Device Makes Mac a Network Drive

Lindy Electronics has announced a hard drive chassis that's purpose-built to act as network attached storage and to stack happily with a Mac mini.

The enclosure -- the $132 Lindy Mini NAS Enclosure -- is compatible with standard 3.5-inch hard drives. When connected to the Mac (via a USB port) the device lets a user backup data from any machine on the network and using the internet.

No dedicated server is required because the device integrates its own FTP server that permits up to five consecutive users to backup and retrieve data using FTP.

The device also supports Samba server and can host 64 online clients, and provides a password-protected browser-based user interface for management and configuration of the solution.

The server connects to the network using a standard Ethernet connection and can be used by any computer, Mac or PC.

The device has four set-up options depending on user need. If the enclosure operates under a built-in DHCP server router, it will obtain an IP address from the DHCP server automatically. If it does not, then the enclosure will immediately act as a DCHP server and assign an IP address for installation.

The enclosure also supports static IP addresses and allows the user to connect directly to a computer via USB, operating like any other hard drive (once a drive is installed inside the enclosure).