Running programs off ext. HDD

[UsernameTaken]

I read somewhere a couple months ago that you can run programs (like a BitTorrent client) off an external hard drive. I'm pretty sure it was a Network Attached Storage drive.

I want to know if you can do this with any NAS or is it specific make/model? I figure you'd need a processor to run programs so it doesn't really make sense to me.

I ask this because when I go to college I will get a laptop. I plan on getting a minimalist laptop and this would be perfect with one of these Network Attached Storage/Bit Torrent hard drives. Then I could keep my laptop free of clutter and I wouldn't need a huge hard drive in it, and I could also run torrents while I'm in class.

 

[bullzi]

well i mean the harddrive cant actually run the whole program off of it, however you can install programs on a network drive and run those from the network drive, thats what i do with my bittorrent's, i just install it on my networked harddrive, i mean sure it takes some processing power from the other computers, but not that much and it keeps the harddrives on my everyday computers clean and fast, so to sum it up, yes you can do it, just install the program on that harddrive instead of your regular harddrive

 

[CompMan]

Yea but it not as fast as a hard drive connected directly to your computer.

 

[freestyler105]

Yeah, running things like games over a network will give you a performance hit. The top speed of a CAT5 cable is 100 MBPS, where the top speed of a SATA cable is 384 MBPS.

 

[UsernameTaken]

I found it! before I posted I searched on Google but couldn't find anything, all the results were Nas rap album torrents

ADS Tech NAS Drive Kit featuring "P2P BitTorrent Client." My idea is this: have the laptop with me for class and at home have a docking station with screen, mouse, and keyboard, and have this NAS Drive Kit thing. Could I have this and run my torrents purely off the NAS drive kit or would it only work when my laptop is connected? I want to be able to run torrents while it is not connected to any computer. This would let me continue the torrents when I'm in class, and eliminate the need for a desktop PC just for torrents, browsing, etcetera.

I also saw other products which may or may not be essentially the same thing just different brands and I believe a few included hard drives. They were called: Kuro Box, LinkStation, and QNap Turbo Station TS-101/201.

I'm really confused and please let me know if I am confusing you as well