What about a simple fileserver

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I don't know if this has been mentioned before...



An large apple hard drive that can be used as the central repository of all your digial files with integration into ilife. Keep all of your photos there or all of your music etc.



Just a thought?
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 60
    rhumgodrhumgod Posts: 1,289member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by TednDi

    I don't know if this has been mentioned before...



    An large apple hard drive that can be used as the central repository of all your digial files with integration into ilife. Keep all of your photos there or all of your music etc.



    Just a thought?




    Not a very novel one either. Someone, please do something about this kind of rant.......



    You can share anything on a Mac already. Oh that's right, you don't have one. Get a clue!
  • Reply 2 of 60
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    *THWACK*



    Be nice, Rhumpuppy.



    No, it's not a new idea, it's more or less the idea behind the music and photo sharing in iLife to begin with.



    It's just not as transparently easy to set up as it should be, particularly for gathering pre-existing collections together into one place, be it machine for multiple users, or one collection for everyone.
  • Reply 3 of 60
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    I guess it's National Kick the Newbies in the Balls day?
  • Reply 4 of 60
  • Reply 5 of 60
    beigeuserbeigeuser Posts: 371member
    It's been done before (At least in Japan). Sharp has a device which connects to your TV and broadband internet. It is a DVR/Wifi base station/Jukebox/Video player/Fileserver/E-mail Server/Webserver. It even allows you to connect to it remotely through the internet to record TV shows and it will stream recorded shows to your laptop when you are away from the house.



    For the U.S., I think TIVO has most of these functions.



    I was waiting for Apple to make something like that. But it turns out that Apple felt that an inexpensive and simple device like the Airport Express is the way to go.
  • Reply 6 of 60
    nebagakidnebagakid Posts: 2,692member
    What, the iBox was it called around New Years?



    Well, it would be great. A Central File Server for the growing digital home. TiVO Capabilities, get your iTunes, iPhotos, and download movies from the QuickTime Movie Store. Easy to connect to and administer.





    well, you can build one now, but not by Apple.
  • Reply 7 of 60
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    Newbie can defend himself thanks,



    My idea not novel yes, Apple provided no.



    Yes, as I type this I am using a PC as I am at my place of business .

    My personal powerbook G4 17" 1.5ghz sitting next to me peacefully sleeping.



    I post this idea however, because I would like a product from Apple in which is located a central place to store my ample photos and large music collection without the hassle of transporting it everywhere on an ample yet limited powerbook hard drive.



    What I want is the ability to connect to my remote files, stored within my physical property on a large dedicated server of low cost.



    I know that I can purchase it from 3rd party developers but why can't Apple provide me with such a device with added functionality. I could go out and buy a Netgear router which would work just fine but then again I can get an Airport.



    so,



    snip-



    " Not a very novel one either. Someone, please do something about this kind of rant.......



    You can share anything on a Mac already. Oh that's right, you don't have one. Get a clue!"



    snip-



    You make assumptions about what I do and don't have. I had until this point not been impolite to you or is this your own domain?



    Honestly Rhum, from your website i glean this, you do work with quite a few PC's and love the mac. However I ask, why this hostility. Did you have a bad day? Is this topic hashed out too much already? Is the stress of your job or the outside weather too much for you?



    Future Hardware is the topic- Hmm. Not an ipod, not a low end or high end powermac, not a raid cluster, not an x-serve. Please edify and enlighten me as perhaps I might have missed on this site http://www.apple.com/hardware/



    ....the asked for fileserver.



    If my first post in this topic is a rant



    def:

    Pronunciation: 'rant

    Function: verb

    Etymology: obsolete Dutch ranten, randen

    intransitive senses

    1 : to talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner

    2 : to scold vehemently

    transitive senses : to utter in a bombastic declamatory fashion

    - rant·er noun

    - rant·ing·ly /'ran-ti[ng]-lE/ adverb



    I don't think that my post requesting discussion of a simple file server would be considered a rant. However given the definition of the word Rant YOUR little harangue would suffice to be called a rant.



    Now, Mr/Ms. moderator if this topic is of no use here please delete it.



    Thanks very much in advance.
  • Reply 8 of 60
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    I've always liked this idea. The only problem is getting homes networked and lowcost wireless is doing that.



    For new wired homes having gigabit networking to a large centrally storage would be nice. Easier to backup and share files. Rendezvous is a natural for this.



    Lacie makes the Ethernet Disk but at $1199 for a 500GB model it's far too expensive. I guess this will remain a "3rd party" opportunity but I don't rule out that within 5 years consumers will be moving away from having huge amounts of local storage and moving to NAS.



    Therefore your desktop environment will have a small 1 Terabyte drive and all of your I/o. You will then simply stock on new processing modules to take advantage of scaleability with grid/clustering technology.
  • Reply 9 of 60
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    Is it at all possible or worth it technically to put a Firewire port into the next generation of Airport Extreme Base Stations?



    I want both of my Lacie 120GB external hard drives accessible via an Airport Extreme Base Station (if not an Airport Express 2).



    It'd be great to let external drives be accessible wirelessly (cheaply ala Express) without their needing to be attached to other Macs.



    (I can do it now with my iMac. It's connected through the Ethernet port directly and my iBook can browse any of 4 attached drives. But it'd be nice to not need the 2nd Mac to do it.)
  • Reply 10 of 60
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    The fragmented library problem vexes me. It would be nice if the finder would be able to locate content when I connect my computer then perhaps greyout or remove files from view if I disconnect. So if all files are on different computers and I want a photo or a music file then they all should appear in one place with some kind of simple tag telling me where they are. I lose files often on the M$ platform in just such a way. Also the fileserver + apple software idea would also be nice as a way of syncing up all of the computers with the same info. Or finding duplicate copies of files scattered about on different machines.
  • Reply 11 of 60
    But what if Apple shipped the stripped-down version of xSan (iSan??), that worked with IP-based NAS or - for bandwidth - IP over Firewire?



    Plug in revised Airport base stations, which might have FW400 port or maybe multiple Ethernet, add in some jiggery pokery with Rendezvous - instant distributed files all over the house.



    They should do it just to piss Microsoft off - simply by making more money out of Windows users than MS makes from Apple users, not to mention making more money out of Windows users than MS.
  • Reply 12 of 60
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mark- Card Carrying FanaticRealist

    But what if Apple shipped the stripped-down version of xSan (iSan??), that worked with IP-based NAS or - for bandwidth - IP over Firewire?



    Plug in revised Airport base stations, which might have FW400 port or maybe multiple Ethernet, add in some jiggery pokery with Rendezvous - instant distributed files all over the house.



    They should do it just to piss Microsoft off - simply by making more money out of Windows users than MS makes from Apple users, not to mention making more money out of Windows users than MS.




    perhaps that is where airport express is headed? That would be functional to both camps!!
  • Reply 13 of 60
    macflymacfly Posts: 256member
    with 60 gb drives around the corner looks like home-on-ipod might finally resurface....with airport express and some type of wireless built in an ipod or larger ipod-like device with a color screen might fit the bill...or at least it could serve as a repository that could be picked up by airport bases and accessed. nice way to have all your stuff with you and accessible by wireless.

    just a thought
  • Reply 14 of 60
    Im pretty sure this thing has existed for some time... At least non-wireless...



    Do some googling?
  • Reply 15 of 60
    beigeuserbeigeuser Posts: 371member
    I think Apples answer for the average consumer is to use the idisk.



    I don't see Apple creating a product that help kill .Mac.
  • Reply 16 of 60
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    I don't want the files to sit on idisk.



    and I don't want to pay to store 200gb+ of remote site data either.



    idisk is good for the remote site storage/backup. what I want is a simple fileserver. where i can use the good integrated apple software to find all of my stuff. Apple makes hardware right? Apple also makes software that is easy to use? I want them this way...



    together

    simple

    easy

    mac
  • Reply 17 of 60
    beigeuserbeigeuser Posts: 371member
    I agree with you 100%. I'd prefer to have the server in my home too.



    But I'm just saying that I don't think that's Apples strategy right now.



    It seems that Apple has some grand plan for the .Mac. It was supposed to be an important part of Apples future. Actually, I'm not sure if it still is. Anyway, a home server might kill .Mac. Apple won't allow that unless there are some major strategy shifts within the company.
  • Reply 18 of 60
    beigeuserbeigeuser Posts: 371member
    Hey, if you still want a fileserver. You can always get a used eMac/ibook and use that as a fileserver. You can even use it as a e-mail server, webserver, and a print server. All of that functionality is built-in OS X.



    Both of these units are relatively hard to upgrade the hard drive but that's not too much of a problem.



    If you add additional hardware, it could also work as a airport base station, or DVR.
  • Reply 19 of 60
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BeigeUser

    Hey, if you still want a fileserver. You can always get a used eMac/ibook and use that as a fileserver. You can even use it as a e-mail server, webserver, and a print server. All of that functionality is built-in OS X.



    Both of these units are relatively hard to upgrade the hard drive but that's not too much of a problem.



    If you add additional hardware, it could also work as a airport base station, or DVR.




    or go out and buy a 3rd party product. an emac is too big. I live in NYC so space is at a premium. I travel alot so I want the files in one place that is not on apple's server. Remotely. I know why apple isn't doing it but I feel that .mac can be used for other things. Voice over ip for example. My files should be with me.



  • Reply 20 of 60
    rhumgodrhumgod Posts: 1,289member
    Ok, sorry if I came off bluntly, but what exactly do you want to share? Music, iTunes has it built in. Yes you need a Mac to serve up the files, but an iMac G3 will suffice for that.



    Video? Share it via Personal File Sharing, and put the video in Public folders.



    Photos - it is built into iPhoto - Preferences - Sharing.



    I just don't get what exactly you are asking for? Apple has built sharing into darn near every iApp they have developed. Help me understand.



    As for my use of Windows; I work in a Windows/Mac environment, but no, I have absolutely no use for them within my own home. Thank God!
Sign In or Register to comment.