<div dir="ltr">I am getting to a point that, between all the old computers I still own or use, the orphan hard drives from abandoned systems, and the dual boot laptops, I have a storage nightmare. I have photos, videos, articles, music, everywhere, and it is getting to the point that I can't access files because I don't know where they are or were, or because they are on drive that are no longer in use.<div>
<br></div><div>So I am thinking, maybe I should get an external network drive, or raid, or NAS, and use it to consolidate my drive and keep all my files in one place from now onward. </div><div><br></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">Any suggestions of devices, or where to look for them?<br>
</div><div><br></div><div>Here is what I think it should look like:</div><div><br></div><div>- OS agnostic - should play well with Linux, MacOS, Win7 or 8 (for future). If I can access it from tablets or smart phones (iOS or Android), even better.</div>
<div><br></div><div>- if it can handle IDE drives it would be awesome - all my old drives are IDE , and it would be nice to continue using them. </div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>
<br></div><div>If not, I need a solution to connect the older drives - at least so I can transfer the data without taking apart an older computer and physically mounting each drive. </div><div><br></div><div>- 2 drives (maybe more?)</div>
<div><br></div><div>- accessible by both wired and wireless connections, if possible</div><div><br></div><div>- I assume I would have to connect to the device directly to set up the IP, and from then on manage it remotely. If I can set the IP address without connecting (I remember headless servers that let you set the IP with a toggle on the device) life would be so much easier.</div>
<div><br></div><div>- cheaper than dirt, or at least double digits, not triple (in dollars)<br></div><div><br></div><div>Questions:</div><div><br></div><div>1. What do I do if my wireless router has two IP networks, one for the wired computers and the other for the wireless (a real situation and also a real pain in the ass - wired computers and laptops could not reach one another)?<br>
</div><div><div><br></div></div><div>2. Is there a simple way - or any way - to connect to the drive from several networks (because the cell phones have a different IP address, and also the wired and wireless devices might have separate IP addresses)?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Thanks,</div><div><br></div><div>Z.</div></div>