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Looking for network print server that also provides network connected storage and other features.



 
 
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Old January 16th 06, 06:03 PM posted to comp.periphs.printers
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Default Looking for network print server that also provides network connected storage and other features.

Hello,

I am looking for a quality print server which also provides network
connected storage as well.

FIRST, here is the minimum features I am looking for:
(1) One parallel printer port minimum.
(2) Two, preferably three USB 2.0 printer ports.
(3) At least two more USB 2.0 ports to which I can attach additional
external drive(s).
(4) The ability to partition the drives and give each partition a
different share name
just as you would do when sharing network drives attached to a
computer.
(5) Some kind of reliable backup mechanism for the data stored on the
shared drives.
I would prefer to have the ability to both backup to DVD (with
spanning if needed)
as well as store the backup image (either as a single file as
spanned sets) to another
portable (or network drive).

SECOND, additional features that would be really nice to have:
(1) A built-in Fax driver ("printer") that can be shared as a network
resource.
(2) It would be nice if standard EIDE, SATA, or maybe even RAID support
can be upgraded,
swapped out or added internally to the server case to reduce
clutter of using multiple external drives.
If this was available, the need for item (3) above would be
superfluous, or an added bonus.
(3) A shared firewire port would be nice as well (though I've been told
these devices cannot be shared
except by means of clumsy "switches" requiring cabling to every
computer).
(4) The ability to share other USB devices such as scanners and cameras.
(5) Flashable firmware (or "BIOS") to respond to technology changes and
improvements.


NOW LACKING THE EXISTENCE OF SUCH A SERVER, can anyone recommend an older
(and small
as possible motherboard (Intel Celeron Processor should do the job) with a
correspondingly small as possible
case, with low wattage Power Supply and quiet fans (this would be running
continuously). Memory for this
probably 32MB or 64MB will do the job. Expansion slots for modem, Ethernet,
USB ports, etc. This will of
course do the job but I want to keep it as small as possible. Now the
interesting part: if I were to design a
WEB-Based control program for this (like print servers have), how would I
get the machine to boot without
needing a mouse, keyboard, monitor, or floppy drive (Expense and space
consuming - I want to control it over
the network). I would also guess that SUSE Linux would be a good choice to
run it since this OS can be
stripped down to a pretty small size (other suggestions are welcome). Hell
maybe I could even run it on a tablet
PC.




 




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