[dhead]

@solamnic

On Arch Linux Arm website there's a guide how to get Arch running in a few minutes for each of the supported devices.

The Arch Linux Arm rootfs already set with a root user, network (dhcp with netctl) and the ssh daemon, so the minimum required to get the NAS up and running is to:
* Run pacman update.
* Set up the timezone.
* Change the root password and add a non root user.
* Set fstab for mounting your external storage device.
* Set NFS and/or Samba for sharing.

And that's it, you've got a NAS.
The Arch Linux Wiki is probably one of the best Linux Distro Wikis, you just need to follow the related Wiki pages.

I also recommends to:
* Understand the basics of Linux file permissions, umask and read about chown, chmod commands.
* Read about Pacman and Aur in Arch Wiki.
* Install extra services like Transmission, Avahi, OpenVPN.

I think it's a better to write these hints than to publish a thorough guide, this way you will have to understand what you're doing.

[drawz]

Good advice. You can also install webmin to provide a web GUI for administering the device, which may make it feel more like a commercial device and require significantly less linux knowledge to administer.

[dhead]

@drawz

Yeh, Webmin is a nice tool but I must recommend to think twice before using it as:
* There's no need for it, you can get things done through terminal and faster.
* It's takes too much RAM (over 15MB).

Last weekend I set up my last extra PP to give for a family member.
After getting all the services set and running including NFS, Samba and Transmission and concurrently actively downloading 5 torrents I still had between 80MB to 90MB of free RAM (out of 128MB).
Sounds great right ?
The problem is that she also wanted Sickbeard which can be also described as the Cookie Monster of Python apps which loves to eat RAM so I end up with 50MB of free RAM which in few hours trimmed to 29MB (I will remark that Sickbeard does run nicely and smoothly on the device even with a nice long list of tv shows).

So these 15MB RAM of Webmin made a difference.

[two515ty]

The original post from this thread was actually from 2012, and then the next reply was just slightly more than a year later lol. With that in mind, the information regarding PogoPlugs may have changed.

In my experiences, I would have to recommend the PogoPlug V2. It's cheap (I would not pay more than $15-20 for one), easy to hack (use ArchLinux ARM and read the guides and forums), and quite stable once you have it running properly. I use it as a simple Samba NAS and as a torrent client with transmission. It can also function as a DLNA server if you like. I can easily get up to 25-30 MB/s read speed when copying to the NAS, which tells me that the bottleneck is the USB 2.0 connection to my hard drives. In any case, that's more than enough speed to stream 1080p mkv's across a wired connection. In my own setup, I have two wireless routers (WDR4300 attached to the PogoPlug in the computer room and WDR3600 attached to HTPC in the living room) bridged over a 5ghz Wireless N connection and I still get 9-12 MB/s, which allows me to stream 1080p mkv's without any problems.

Regarding Plex Media Server, it's possible, but obviously whatever device you're using to stream content with will have to direct play it, since the PogoPlug won't be able to transcode it. Since you won't be transcoding using the PogoPlug, I'd say that running Plex Media Server on the PogoPlug is not only kind of pointless, but it will hog up lots of extra memory and resources that could be used to run other things more efficiently. I use XBMC and simply add the network location to scan for movies and TV shows.

For someone who doesn't want to fully invest in a full fledged NAS and doesn't mind using external hard drives, the PogoPlug is quite a serviceable option and will satisfy most basic needs IMO. If you combine it with a Raspberry Pi or other low cost device that runs XBMC, you can have a functional, but serviceable poor man's HTPC/NAS setup.

[nickr]

Thanks for pointing out the date of the first post. I hadn't noticed that. The dates are hard to read on tapatalk.

[Hedda]

In my experiences, I would have to recommend the PogoPlug V2.

+1 if you do some research you will find that 'everyone' recommends v2 over any other Pogoplug version.

Don't get fooled by USB 3.0 ports on v4 as you never get up to even USB 2.0 speeds anyway.

It is a fact that the Pogoplug v2 is better with faster CPU and more RAM, which are the bottlenecks.

http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv5/...2-pinkgray

Supported model numbers which you need and not newer models of v2 as that is not same hardware:
POGO-E02
POGO-E02G

Tutorial guides to read:
http://obihoernchen.net/wordpress/770/pl...rch_linux/
http://blog.qnology.com/2013/03/tutorial...linux.html

[dhead]

@Hedda

I'm not sure if the supported Pogoplug v2 models are available today.

[Hedda]

@djead, yes they are, just search for POGO-E02 or POGO-E02G on Amazon, Adorama, JR.com, and eBay

Example:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044CL1N0/?tag...ologyco-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0033WSDR4/?tag...ologyco-20

Model is listed on the outside of the box but sometimes the Pogoplug inside is older model, never newer.

Know that all Gray are always v2, while newer Pink / Black can have newer hardware you don't want, see

http://blog.qnology.com/2013/03/tutorial...linux.html

Want to take a small gamble? Pick up the Pogoplug P21 (Black) or Pogoplug B01 (Pink). Eventhough the box is labeled as a P21/B01, chances are the Pogoplug itself will be a E02 model. I've bought at least 6 P21/B01 from various vendors - Adorama, JR.com, and Ebay - and so far I have only received E02. Note that recently a small percentage of users (~20-30%) have reported receiving a new P22 model which isn't supported under Arch Linux ARM.

Don't want to gamble and having a hard time finding the E02 model? I have a few extra for sale.



Check the bottom of the Pogoplug to confirm Model number. Ignore the Model number listed on the box.

The E02 model is the ideal choice with 256MB RAM and a 1.2Ghz CPU versus other models which only has 128MB RAM and 800Mhz (dual-core) CPU. Don't get fooled by the USB 3.0 Ports in the Series 4 model; the CPU is a bottleneck and there is no performance difference with the USB 3.0 ports. Saying that, I like the Pogoplug Series 4 form factor with its SATA USM slot. For the Pogoplug Series 4, I would recommend the USM slot compatible Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive.