive, I believe I paid less then $200 for the complete set up plus an hour of my time. I can leave the Airlink NAS on 24/7 , I have the time to power down without activity set to 20 minutes; this saves on energy usage and extends the hard drive’s life. And It is mobile I have moved it from Chicago, to Shanghai and now to Hong Kong with out any issues.
Below is the link the Airlink website as well as the specs they list for the NAS.
http://www.airlink101.com/products/anas350.html
The technical specs:
Features/Specifications:
• AirLink 101 3.5-inch USB 2.0/RJ-45 Ethernet NAS External HDD Enclosure
• General Features:
• Advanced File Backup & Sharing for your Home or Small Business
• Network Attached Storage Solution
• Aluminum Housing for excellent heat dissipation
• Compatible with 3.5-inch IDE or SATA Hard Drive
• Supports up to a 1 TB Hard Drive (verified by in house test, requires firmware upgrade, see link below)
• Network file storage and sharing via My Network Places in Windows or Samba in Linux and Mac OS (v10.3 or later)
• USB 2.0 Hosts support up to two (2) USB 2.0 devices, including additional storage on USB flash drives
• Synchronizes backup files via USB 2.0 host
• 10/100 RJ-45 Fast Ethernet Connection
• Easy Setup for SMB / FTP Servers
• Advanced FTP Account Management
• Compliant with Windows backup utility
• Supports IP assignment for DHCP and Static IP
• Supports HDD sleeping mode for power saving
• File Type: FAT16/FAT32/EXT2/NTFS (read only)
• Standard Conformance: 10/100 Base-TX Auto MDI/MDI-X
• SDRAM: 32 MB
• Flash: 4 MB
• Power, LAN, HDD RW, HDD Status, USB1, USB2, Status/Backup LED indicators
• IDE Controller: Ultra DMA 133
• Backup, Shutdown, Reset buttons
• Humidity: Operating: 10~90% (non-condensing), Storage: 0~95% (non-condensing)
• Temperature: Operating: 0° ~ 40°C, Storage: -20° ~ 70°C
• RJ-45 Ethernet cable included
• Hardware included
• Lead-free
• I/O Ports:
• Two (2) USB 2.0 ports
• One (1) RJ-45 Ethernet jack
• One (1) On/Off button
• One (1) Power input
• Power Specifications:
• Enclosure Input: 12V / 4A
• Power Adapter Input: 100-240V~50/60Hz, 1.2A
• Power Adapter Output: 12V, 4A, 48W
• Dimensions:
• 2.04 x 5.9 x 8.5-inches (H x W x D, Approximate)
• Regulatory Approvals:
• CE
• FCC
• WEEE
• RoHS
Package Includes:
• AirLink 101 3.5-inch USB 2.0/RJ-45 Ethernet NAS External HDD Enclosure
• Quick Installation Guide
• Vertical Stand
• External AC power adapter
• Power cord
• Installation CD (Utility, User Manual, Quick Installation Guide, Adobe Acrobat Reader)
• 3-foot RJ-45 Ethernet cable
• Four (4) screws
• Four (4) rubber feet
Additional Information:
• Notes:
• Model: ANAS350
• Support for up to 1TB drives require firmware update
• UPC: 6 58729 08324 0
• *Mac v10.3 or later
• Product Requirements:
• Available power outlet
• Available RJ-45 port
• Available CD-ROM drive
• 3.5-inch IDE or SATA hard drive up to 1 TB
• PC Requirements:
• IBM compatible PC with 266 MHz or faster processor
• Microsoft Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP
• Mac Requirements:
• Mac OS 9.2 or later
• Power Macintosh G3 or later
Information Links:
• AirLink 101 Specifications
• User Manual (PDF)
Driver Links:
• Download Page:
It is specifically designed for small office and home office needs, providing a reliable and centralized data storage solution, with it you will be able to access your shared files from any desktop or laptop within your network.
The setup is easy, create a root folder or an individual folder and use the CD-ROM to create a drive letter for it on any computer needing access to the NAS.
It has a maximum of 20 user accounts, the various options are; a shared folder which can be accessed by anyone and private folders which can only be accessed by each user. You can specify the disk space for each folder; each user must have a username and password.
The Office NAS is a Samba server; Samba provides file and print services for various Microsoft Windows clients and can integrate with a Windows Server domain, either as a Primary Domain Controller (PDC) or as a domain member. It can also be part of an Active Directory domain.
A few more positives are:
1) It uses FAT32 for the hard drive so if something goes wrong, you can use a Windows recovery tools to retrieve your data.
2) There is more than one way to connect to it; it has a USB 2.0 port to directly connect to a computer for extra storage and an RJ45 jack to use as an NAS on the network.
3) It has built in Samba, FTP and DHCP.
4) It has a drive down setting. 0 means the drive is always on and you can set it to power down the drive when it’s not in use for a specific time period to save energy and extend the life of the hard drive.
5) It can media stream to client computers, so no wait time on downloads.
There are a couple negatives/limitations for example its only 10/100mbps (network speed) and there is no “Read Only” type protection from users deleting files that they have access too.
I bought the Office NAS by Airlink101 about two years ago, I know that seems like a long time to wait to write a review but I am writing the review now because recently a few people have asked me about an easy to use inexpensive storage solution and this is one of the solutions I use.
The Office NAS by Airlink101 has been a good stable product for me, I have a 500 Gig hard drive in it which is fine for my needs, if you are going to use it for media streaming I suggest getting a larger hard drive. I use it in a mixed environment of various Windows products and a Mac without any issues and it is very inexpensive, I believe I paid less then $200 for the complete set up plus an hour of my time. I can leave the Airlink NAS on 24/7 , I have the time to power down without activity set to 20 minutes; this saves on energy usage and extends the hard drive’s life. And It is mobile I have moved it from Chicago, to Shanghai and now to Hong Kong with out any issues.
Below is the link the Airlink website as well as the specs they list for the NAS.
http://www.airlink101.com/products/anas350.html
The technical specs:
Features/Specifications:
• AirLink 101 3.5-inch USB 2.0/RJ-45 Ethernet NAS External HDD Enclosure
• General Features:
• Advanced File Backup & Sharing for your Home or Small Business
• Network Attached Storage Solution
• Aluminum Housing for excellent heat dissipation
• Compatible with 3.5-inch IDE or SATA Hard Drive
• Supports up to a 1 TB Hard Drive (verified by in house test, requires firmware upgrade, see link below)
• Network file storage and sharing via My Network Places in Windows or Samba in Linux and Mac OS (v10.3 or later)
• USB 2.0 Hosts support up to two (2) USB 2.0 devices, including additional storage on USB flash drives
• Synchronizes backup files via USB 2.0 host
• 10/100 RJ-45 Fast Ethernet Connection
• Easy Setup for SMB / FTP Servers
• Advanced FTP Account Management
• Compliant with Windows backup utility
• Supports IP assignment for DHCP and Static IP
• Supports HDD sleeping mode for power saving
• File Type: FAT16/FAT32/EXT2/NTFS (read only)
• Standard Conformance: 10/100 Base-TX Auto MDI/MDI-X
• SDRAM: 32 MB
• Flash: 4 MB
• Power, LAN, HDD RW, HDD Status, USB1, USB2, Status/Backup LED indicators
• IDE Controller: Ultra DMA 133
• Backup, Shutdown, Reset buttons
• Humidity: Operating: 10~90% (non-condensing), Storage: 0~95% (non-condensing)
• Temperature: Operating: 0° ~ 40°C, Storage: -20° ~ 70°C
• RJ-45 Ethernet cable included
• Hardware included
• Lead-free
• I/O Ports:
• Two (2) USB 2.0 ports
• One (1) RJ-45 Ethernet jack
• One (1) On/Off button
• One (1) Power input
• Power Specifications:
• Enclosure Input: 12V / 4A
• Power Adapter Input: 100-240V~50/60Hz, 1.2A
• Power Adapter Output: 12V, 4A, 48W
• Dimensions:
• 2.04 x 5.9 x 8.5-inches (H x W x D, Approximate)
• Regulatory Approvals:
• CE
• FCC
• WEEE
• RoHS
Package Includes:
• AirLink 101 3.5-inch USB 2.0/RJ-45 Ethernet NAS External HDD Enclosure
• Quick Installation Guide
• Vertical Stand
• External AC power adapter
• Power cord
• Installation CD (Utility, User Manual, Quick Installation Guide, Adobe Acrobat Reader)
• 3-foot RJ-45 Ethernet cable
• Four (4) screws
• Four (4) rubber feet
Additional Information:
• Notes:
• Model: ANAS350
• Support for up to 1TB drives require firmware update
• UPC: 6 58729 08324 0
• *Mac v10.3 or later
• Product Requirements:
• Available power outlet
• Available RJ-45 port
• Available CD-ROM drive
• 3.5-inch IDE or SATA hard drive up to 1 TB
• PC Requirements:
• IBM compatible PC with 266 MHz or faster processor
• Microsoft Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP
• Mac Requirements:
• Mac OS 9.2 or later
• Power Macintosh G3 or later
Information Links:
• AirLink 101 Specifications
• User Manual (PDF)
Driver Links:
• Download Page:
8 comments:
Hi,
Read your article that makes justice to this little NAS sometimes undervalued. I have one like this almost 3 years old and still working and streaming media to a ATV2/XBMC. What about the 1tb disk?. The Airlink page states 750 tb is the max. I want to upgrade my 500gb disk but I am not sure the NAS will be happy about it!!.
Thanks and great review !!
Just some comments
1) The USB ports on this unit are USB HOST ports, therefore they act like the USB ports onb a computer and are NOT for connecting to a computer. Either in fact will also work as LPR/LPD print server using lpusb0 as a queue. You can also connect two USB disks, but not two printers.
I just installed a 1.5TB disk in my ANA2350, and had no issues with default ext2 partitioning. It is now about half full and still getting filled.
If 1TB will work, wow! I have two of these Airlink101 ANAS350, one with 400GB and another I got for $29.99 at Fry's two years ago still in the box. I also have two friends who bought their ANAS350 will 500GB per my recommendation.
My ANAS350 has run for 2 years or so. Airlink101 told me then that it would support 1TB SATA. I have only 160GB in it.
I've never been able to find any docs on the media server functions. Is it MMS? RTSP? port number, etc.
My ANAS350 has run for 2 years or so. Airlink101 told me then that it would support 1TB SATA. I have only 160GB in it.
I've never been able to find any docs on the media server functions. Is it MMS? RTSP? port number, etc.
This is a great little NAS unit. I have three of them, each with a 2T drive inside. I've had one unit since 2007. I've used them for multimedia storage and streaming, they work great!
On one unit, I have even attached another 2T USB drive, so that unit serves up to 4T of data. There are a couple of things to know, however, if you decide to try this yourself.
1.) Make sure you have the most current firmware revision. This is V4.00a7. This version officially added support for hard drives up to 500gig.
2.) NTSF kinda works... sorta - Drives attached to the USB ports will only be READ by the NAS. You cannot write data to this drive format. HOWEVER, if you want READ ONLY access to the files, then attach the USB drive to a Windows machine, put your data on it, then reattach it to the NAS. Users will get an error if they try to change, add or delete any data.
3.) FAT32 has limitations - If you use FAT32 for an external USB drive, then you are limited to storing files no larger than 4 gig. DVD ISOs will usually not be small enough to fall under that limitation.
4.) EXT2 FORMAT for USB is not built in - EXT2 formatting is the best solution, but you will need to locate a version of Linux you can boot from and format the USB drive with that. Then move the formatted EXT2 drive over to the NAS.
5.) The free space on the EXT2 formatted USB drive will not be reported correctly, but it still works fine. - For some reason, maybe because of the large size of the drive or maybe a bug in the firmware, the free space reported on the USB drive is ACTUALLY the free space available on the internal drive. This can be a little confusing but with a 2T drive on the USB it should take a little before you have to start worrying about how much space is left on that drive.
As long as you are aware of these minor problems and their workarounds, these units are great for basic streaming and file storage.
Also I would recommend choosing a slower (5400 rpm), cooler running drive for the internal drive. Since there is no internal fan, those fast, HOT drives will just heat things up unnecessarily leading to possible overheating and premature drive failure down the road.
Those slower and cooling running drives are still fast enough to handle the data streams running through a 10/100 network connection.
well, something has gone wrong! what windows recovery tools were meant to be used in such a case? when i connect the drive to the computer it shows in device manager and in administrative tools->disk management but it does not show in my computer.
thank you.
Hi! I've been reading your blog for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Kingwood Tx!
Just wanted to tell you keep up the great job!
Post a Comment