NASLite-M2

NASLite-M2 is a Multimedia Network Attached Storage (NAS) Server Operating System designed to transform a basic computer into a dedicated UPNP, DAAP, SMB/CIFS, NFS, AFP, FTP, HTTP and RSYNC file server. In addition to conventional networked storage capabilities, NASLite-M2 can natively stream audio and video content to both DAAP (Digital Audio Access Protocol) and UPNP (Universal Plug and Play) network clients.

DAAP clients such as iTunes and other hardware and software-based music players can now stream media from the NASLite-M2 server without the ability to natively mount exported volumes. Along the same lines, UPNP clients such as PlayStation 3, XBOX 360, Windows Media Center, etc. can also play NASLite-M2 hosted content. UPNP streaming is enhanced by profiles targeting DLNA, XBOX, PS3 and Generic media clients directly.

NASLite-M2 boots from a variety of IDE, SATA SCSI, USB, FireWire or Hardware RAID devices and is intended for use in any application that requires the simultaneous availability of large amounts of fast and inexpensive networked storage. A single NASLite-M2 server is capable of exporting terabytes of networked storage and can handle hundreds of networked users easily and efficiently, even when running on modest hardware.

NASLite-M2 offers unsurpassed versatility allowing full access to all its storage resources. Content can be accessed simultaneously using any of the supported protocols. Fully-automated monitoring and intelligent resource management make NASLite-M2 an excellent performer in high-traffic storage applications. Daily mirror backups between local or remote drives ensure data safety. High performance and low maintenance have established NASLite-M2 as one of the best investments in networked storage. Using NASLite-M2 is simple and a perfect solution for both home and business.

By design, NASLite-M2 is a community workgroup server and does not support features such as user management, disk quotas or the ability to join domains. However, it is very easy to set-up, to administer and to use.

NASLite-M2 Provides Extensive Status Information

NASLite-M2 is optimized to perform at maximum efficiency with minimum of hardware requirements. Designed with performance in mind, NASLite-M2 is compact, stable and very reliable. NASLite-M2 boots directly into RAM where it runs in a modestly sized 16MB RAM-Disk. This approach ensures consistent and reliable OS operation. NASLite-M2 offers the following features and benefits:

• Easy to operate and to administer
• Inexpensive to run and maintain
• Stable, reliable and fast
• Boots directly into RAM
• Fully automated hardware detection
• Remote administration through TELNET
• Simple configuration menus
• UPNP, DAAP, SMB/CIFS, NFS, AFP, FTP, HTTP and RSYNC exported file systems
• BIOS independent fixed disk drive support
• Support for IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB and FireWire connected fixed disk drives
• Support for multiple IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB and FireWire interfaces
• Dependable hardware RAID card support (Software raid is not supported, this includes software assisted raid cards)
• Remote NFS volumes re-export
• HTML-based status report pages
• ACPI support
• S.M.A.R.T. support
• Large partition and file support
• Extremely compact in size (Runs in a 16MB RAM Disk)
• Minimal hardware requirements
• Wide range of PCI hardware support (ISA and EISA not supported)
• Based on the Linux 2.6 Kernel

NASLite-M2 Base System Requirements:

• Pentium or better processor
• PCI bus
• 64M or more of RAM
• 1 or more fixed disk drives
• PCI or on-board network interface adapter

NASLite-M2 Installation and Administration:

• NASLite-M2 Installation and Administration Guide r1.0 12-2008 (1142K PDF)

NASLite-M2 Hardware Reference:

• CORE3 Network Device Support (134K PDF)
• CORE3 Storage Device Support (117K PDF)

For support or additional information on NASLite-M2 and other related products, please review the Documentation and Support sections.

NASLite-M2 v1.68

• Add support for USB 3.0 devices
• Update hardware drivers to support additional network and storage devices
• Update CORE3 Kernel to improve overall performance and stability
• Update auto-configuration code to reflect latest CORE3 hardware support changes
• Update Installation Utility to reflect latest CORE3 changes
• Update status page generation code to reflect latest CORE3 changes
• Update Administration Utility management code to reflect latest CORE3 changes
• Update Hardware Detection Tool data files to reflect latest CORE3 changes
• Perform optimizations to improve performance of very large partitions
• Perform optimizations to improve RFC-1305 (NTP) Internet time synchronization
• Perform optimizations to reduce overall memory footprint
• Perform general code cleanup

NASLite-M2 v1.67

• Update AFP to provide v3.3 support
• Update auto-configuration code to provide better TimeMachine support
• Update internet time synchronization client to provide RFC-1305 (NTP) support
• Perform optimizations to reduce memory footprint
• Perform optimizations to reduce root filesystem size
• Perform general code cleanup

NASLite-M2 v1.66

• Addresses SMB/CIFS issue introduced with Windows 7 (Frequent "Too many open files" errors.)

NASLite-M2 v1.65

• Addresses SMB/CIFS issue introduced with Microsoft update KB2536276
  (Prevents connections to SMB/CIFS share)

NASLite-M2 v1.64

• Addresses a regression affecting some SCSI/SATA CDRom drives.
• Perform general code cleanup, tweaks, etc.

NASLite-M2 v1.63

• Fix 3ware degraded RAID alarm
• Update kernel to include proper support for Smart Array, DAC, AcceleRAID and eXtremeRAID RAID controllers
• Update kernel to improve IT8212 RAID controller support
• Update Administration Utility management code to include proper support for new RAID controllers
• Update auto-configuration code to properly handle new RAID controllers
• Update Hardware Detection Tool data files to properly detect new RAID controllers
• Update status page generation code to include server name in the page title
• Updates and fixes to network traffic status
• Perform some minor architecture optimizations
• Perform general code cleanup

NASLite-M2 v1.62

• Update Hardware Detection Tool to the latest version
• Update Hardware Detection Tool data files to reflect latest CORE3 changes
• Update memory diagnostic utility "memtest86+" to the latest version
• Update kernel to include proper support for very large partitions
• Update Administration Utility management code to include proper support for very large partitions
• Update Administration Utility management code to correct media re-indexing (M2 only)
• Update auto-configuration code to use filesystem check interval of 180 days by default
• Update auto-configuration code to properly handle ieee1394 (FireWire) storage
• Perform some minor architecture optimizations
• Perform general code cleanup

NASLite-M2 v1.61

• Initial release of NASLite-M2 based on CORE3 technology