<s>
The	O
NSLU2	B-Application
(	O
Network	O
Storage	O
Link	O
for	O
USB	B-Protocol
2.0	O
Disk	O
Drives	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
network-attached	B-Application
storage	I-Application
(	O
NAS	B-Application
)	O
device	O
made	O
by	O
Linksys	O
introduced	O
in	O
2004	O
and	O
discontinued	O
in	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
makes	O
USB	B-Protocol
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
and	O
hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
accessible	O
over	O
a	O
network	O
using	O
the	O
SMB	B-Operating_System
protocol	I-Operating_System
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
Windows	B-Application
file	O
sharing	O
or	O
CIFS	B-Operating_System
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
superseded	O
mainly	O
by	O
the	O
NAS200	B-Application
(	O
enclosure	O
type	O
storage	O
link	O
)	O
and	O
in	O
another	O
sense	O
by	O
the	O
WRT600N	O
and	O
WRT300N/350N	B-Protocol
which	O
both	O
combine	O
a	O
Wi-Fi	O
router	B-Protocol
with	O
a	O
storage	O
link	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
device	O
runs	O
a	O
modified	O
version	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
formats	O
hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
with	O
the	O
ext3	B-Application
filesystem	I-Application
,	O
but	O
a	O
firmware	O
upgrade	O
from	O
Linksys	O
adds	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
use	O
NTFS	B-Application
and	O
FAT32	B-Application
formatted	O
drives	O
with	O
the	O
device	O
for	O
better	O
Windows	B-Application
compatibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
device	O
has	O
two	O
USB	B-Protocol
2.0	I-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
for	O
connecting	O
hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
and	O
uses	O
an	O
ARM-compatible	O
Intel	B-Application
XScale	I-Application
IXP420	O
CPU	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
models	O
manufactured	O
prior	O
to	O
around	O
April	O
2006	O
,	O
Linksys	O
had	O
underclocked	B-Device
the	O
processor	O
to	O
133MHz	O
,	O
though	O
a	O
simple	O
hardware	O
modification	O
to	O
remove	O
this	O
restriction	O
is	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
device	O
includes	O
32MB	O
of	O
SDRAM	O
,	O
and	O
8MB	O
of	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NSLU2	B-Application
is	O
fanless	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
completely	O
silent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stock	O
,	O
the	O
device	O
runs	O
a	O
customised	O
version	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linksys	O
was	O
required	O
to	O
release	O
their	O
source	O
code	O
as	O
per	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
availability	O
of	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
the	O
NSLU2	B-Application
's	O
use	O
of	O
well-documented	O
commodity	O
components	O
and	O
its	O
relatively	O
low	O
price	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
several	O
community	O
projects	O
centered	O
around	O
it	O
,	O
including	O
hardware	O
modifications	O
,	O
alternative	O
firmware	O
images	O
,	O
and	O
alternative	O
operating	O
systems	O
with	O
varying	O
degrees	O
of	O
reconfiguration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Doubling	O
the	O
clock	O
frequency	O
on	O
underclocked	B-Device
units	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
OpenWrt	B-Application
claims	O
to	O
still	O
be	O
working	O
to	O
maintain	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
two	O
main	O
replacement	O
firmware	O
images	O
available	O
for	O
the	O
device	O
:	O
the	O
first	O
is	O
Unslung	B-Operating_System
which	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
official	O
Linksys	O
firmware	O
with	O
some	O
improvements	O
and	O
features	O
added	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
other	O
was	O
SlugOS/BE	O
(	O
formerly	O
OpenSlug	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
OpenEmbedded	B-Application
framework	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SlugOS/BE	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
re-flash	O
the	O
device	O
with	O
a	O
minimal	O
Linux	B-Application
system	O
including	O
an	O
SSH	B-Protocol
server	O
to	O
allow	O
remote	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
installed	O
,	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
moved	O
to	O
an	O
attached	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
due	O
to	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
space	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
possible	O
to	O
run	O
Debian	O
,	O
Gentoo	B-Application
,	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
NetBSD	B-Device
,	O
OpenBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
on	O
the	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
common	O
uses	O
were	O
a	O
web	B-Application
server	I-Application
,	O
mail	B-Protocol
server	I-Protocol
,	O
DAAP	O
server	O
(	O
iTunes	O
)	O
,	O
XLink	B-Protocol
Kai	I-Protocol
,	O
UPnP	O
AV	O
MediaServers	O
,	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
client	O
,	O
FreeSWITCH	B-Language
,	O
asterisk	B-Language
PBX	I-Language
and	O
network	B-Protocol
router	I-Protocol
(	O
with	O
the	O
attachment	O
of	O
a	O
USB	B-Protocol
network	O
interface/USB	O
modem	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
NSLU2	B-Application
with	O
Unslung	B-Operating_System
firmware	O
could	O
be	O
interfaced	O
with	O
a	O
Topfield	B-Device
TF5800	I-Device
personal	B-Application
video	I-Application
recorder	I-Application
(	O
PVR	O
)	O
to	O
allow	O
an	O
electronic	B-Device
programme	I-Device
guide	I-Device
(	O
EPG	B-Device
)	O
to	O
be	O
automatically	O
downloaded	O
from	O
the	O
Internet	O
and	O
transferred	O
to	O
the	O
PVR	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
most	O
NASs	O
,	O
the	O
device	O
is	O
not	O
immediately	O
compatible	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	O
or	O
7	B-Device
,	O
as	O
it	O
runs	O
an	O
older	O
version	O
of	O
Samba	B-Language
that	O
uses	O
an	O
authentication	O
mechanism	O
that	O
is	O
disabled	O
by	O
default	O
in	O
later	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NSLU2	B-Application
won	O
the	O
"	O
Most	O
Innovative	O
in	O
Networking	O
"	O
Reader	O
Award	O
in	O
the	O
Tom	O
's	O
Hardware	O
2004	O
Awards	O
.	O
</s>
