Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

NAS Recommendations?

<< < (10/22) > >>

CWuestefeld:
(un-hijacking the conversation)

Coincidentally, I was just looking for NASes myself, and just purchased one. My requirements are different from yours, so you probably won't follow my strategy, but maybe somebody else is interested.

I currently have a D-Link DNS-321 with two 1TB drives arranged in a RAID 1 array, but I've recently outgrown this. Photos really pile up quickly, using up what space I had remaining from media storage.

In the interest of not going broke, I don't want to spend money on RAID-capable hardware and extra drives. Nor do I want to spend money on all the capacity that I think I *might* eventually need, when the price of computer hardware is continually dropping.

So my strategy is to buy another NAS device, this one budget-priced, onto which I can move the real space hogs, the video files (I've got the originals on DVD for the most part, so RAID safety isn't an issue). I'll keep the photos, which are irreplaceable, on the original D-Link NAS with RAID.

I just purchased a Seagate BlackArmor NAS 110, with 3TB of capacity, plus the eventual ability to add more via USB (although that would be slower). Total price from Amazon, $200.

(Disclaimer: The link above is to my employer's web site. I don't expect you to go buy it from there, but this gives a bit of Google Juice.)

40hz:
FWIW, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced I'd want to build my own.

BTW; those 2.5" multi-drive bays I mentioned before are made by IcyDock.



The only potential problem you'll run into using any swappable cages (no matter who makes them) is if your case has a "tool-less" or "no screw" drive mounting arrangement. That could either be detachable rails or rail guides on the main card cage. (Usually they also come with some sort of pressure locking mechanism.) These usually won't work with swap cages because they tend to bind or bend the receiver. Old-fashioned open case drive cages where it's just a box with holes for mounting screws (with no tabs or guides) work best. Otherwise it's "haul out the Dremel tool" case mod time.
 :tellme:

wraith808:
I just purchased a Seagate BlackArmor NAS 110, with 3TB of capacity, plus the eventual ability to add more via USB (although that would be slower). Total price from Amazon, $200.
-CWuestefeld (October 07, 2011, 10:14 AM)
--- End quote ---

Thanks!  This was exactly what I was looking for...and 3TB for $200 is nothing to sneeze at.  I see that the DLNA is only compatible with wmv/avi... not exactly what I was getting it for, but that is a point that I figured I'd add.

CWuestefeld:
DLNA is only compatible with wmv/avi...
-wraith808 (October 07, 2011, 02:11 PM)
--- End quote ---

I saw that comment as well, and it confuses me. I don't understand why the server should care what the format is. It seems to me that the media is just a blob that gets streamed, and its actual content is irrelevant. Is it a question of *scanning* the media, so the server can build a catalog of what's on the box?

wraith808:
DLNA is only compatible with wmv/avi...
-wraith808 (October 07, 2011, 02:11 PM)
--- End quote ---

I saw that comment as well, and it confuses me. I don't understand why the server should care what the format is. It seems to me that the media is just a blob that gets streamed, and its actual content is irrelevant. Is it a question of *scanning* the media, so the server can build a catalog of what's on the box?
-CWuestefeld (October 07, 2011, 02:18 PM)
--- End quote ---

Apparently not.  Look at this link, specifically required vs. optional formats.  From what I understand, it decodes and encodes on the fly... and so the format to be stored must be either natively supported by the server and the receiver, or encoded/decoded to one of the standard formats.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page