Questions, questions, questions…

I'd like to set up a NAS on my home network. So what should I buy?

I'd like it to act as a central store for all my documents, photos and mp3s so that I can see them all regardless of which PC or laptop I'm using.

250GB would probably be more than sufficient – but if it handled mirrored backups then that would be ideal.

Currently I've only got XP and Vista connected to the network, but compatibility with Linux and Mac would be a bonus.

In Windows I would expect it just to appear as another drive letter, is that right?

Fanless with low power consumption would be good too as I'd like to stick somewhere out of the way and just leave it on.

And if I wanted to have something that could output videos and photos to the TV then are there good combined NAS / Media PCs that do this or would I be better getting a separate Media PC that just streamed stuff off the NAS?

I use a Netgear NAS Duo.

Drive appears as both a media centre and as a shared drive, guess you could map it to a drive letter if so desired. Supports Windows, Linux and Mac protocols. Has built in webserver and UPNP so can stream to PS3 etc. It is nice and quiet once booted up. Can use one or two drives, if two drives you can use RAID 1.

Also supports RAIDX wich is nice for future extensibility.

I've been looking around and the Netgear NAS Duo from dabs, with the free 500GB drive seems to be the best bet.

Also it supports nbz files which is nice.

buffalo's are good too big range all sorts of sizes and specs
I've got one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001FFP4PK/ref=asc_df_B001FFP4PK437425/?tag=becomeuk9-21&creative=7966&creativeASIN=B001FFP4PK&linkCode=asn

just plug it in put your music movies etc on it
ps3 picks it up straight away pc's happy
and thats about it

does what it says ont the tin!

That Netgear ReadyNAS Duo looks sweet – but 90mm ball-bearing fan (hisssssssss) and 35W power aren't ideal (it does say it has a power saving mode – but doesn't tell me what power it draws on that).

Acting as a web server would be quite sweet too I suppose. I could actually get around to putting some more pics online.

Get a cheap PC, stick 2x1TB Drive in on RAID1, buy copy of Windows Home Server, sorted

I'm running Buffalo Linkstation Live 1Tb model at home. It's talking/stremaing happily to my mac, linux, windows, PS3 boxes – so no problems at all. Can be set up for RAID, supports Windows and Mac (time machine) backup and has a built in bitorrent client.. It seems to be fanless (at least it's ultra quiet even though it lives under my stairs so it's not a big deal for me). Supports wake-on-LAN for PC only – so could help with power consumption.

Killer feature is that it streams content to my iPhone over 3G & wireless – great for listening to the random song that you wish you had on there or for watching old episodes of Filthy, Rich and Catflap on the bus 😉

Get a cheap PC, stick 2x1TB Drive in on RAID1, buy copy of Windows Home Server, sorted

Yeah that's the other thing: what's the difference between doing that and running a "real NAS"?

I'm running Buffalo Linkstation Live 1Tb model at home.

+1

It sits there minding it's own business and has files on it when I want them.

Get a cheap PC, stick 2x1TB Drive in on RAID1, buy copy of Windows Home Server, sorted

Unfortunately, that would make a less reliable, less secure, louder, more expensive solution than the ready NAS box. Windows is truly, truly shit as a server, especially if you want it to handle more than one service reliably without rebooting it once a week/fortnight.

The ReadyNAS boxes are supposed to be quite quiet, and I will getting one in the next few weeks so I post back up here when I have got one.

Personally, I want something I can use as a streaming media server to my PS3, storage pictures/movies/games and a server to download newsgroup feeds via nbz files, with a small footprint and low power consumption and it seems to fit the bill.

The reviews on dabs seem to point out what its pretty quiet onces its booted up, and as its 22cm x 14cm x 10cm the footprint seems pretty good to me.

My ReadyNAS sits in the front room next to the TV, when I first fired it up I thought big mistake as the noise was akin to some of my old work servers booting up, after a couple of minutes thought it settles into silence.

Also has a bittorent client built in and a pretty good support/development community.

Unfortunately, that would make a less reliable, secure, louder, more expensive solution than the ready NAS box.

Erm, OK, what do you think a NAS is exactly ?

Its essentially a stripped down PC with a stripped down O\S, still has fans CPU, MB, HDD etc. etc. and is therefore still as reliable as any PC ?

after a couple of minutes thought it settles into silence.

When you say silence: I have to switch my Wii and my Humax box off at the plug because the "silent" fans drive me mental.

Even my home PC is a mix of passive cooling and big, slow-moving 120mm fluid-bearing fans.

You want DLNA certified too for future proofing I reckon.
A nice solid state drive and a fanless passive case at a reasonable price is what I'm waiting for.

Erm, OK, what do you think a NAS is exactly

I think its a very small server running SluGOS or variant, using a web frontend for administration. NetGear would have to be smoking crack to use Windows for this type of thing, as whilst Windows has its place, on servers really isn't it.

richc

Ahhhhhh after re-reading your post i see you are a Windows hater, thats fair enough !!

When you say silence: I have to switch my Wii and my Humax box off at the plug because the "silent" fans drive me mental.

Somebody I used to work with was like that, and after trying (and returning) lots of different models, ended up with a MythTV box made up from custom parts.

I think he got to know the Maplins and RS people on the trade counters very well, as he would buy, test and return anything that was out of spec or too loud.

BTW I'm not a Windows hater, on the Desktop its a much better solution for 99.99% of people, as people don't mind shutting down boxes every evening which makes them perfect.

However for a server, you don't want to have to reboot it for patches every week, bog down the CPU with virus scans every day, hog memory with active scanners (which on a FS is a good idea) and have the overheads of Windows when a microkernel, and a few choice binaries can do a better job. Why bog down the kernel and disk with applications that you would never use on a server? which in turn means that its much more secure and reliable.

Like I said Windows has its place on the Desktop, but its not a Server OS.

Old computer and http://www.Freenas.org is always fun… Mine's been running for 2 years now and (thou a bit geeky) suits my needs fine…

When you say silence: I have to switch my Wii and my Humax box off at the plug because the "silent" fans drive me mental.

Not sure how this compares but I happily leave PS3, Skybox, Audio system and TV all on standby.