Want to turn a 3.5-inch disk into a file server? It’s easy and affordable with NASLite. NASLite is a customized Linux-on-diskette that can turn your old 386 into a Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Unix or OS/2 file server. Load the box with as many hard drives you want, boot up the diskette, configure the server, and you’re done.
NASLite runs completely from the diskette. The hard drive is 100 percent devoted to storage. A nice benefit is old BIOSes that do not recognize large hard drives do not get in the way because NASLite runs the show.
NASLite+ is a bootable CD-ROM that supports SMB, NFS, FTP, and HTTP. It runs entirely in 8 MB of memory, supports any type of bootable CD (USB, Firewire, IDE, and SCSI) and supports Gigabit Ethernet.
NASLite+ USB runs from a USB flash drive. All versions support reporting from SMART- (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) enabled hard drives.
NASLite does have its limitations, however. It has no built-in security, encryption, or user management. It does not include a logical volume manager or any kind of RAID. It stores data only on IDE hard drives, and supports a maximum file size of 4 GB. It makes a great home or business file server for storing non-sensitive files, or a good backup server, but don’t plan on using it when you need any sort of security or access controls.
NASLite costs $16, a nice price point for something that sets up easily and works well on old hardware. More information.
— Carla Schroder
