NAS advice

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
Forum Member
✭✭✭
I've never had one but got to thinking about whether one would be useful, and from what I've read so far they sound promising.

I need a new hard drive anyway as I've reached capacity. I have 3 portable hard drives that I use to store a variety of media. 1 is almost entirely used connected to a media player in the lounge. So I'm constanting unplugging to add new content.

I currently have a secondary pc that I use on the rare occasion I torrent (I built it quiet so that I can leave it on overnight).

I believe a NAS will allow to to do all the above.

What would clinch it for me is if I can remotely allow access to it to my friends/family.

Is that possible and if so how.

Recommendations for products would be much appreciated.

Comments

  • DaedrothDaedroth Posts: 3,065
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    The HP Microserver which runs Windows Home Server would do what you're after (it doesn't come with drives though). It often comes with £100 cash back too when bought online.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Cheers, quick question. My brother has a Western Digital Live streaming media player, is it possible to stream or does he need to download it first.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Remember when dumping all your data into one spot to back it up regularly....you don't want to have to phone up a data recovery company and see their price lists which are a hell of a lot more than a couple of extra drives
  • DaedrothDaedroth Posts: 3,065
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Do you mean to stream content that is already on the device? If so, then you can just stream it from another device rather than downloading it first to play it.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Daedroth wrote: »
    Do you mean to stream content that is already on the device? If so, then you can just stream it from another device rather than downloading it first to play it.

    I mean is it possible for my brother to stream from my location if I set it up correctly. Not having one before I'm not sure how the remote feature works (FTP access?) and how that manifests itself outside of my network.

    I'm assuming he'll need to login to some page to be able to see the content but how does that marry up to his media device?
  • DaedrothDaedroth Posts: 3,065
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I mean is it possible for my brother to stream from my location if I set it up correctly. Not having one before I'm not sure how the remote feature works (FTP access?) and how that manifests itself outside of my network.

    I'm assuming he'll need to login to some page to be able to see the content but how does that marry up to his media device?
    If you're using a normal broadband connection, probably not (unless it's a very fast connection, as it would knacker your upload speed...that'll be the speed limit for transfer rates).

    However if you're planning on streaming TV, films or music, you must have permission from the copyright holders of the media to stream it. Your ISP would not allow you to host illegal content.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Streaming over the net to another physical location really depends on both your internet connections and the inter-isp's links so you'll need to know the bit-rate of the streaming and your upload speed and see if its less than about 70-80% of the bit-rate otherwise it will saturate the link and you'll not be able to do anything while he watches his movie
  • gemma-the-huskygemma-the-husky Posts: 18,116
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    i have a netgear stora. it's great
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    He lives away from the rest of his immediate family so I though it might be a nice way for him to access video footage of the kids and other events he can't get to.

    There'd be no issue for him to download the files. I was just wondering if he could stream it as that would have been the more elegant solution.
  • tellytart1tellytart1 Posts: 3,684
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    You could always use Nas4Free on your second PC - it has a built-in bittorrent client.

    If you're going to use it to store media, ensure you put at least 3 drives in it and configure it as a RAID array using ZFS so that your data is protected against a single drive failure. (Two drives fail and you lose it all).
  • JulesandSandJulesandSand Posts: 6,012
    Forum Member
    He lives away from the rest of his immediate family so I though it might be a nice way for him to access video footage of the kids and other events he can't get to.

    There'd be no issue for him to download the files. I was just wondering if he could stream it as that would have been the more elegant solution.

    You could use a cloud storage solution. I have all my home videos on Picasa (and my pictures) and from there I can send a link to anyone I want to view them.

    I do have an 18Mbps upload speed though.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    You could use a cloud storage solution. I have all my home videos on Picasa (and my pictures) and from there I can send a link to anyone I want to view them.

    I do have an 18Mbps upload speed though.

    Thanks, that's my solution. I just wanted to know if it was possible and/or elegant to do it stated above.

    Mainly, so that I could add it as a benefit to me buying a NAS.

    I'm still unsure as I don't have that many devices I need to connect. Only one media player downstairs but streaming from a NAS would only save me having to move files about via USB stick.

    If remote access is viable but that bro will have to download first (I'd still consider that a benefit).

    Torrenting I have a seperate machine but wondering if I can get rid of it altogether if I have a NAS solution.

    I'm running out of room so its continue as I do but buy a bigger hard drive or buy a NAS (I see it as essentially the same thing as I'd need to buy a new HD in most cases) but with some added benefits.
  • JulesandSandJulesandSand Posts: 6,012
    Forum Member
    One thing about Picasa though is that the maximum filesize, at the moment, is 1GB (I had to resize some of my files to upload) but it means that my children who live away from home can access their childhood memories.
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I use a Synology NAS with 2 x 2TB drives, It does everything I want and has many features I haven't even touched. It's not cheap but it's as good as you can get without spending a fortune.

    Streaming over the internet is fine for music (I can stream to my phone) and for photo and file sharing but I wouldn't think video would be usable unless you have very good upstream capacity.
  • bspacebspace Posts: 14,303
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    i've got a qnap nas 4 bay

    it can be accessed over the internet using qnap's mycloudnas service
    http://www.mycloudnas.com/nas.php

    does pretty much anything you could want, ms, apple, unix shares - web server - ftp server - wonky media server - etc etc
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,538
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Another vote for HP microserver, its cheaper, faster and more flexible then any NAS device.

    You can install Windows or Linux, whichever you are comfortable with. And you can also install a £30 video card, attached it to your TV and use it for playing backing media as well.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    LostFool wrote: »
    I use a Synology NAS with 2 x 2TB drives, It does everything I want and has many features I haven't even touched. It's not cheap but it's as good as you can get without spending a fortune.

    Streaming over the internet is fine for music (I can stream to my phone) and for photo and file sharing but I wouldn't think video would be usable unless you have very good upstream capacity.

    I had a MyBook NAS, but have since replaced my primary NAS with a
    http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS212%2B
    Its brilliant, has loads of thirdparty software you can install on it too. Has remote a OS desktop too. I stream video from it to my phone but then i'm on BT Infinity.
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I had a MyBook NAS, but have since replaced my primary NAS with a
    http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS212%2B
    Its brilliant, has loads of thirdparty software you can install on it too. Has remote a OS desktop too. I stream video from it to my phone but then i'm on BT Infinity.

    Yes, Synology make some good kit. My 212j is a lower model that you have but it's still perfectly good for home use.
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,538
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Thanks, that's my solution. I just wanted to know if it was possible and/or elegant to do it stated above.

    Mainly, so that I could add it as a benefit to me buying a NAS.

    I'm still unsure as I don't have that many devices I need to connect. Only one media player downstairs but streaming from a NAS would only save me having to move files about via USB stick.
    You could replace the the media player with a PC / server that serves both as a media player and a storage device. This could easily have a skydrive/dropbox/google drive client to sync your most important documents to cloud storage for backup. Typically you won't want to store online your downloaded media that you can grab again if need be. You can also again easily backup NAS to external hard drive using many of the free sync utilities like puresync.
    If remote access is viable but that bro will have to download first (I'd still consider that a benefit).
    Have a look at Plex which is designed for internet streaming,
    http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/MyPlex

    You will need a reasonable fast and stable upload, at least a couple of mb for SD content.
    Torrenting I have a seperate machine but wondering if I can get rid of it altogether if I have a NAS solution.
    Yes, the smart NAS boxes like synology, qnap and of course the Microserver all have torrent clients, though these days may people also use sabnzbd/sickbeard/couchpotato/newsgroups for downloads depending on what you are downloading.
    I'm running out of room so its continue as I do but buy a bigger hard drive or buy a NAS (I see it as essentially the same thing as I'd need to buy a new HD in most cases) but with some added benefits.

    As mentioned above the HP microserver is basically a PC. It comes without an operating system so you are free to install one of your choice. Its virtually silent so also ideal as a media player. Its not to bad leaving it on 24/7 if you want, typically uses around 40w to 50w with a couple of hard drives.

    It doesn't come with any drives but support up to 4, 5 or 6 drives depending on if you wish to have an optical drive or not. So potentially up to 24TB of data.

    The existing model is currently being phased out so can be purchased fairly cheaply (£170) until stock runs out. The new model is currently over £300 but may drop in price with cash back which HP commonly do.

    http://www.serversdirect.co.uk/Hewlett_Packard_ProLiant_N40L_1.5GHz_2GB_RAM_250GB_Micro_Tower_Server_658553-421/version.asp?refsource=SDfroogle&gclid=CMS-oM7P4bUCFUvHtAodWGIAoA
  • SchadenfreudSchadenfreud Posts: 1,382
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Another vote for synology here. Brilliant kit!
Sign In or Register to comment.