mount points and naming for external drives

[seamanjeff]

On one TS-469U-RP I have two external eSATA disks connected. The first was mounted as /share/external/sdza1 This was formatted on the QNAP. and the second was mounted as /share/external/sdya. This second one was apparently formatted on a different system. Symlinks were created from /share/eSATADisk1 to external/sdza1 and from /share/eSATADisk2 to external/sdya.

My question is this: What is predictable about these names? Will the drive connected to a given eSATA port always get the same mount point? Also, are the symlinks predictable? If I unmount the two drives and remount them in the other order, will they switch names?

Finally, where is this documented?

Thanks!

[pwilson]

On one TS-469U-RP I have two external eSATA disks connected. The first was mounted as /share/external/sdza1 This was formatted on the QNAP. and the second was mounted as /share/external/sdya. This second one was apparently formatted on a different system. Symlinks were created from /share/eSATADisk1 to external/sdza1 and from /share/eSATADisk2 to external/sdya.

My question is this: What is predictable about these names? Will the drive connected to a given eSATA port always get the same mount point? Also, are the symlinks predictable? If I unmount the two drives and remount them in the other order, will they switch names?

Finally, where is this documented?

Thanks!

Welcome to Plug&Pray. Your USB devices will be assigned in the order they are detected in. There is no guarantee that they will always be attached to the same share. They will always be assigned to shares "USBDisk1", "USBDisk2" ..., however there is no predictable way to know in advance which one each device will attach to.

The USB ports on your NAS are NOT designed for "expansion" of your internal filesystems. They are merely provided to allow you to use them for "Backup" purposes. They are NOT designed to have drives permanently attached to them. This is further evidenced by the reality, that the NAS does not attempt to provide any form of Power Management to your USB drives. They will spin constantly while attached, unless the USB controller on the drive itself does Power Management for you.

If you need support for more than the 4 Drives presently supported by your TS-469L, simply purchase a larger NAS.

[P3R]

The things Patrick (pwilson) mention above apply also to eSATA disks.

[sponch]

The USB ports on your NAS are NOT designed for "expansion" of your internal filesystems. They are merely provided to allow you to use them for "Backup" purposes.

I see.... and this is why they bulid in 3-5 USB ports?!?

[pwilson]

The USB ports on your NAS are NOT designed for "expansion" of your internal filesystems. They are merely provided to allow you to use them for "Backup" purposes.

I see.... and this is why they bulid in 3-5 USB ports?!?

USB Ports have uses for accessories other than HDD's too. They can be particularly useful for Keyboards, Mice, USB SoundCards, TV Tuners, IR Remote Controls, USB Webcams, USB Headsets, in addition to USB Storage devices, such as Memory Sticks & HDD's. (Some QNAP customers are even foolish enough to attempt to connect USB Wi-Fi dongles).

My NAS is only an ARM based model, so I don't bother with keyboard or mouse, but I do have a USB Sound Card attached, so that I can stream from Music Station/QMobile directly to my AV Receiver. I will be upgrading to an Intel-based model soon, so I already have a keyboard and mouse waiting. Intend to install Skype (inside HD Station) on my new NAS, so it will have keyboard, mouse, headset and webcam attached. I might need to purchase a USB Hub, due to the shortage of USB ports.

BTW. the USB Ports can also be used for charging Smartphones....

[P3R]

Add UPS and printers to the list of supported and widely used USB-connected accessories.

[schumaku]

What is predictable about these names?

Nothing - except that all drives are dynamically detected dynamically and shared as eSATAdidsk[n] resp. USBdisk[n] automatically. Device and share name can change almost any time.

[pwilson]

Add UPS and printers to the list of supported and widely used USB-connected accessories.

Okay, you got me on the UPS.

But I make no apologies for "Toy" Printers. In my world, Printers come with Ethernet ports rather than USB ports. Hopefully one day QNAP will implement CUPS properly, complete with Samba integration, so that Samba can provide "drivers" to Windows clients on my network, and so "real" (aka Network) printers can be supported.

(I've requested this several times, but alas, QNAP doesn't even acknowledge the request, let alone actually implement it). Maybe they'll implement it properly in QTS 39.0 when it finally gets released in 2051.

[P3R]

In my world, Printers come with Ethernet ports rather than USB ports.

I agree, that's how I "network" my printers. But the question was why there were multiple USB ports on the NAS.

You and I also agree on the stupidity to use the USB ports for WiFi dongles but still it is (sort of) supported and unfortunately some users insist on trying to use it.

[pwilson]

You and I also agree on the stupidity to use the USB ports for WiFi dongles but still it is (sort of) supported and unfortunately some users insist on trying to use it.

Actually I said "foolish". I fully agree that using Wi-Fi Dongles on a NAS is the height of stupid, but being Canadian, I tried to be "polite" about it, hence using the softer word "foolish".

[P3R]

I can always blame not being native in the language, should anyone feel offended by my harsh words...

I guess you have no such excuse, now that you also used the word...

[txirrindulari]

Actually when I bought my 239 I think the firmware was allowing to expand the system by external drive. But this option disappeared on the time of updates.

Moreover, If backup app does the job over an external drive with MAP ID I do not see the point of not mounting esata drive or folder as sharepoints... well, maybe I have to buy a bigger and newer qnap

[schumaku]

Actually when I bought my 239 I think the firmware was allowing to expand the system by external drive. But this option disappeared on the time of updates.

No, external drives were never intended to expand the internal storage, being as additional members of the RAID, or as span volumes.

Moreover, If backup app does the job over an external drive with MAP ID I do not see the point of not mounting esata drive or folder as sharepoints...

Don't know what MAP ID you are referencing here - local NAS backup (on the "Home" feature build) can bind a job to exactly one disk, which does change if re-formatting the drive. This was somewhat limiting the usability.

[brokenr1bgolfer]

I really like my Cisco (now QNAP) NAS, but this whole issue of plug and play is ridiculous. I can attach USB drives to Linux servers, Macs, and even Windows and expect names to remain the same. The OS on this NAS is one of the weakest variations of Linux I have seen in 40 years. Having said that, perhaps there is a reason for it. And again, I love this NAS. I have owned it for about TEN years now, moving from Chicago to Seattle and back to Chicago. The damn thing is still alive and kicking. Of course all data is being backed up just in case.

[schumaku]

I can attach USB drives to Linux servers, Macs, and even Windows and expect names to remain the same.

Hm, when we talk of the MesS-DOS drive letters with WIndows, this is definitely not true.

The problem you talk about is fixed for many years ... put a volume label on the external storage volume (file system), and the NAS will show the external volume under a volume label named shared folder name, and keep access right settings even when ejected/removed temporarily. The volume label is essentially what you see in Windows Explorer, macOS Finder, or most Linux desktop file managers, too.

Why ever, his feature has not made it to these now legacy "Cat1" devices (see the table - left column in http://docs.qnap.com/