...just ethernet? I was thinking about building a NAS, but had a question before I started. After building the NAS, and using software such as FreeNAS for the system, is it still possible to hook my computer up to the Hard Drives in the NAS with a USB, Firewire, or eSATA ports (if I built ports into the NAS for them) so that I could access the drives for data writing and reading through those means? Although Gigabyte Ethernet would be much faster than USB, my computer only has 10/100, and I would like the option to use firewire or eSata for larger file transfers. Although ethernet MAY still be faster (doubtful for eSATA), is it still possible to do this? Do you know if FreeNas or other progams allow access this way? I know you can hook up hard drives with the USB ports on the NAS, but could I hook up my laptop to the NAS this way to access and write files?
Basically to sum up that question, could I still use the NAS I built as if it were an external hardrive (like the WD mybook home)? Because its no longer just a harddrive, and has its own motherboard and processor and is running FreeNAS (or some other program), could I still use it as if it were just an external storage and plug in with firewire like the western digital mybook home drives?