My New Favorite Gizmo: TP-LINK Print and Storage Server

I have been looking for a few things recently, one being a print server so I can have my cheap old DeskJet out of the way and hooked up without having it attached to or server, and some type of network drives. I would love a crazy NAS with multiple TBs in a RAID configuration, but that is simply not in the budget at the moment. I was, and am, convinced that there is an inexpensive solution to this.

I have multiple external USB drives, 3 2TB drives, a bunch of smaller ones that don’t require separate power, and then of course a handful of thumb drives. I have considered buying a network drive such as the WD World Book, but since I already own the above externals, it seemed like I could just use my existing hardware for this exercise.

So after a several weeks of research, and the resistance to purchase and expensive print server (with a queue etc) and some type of NAS, I came across a great little device. It is the $38 TP-Link (TL-PS31OU MFP and Storage Server), which is a tiny device that has a power cable, an Ethernet port, and a USB port. Plug it into your switch / router, plug your printer or any other USB device (Hard Drive, Scanner etc), run a quick configuration via a web interface and you are off and running. You can network print, or attach to a USB drive just like it was local. When connecting to a USB drive, it does not appear as a network drive, but looks to your computer like it is a locally attached USB drive. Best part, and the reason I specifically purchased this one, is that you can attach a USB hub to the USB port on TP-Link, and have up to four devices accessible, all simultaneously. I am printing to my DeskJet, and attached to a USB drive that is connected to the TP-Link. Not bad for a sub $40 device that is 2.2 x 2.2 x 0.9 inches. I purchased it at Fry’s, but is also available online at several sites.

It does have some limitations, making it not a very good device for an office. Only one user can be attached to any device at a time, thus not very practical for a network drive that multiple people are using at the same time. You set it for a timeout length that releases the device(s) you are attached to after a certain amount of idle time. Being a single user on home network, I just set it to keep a permanent connection. Sure that works for me, but if I someone else wanted to print, I would then need to manually disconnect, so they could attach. In that scenario, timing out the connection if it is idle certainly makes sense, especially for a printer. Also you do have to connect to the devices via the TP-Link application. Once launched, it tells you which devices are attached to the TP-Link and also if they are available to connect to. Choose the device, hit “connect”, and you are attached. The printer shows up when I go to print from an application, and drives pop up just like you attached it to your local machine.

At the moment I have the TP-Link attaching my printer and a small 300GB drive to my network, and it’s working like a champ. In the long run I intend to put several 3TB drives on it and have them backing up the rest of the network at night. Not a perfect solution, but pretty cool and reasonably priced even if just used for a print server.

Resources:
TP-Link PS310U at amazon.com
Product details from the TP-LINK website