Which NAS for Home?

[Munter]

All this talk of Backup and Raid0 etc as well as the PC world adverts has got me thinking I should do something about backup. One of my systems is >5 years old and I can feel carma out to get me.

So whats good. I'm thinking 1TB and wireless would be nice, but i'm a cheapskate.

Is the thing PCworld have been plugging on TV for £150 any good? I could swear they said it was wireless on the TV ad but I dont think it is.

Otherwise whats out there for say less than £200.

[LukeBird]

Just bought the two drive model of the drive they have on PC World.
It's a Western Digital My Book World Edition II, the on on the advert is Edition I.
Basically the I has one 1Tb drive, the Edition II has 2 500Gb drive's in RAID 0.
You can set the edition II to be RAID 1 (mirroring, which backs up your data) internally, which is nice
It plugs into your router by ethernet, so it is 'technically' wireless, but you need a router to make it so.
The one I have just bought (for work) was £190 from scan.

[Skier]

If you're looking to back up lots of data (I assume you are given that you're looking at a 1TB drive) then forget wireless. I set up a wireless NAS a while ago and quickly gave up on it as it's simply too slow. Geta router with gigabit ethernet and a NAS with the same and connect via cable.

As for which one, well this depends on many things: your budget, how much your data is worth to you,how much storage you need etc etc. If you want a large capacity, semi-professional RAID capable solution have a look at:

http://www.store2go.net/shop/ultimatestorage/p/cat...

If you want something simpler then have a look at this range:

http://www.buffalo-technology.com/products/network...

Good hunting.

Skier

[51mes]

LukeBird said:

Just bought the two drive model of the drive they have on PC World.
It's a Western Digital My Book World Edition II, the on on the advert is Edition I.
Basically the I has one 1Tb drive, the Edition II has 2 500Gb drive's in RAID 0.
You can set the edition II to be RAID 1 (mirroring, which backs up your data) internally, which is nice
It plugs into your router by ethernet, so it is 'technically' wireless, but you need a router to make it so.
The one I have just bought (for work) was £190 from scan.

JUst a point - mirroring does not back up your data - it just protects you from drve failure.. if you have a senior moment and delete the file or it gets corrupted it's still just as gone in a mirrored solution as in a single drive one...

if you are using the NAS as a **backup** device mirroring is overkill - I'd rather have capacity my primary data is RAID protected - my backup isn't.

SImes.

[marctwo]

I need to do this too at some point. I'll probably go for one of these...

http://www.qnap.co.uk/

[Munter]

Skier said:

If you're looking to back up lots of data (I assume you are given that you're looking at a 1TB drive) then forget wireless. I set up a wireless NAS a while ago and quickly gave up on it as it's simply too slow. Geta router with gigabit ethernet and a NAS with the same and connect via cable.

As for which one, well this depends on many things: your budget, how much your data is worth to you,how much storage you need etc etc. If you want a large capacity, semi-professional RAID capable solution have a look at:

http://www.store2go.net/shop/ultimatestorage/p/cat...

If you want something simpler then have a look at this range:

http://www.buffalo-technology.com/products/network...

Good hunting.

Skier

Ohhh I dont think I need anything near professional!

All 3 of my systems run over wireless, so I'm aware I'll be restricted by that most of the time. (Big backups from the laptop might plug in for). Getting one that does raid1 though does appeal as the "home" laptop has a tiny harddrive. So if I can move the photos etc off to the NAS and it be secure against 1 disk fail that appeals.

[rsv gone!]

I have a Synology. It does everything!

And they are forever improving the firmware to add extra features. Last but one update added the ability to play music directly from it to USB speakers. Latest update has added a Surveillance service to monitor IP cameras.

http://synology.com/enu/index.php

[Mr E]

Be very careful if you intend to use the Western Digital NAS drive as a NAS drive to share files over your network, as it's intentionally crippled....

http://bp0.blogger.com/_jMkkcGSVIIc/R-hIhUtBdUI/AA...

DRM, don't you just love it.

[Munter]

rsv gone! said:

I have a Synology. It does everything!

And they are forever improving the firmware to add extra features. Last but one update added the ability to play music directly from it to USB speakers. Latest update has added a Surveillance service to monitor IP cameras.

http://synology.com/enu/index.php

Now that is looking interesting. Ok I have to buy hard drives on top of the box but it'll also let me share my printer...

Can you store your music on it and play it on the computer. It sounds like the Western Digital one will block that.

[marctwo]

rsv gone! said:

I have a Synology. It does everything!

And they are forever improving the firmware to add extra features. Last but one update added the ability to play music directly from it to USB speakers. Latest update has added a Surveillance service to monitor IP cameras.

http://synology.com/enu/index.php

That looks really good but the only way to run SlimServer (for Squeezebox) on it is to use a 3rd party app that is now discontinued. You can get the Qnap with SlimServer pre-installed. Shame otherwise the Synology looks perfect.

[rsv gone!]

Munter said:

Can you store your music on it and play it on the computer.

You get an extra option on itunes (it finds it automatically on startup), for all the music stored in \music\ folder.

I store all tv progs on it (it has inbuilt torrent client) and backup music from my media pc to it. I then play music from it on my second pc.

It also has uPnP support, although not slimserver (although I believe there are 3rd party updates to get around this).

[Munter]

rsv gone! said:

Munter said:

Can you store your music on it and play it on the computer.

You get an extra option on itunes (it finds it automatically on startup), for all the music stored in \music\ folder.

I store all tv progs on it (it has inbuilt torrent client) and backup music from my media pc to it. I then play music from it on my second pc.

It also has uPnP support, although not slimserver (although I believe there are 3rd party updates to get around this).

OK. Lets pretend I'm not an IT professional for a second (although if you want capacity planning software check out www.metron.co.uk I'll be happy to give you a demo).

What does uPnP do for me in this case?

[gizard]

Intrant NAS will do all of the below, I use it as a slim server amoungst other things.
http://www.infrant.com/main.html

[LukeBird]

51mes said:

JUst a point - mirroring does not back up your data - it just protects you from drve failure.. if you have a senior moment and delete the file or it gets corrupted it's still just as gone in a mirrored solution as in a single drive one...

if you are using the NAS as a **backup** device mirroring is overkill - I'd rather have capacity my primary data is RAID protected - my backup isn't.

SImes.

Sorry, my mistake. I did know that, but my wording was poor so I apologise for any confusion!
The only reason I can see using mirroring in a NAS backup on the one we're using at work is if you don't want RAID0. Idiotically you can't configure the drive as anything other than RAID 0/1, JBOD would be ideal

[rsv gone!]

Munter said:

Lets pretend I'm not an IT professional for a second (although if you want capacity planning software check out www.metron.co.uk I'll be happy to give you a demo).

What does uPnP do for me in this case?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPnP_AV_MediaServers

You can get streaming players from the likes of Netgear, which'll play music and/or video without the need for a PC.

[Munter]

rsv gone! said:

Munter said:

Lets pretend I'm not an IT professional for a second (although if you want capacity planning software check out www.metron.co.uk I'll be happy to give you a demo).

What does uPnP do for me in this case?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPnP_AV_MediaServers

You can get streaming players from the likes of Netgear, which'll play music and/or video without the need for a PC.

Ah gotcha. So I can plug 2 "dumb" devices into the network and they magically find each other. For some reason that didn't click when I read the wikipedia page.

[VEX]

For home use I have used the Buffalo Linkstations before and they are supplied with a Memeo back up software which keeps a live backup of your files when connected to the network.

V.

[Nacnud]

I've got a Synology CS407e with 2Tb configured as RAID 5.
Installing the disks was trivial, instructions were excellent.
Had it over a year now...

It's ideal for my home needs and I do use some of the software toys it comes with including UPnP, Photostation, Web server and FTP server.

For peace of mind I've got it mated to a UPS and the two do talk to each other successfully.

[Shadytree]

How about the HP MediaSmart server with Windows Home Server ?

Anyone got one ?

[Munter]

rsv gone! said:

I have a Synology. It does everything!

And they are forever improving the firmware to add extra features. Last but one update added the ability to play music directly from it to USB speakers. Latest update has added a Surveillance service to monitor IP cameras.

http://synology.com/enu/index.php

Well I ordered one (CS207) from Scan and 2 disks on Sunday night. 08:30 this morning they arrived. I was going to leave them to tonight. But what better time to play with technology than when your eating a chees and tomato sandwhich? So I have installed the isks etc and am currently installing the software over the network.

Ohh new gizmos.