Share external USB HD

[Xerxys]

I have a Western Digital 1TB external Hard drive and two computers. I would like to be able to access the partitions on that particular external Hard Drive locally. By locally I mean each computer has the same drive letter for all available partitions.

I can do it over a network but I don't want to because the network here, when busy, bottlenecks data and bogs down.

The western Digital is currently connected to computer number 1 via USB. It plugs with a mini-USB (Blackberry style) on the HD and regular USB to the computer. It's essentially a Western Digital 1 TB My book essential edition.

I am willing to accept a network connection if I can figure out how to do it without using Ethernet (which is a million times slower) as opposed to USB.

Any suggestions?

[Vigilante]

So you want it plugged into one computer but accessible by both?

The only way is by a network share.

You could have a crossover between the two machines that bypasses the LAN. You would need 2 network cards per machine. That's a pain and would require changing the metric on the 2 NICs on each machine. I can do that no sweat, but explaining it to the uninitiated causes some sweat . The benefit would be dedicated 100/1000mbit between the two, once configured.

You can't have one USB device somehow plugged into 2 machines, or you will run into file overwrite issues and possible catastrophic data corruption, among other things. You can however do something like a USB switch, which behaves like a KVM.
USB 2 port sharing switch for sharing usb devices between computers and laptops
Still, it is one computer at a time, but you don't have to finagle around with plugs. Just push a button and computer A has it. Hit it again and computer B has it.

[remy1492]

The seagate BLACK NAS 1 2 TB external seems nice, but after reading reviews I am skeptical of almost EVERY external with lan capabilities right now, and like you said. SLOW.

I have a WD mybook elite 2TB for my .ISO movie files, its doing ok so far, but USB only.

I was thinking of doing what you are doing but eventually settled on, physically moving the external and cable when data is needed by other computer.

[Xerxys]

Originally Posted by remy1492

... but eventually settled on, physically moving the external and cable when data is needed by other computer.

Yeah but the problem with this is some partitions need to have designated drive paths for programs such as firefox downloader, azureus etc etc to work. Also it sucks the soul out of you. I am a man of little conveniences.

Originally Posted by Vigilante

... You could have a crossover between the two machines that bypasses the LAN. You would need 2 network cards per machine. That's a pain and would require changing the metric on the 2 NICs on each machine. I can do that no sweat, but explaining it to the uninitiated causes some sweat . The benefit would be dedicated 100/1000mbit between the two, once configured. ...

Tell me more. I'm sure I can do it. And instead of the two network cards, can I use a USB to ethernet cable and have the HD plugged straight to the router?

[Vigilante]

Yes. If the router is gigE on the extra ports, then it is worth it. But I have another idea if it is not.

If you have an accommodating physical layout, you could put a gigE switch between the two machines, have the drive hooked to that switch as well, and have one port on the switch as an uplink to the rest of the world. That would actually make the most sense, and give you an uninterrupted network path to all devices as well as www access and no metric fussing on the NICs. 1 RJ45 per system.

This would also give you a chance to plug in any other devices, per the switch.

[Xerxys]

Will the gigE switch filter down my internet connection the same way Tacobell waters down their soda? The internet here is less than 1mb/s connected to a Trendnet wireless router. The Trendnet supplies the entire house with wifi, a T-mobile D-Link for my sisters phone (which also supplies the house with unprotected wifi), and my two PC's. Both of the PC's plugged directly into the Trendnet. This means if someone is on netflix my icefilms suffers.

[Vigilante]

Nope, the switch will make a difference on the order of 2 miliseconds generally, or 2/1000ths of a second.

Bandwidth for anything from the net will be limited exclusively by the connection and its usage, not LAN traffic. On any older machine you will have 100mbit bandwidth, which is 100 times faster than your internet connection. If anything, this design I propose will make your PC-to-PC and PC-to-USB/network drive faster. This will take any external traffic out of the equation for the traffic on your switch.

Now I don't know what icefilms is, but if it's a film viewed from the web, then the netflix interruption has nothing to do with your LAN or the trendnet router, but rather the outgoing pipe. It means you're trying to pull too much water through a straw, when you would be much better off with a garden hose. On your side of that router (internal LAN) you have the equivalent of a firehose or larger.