Volume management for a newbie

[gdodds]

Hi,
I'm sure this is simple to sort out - I just need a little help...I have a Duo with a single 500G disk.

In Windows Explorer, when I put the NAS name in (nas-ba-08-d3) it comes up in Workgroup with 2 shares (or folders?) backup and media, which matches the shares in the browser view from RAIDar, so OK. However, when I put the IP address in (192.168.1.65), in Workgroup I see the original NAS as above, and another item "nas-ba-08-d3(192.168.1.65)", with 5 shares admin, backup, c, home, media. home has folders Graham and admin, and c has folders backup, home, media, all identical with those at the "root" level, and also time-machine and lost&found. In the volume settings in the browser view of RAIDar, the disk is called "volume c", which I assume is the "c" in the second view of the NAS?

Have I configured the device correctly? If not what should I do? Are there really duplicate copies of some shares/folders on the disk? Can I delete them, or is this part of the RAID "operating system" for when I may add another disk? If this is wrong, is there any advice on how to avoid this in the future?

If possible can you reply by e-mail?

Thanks in advance,

Graham Dodds

[sphardy]

Hello & welcome to the forums

There's nothing wrong with your NAS, nor have you done anything wrong so *don't* delete anything!

For connection purposes, and by design, Windows considers a machine name and the IP address of that machine as 2 separate devices. Therefore you're simply looking at the contents of the same machine but as 2 different users.

When connecting to the NAS via name, you are probably connecting as the guest user and so can see the default shares which are guest accessible (though this an be changed). If you were connecting as the user "Graham" you would see the share called Graham in addition to media and backup as it is only accessible to that user, and not the guest user.

When connecting via IP address you must be connecting as the admin user which gives you more visibility - "homes" being the share that contains all of the users private shares, and "c" which allows you to see all the shares ('c' is the name of the internal NAS volume - kind of like calling your PC drive your C-drive - and so contains all of the folders that are accessible as shares. Useful for moving data between shares)

Normally you would not connect to the NAS as admin and so never see "homes" or "c" - these are made accessible purely for administrative purposes

This might help you understand better - it is an article that takes advantage of this feature: http://home.bott.ca/webserver/?p=275

If possible can you reply by e-mail?

No - your email address is not accessible to users of the forum for privacy reasons

[gdodds]

Hi and thanks for your welcome to the forum.
I'm reassured that I haven't done anything wrong, so I just need to have a better understanding of how it's set up, and make sure I follow the use the appropriate access route(s) - I didn't give that information, but your diagnosis sounds about right. I'll check the link you sent me, and post any other questions if it's still not clear.

Thanks again,

Graham

[gdodds]

Hi, I've read the info in the link and I think it's helped. However, on the network diagram that my (new) BTHomeHub3 displays in desktop help, the NAS appears twice...once as I expect with it's given MAC address and an IP address from the DHCP server in the HomeHub, and a second time with a MAC address and an IP address that I don't recognise. I have tried to set up remote access to the NAS, but I didn't think it had been successful as I haven't sorted out any port forwarding in the HomeHub yet - is that why there appear to be 2 instances of the NAS?
Thanks in advance
Graham

[sphardy]

Can you post a screenshot? It would help clarify what you are referring to by "network diagram" etc

[gdodds]

Since I wrote this, there are still 2 instances, but they both have the same IP amd MAC addresses - perhaps it's a non-problem? If I see it again I'll post something.
Thanks
Graham

[gdodds]

I've found some more info on this situation. I've recently changed my router to BT HomeHub3, and the info from the network map shows 2 instances of the ReadyNAS - I couldn't find a way to get a screenshot into this post:


ReadyNAS Duo [nas-BA-08-D3]
Friendly Name: ReadyNAS Duo [nas-BA-08-D3]
IP Address: 192.168.1.66
Shared: Yes
Windows Network: WORKGROUP
MAC Address: C0-3F-0E-BA-08-D3
Make/Model: ReadyNAS
Management URL: https://192.168.1.66/admin/
Manufacturer: NETGEAR
Manufacturer URL: http://www.netgear.com/
Description: NAS Device
Hardware Version: Duo
Created Date: 8:41 PM, Apr. 03 2011
Modified Date: 10:04 AM, May. 08 2011


NAS-BA-08-D3
Friendly Name: NAS-BA-08-D3
IP Address: 5.170.53.3
Shared: Yes
Operating System: Unix
Windows Network: WORKGROUP
MAC Address: 0A-0F-6F-D7-8C-D6
Computer Name: NAS-BA-08-D3
Created Date: 10:44 PM, Apr. 04 2011
Modified Date: 10:05 AM, May. 08 2011

They have different IP and MAC addresses...what does this mean? Is it important?

[mdgm]

The 192.168.1.66 is your LAN (Local Area Network) IP address i.e. the IP address on your network at home.

The 5.X.X.X IP address is the IP address on the LeafNetworks VPN (Virtual Private Network) used by ReadyNAS Remote.

The VPN appears to use a virtual NIC which has a separate MAC address.

[gdodds]

OK, thanks for unravelling a bit more of the device.

Graham