Please recommend me a NAS box :)

Ste2

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Hello,

I am looking for a NAS box to complement my planned SOHO...

I have read this article but it is over 3 years old so looking for some fresh advice.... My requirements are as follows;

  1. Reasonably flexible OS that can run utorrent (or other download client) & PS3 media server
  2. Option for at least 4TB of storage space, probably starting at 2 x 1.5TB
  3. At least 1 x USB2.0 port
  4. Store Video
  5. Store Music
  6. Store Pictures
  7. Store big files over 4GB+
  8. Capable of streaming at least 2 videos at once
  9. Have access/password control to nomiated folders/files
Those are the main things but I guess these points might be relevant also;
  1. If not RAID, then a decent backup capability (I do not envisage any essential data on my NAS but I would like to have some form of saftey net if it is cost effective)
  2. Gigabit capable w/jumbo frames (I would like the transfers to be as fast as possible as long as its not silly money!)
I think it is likely I want a Buy Your Own Drive model with backup taking a backseat to capacity for the short term....

Budget? - I already have one samsung HD154UI 1.5TB drive, I am hoping to get one more and then pay around £250-£300 for the NAS (as little as possible really - I have no idea at this stage whether this is realistic or not!) :rolleyes:

I guess I am looking at a high-end 2-bay or a low-end 4-bay?

Any suggestions/example set-ups welcome :smashin:

Thanks
 
Personally I use an NSLU2 which costs about £50 and can cope with the above. Main trouble I find is that it is slow to copy things onto it which may be an issue for you.
 
anything 2 bay consumer an up should handle that - £150 ish for something like a readynas DUO or equivalent QNAP/Synology box
 
Personally I use an NSLU2 which costs about £50 and can cope with the above. Main trouble I find is that it is slow to copy things onto it which may be an issue for you.

Thanks mauwf, that seems cheap. I'll have a look at this.

anything 2 bay consumer an up should handle that - £150 ish for something like a readynas DUO or equivalent QNAP/Synology box

Thanks also t72bogie. Netgear seem to be a recommended brand but I never thought I would forgive them for the cr*p wireless router they sold be about 5 years ago!!!

Thinking much more seriously about a 4-bay now, given that 1TB drives are going so cheap.

Can anyone tell me why the Netgear NV+ RND4000 is priced at £230 in some places and £430+ at others? seems very odd :confused:
 
Thanks mauwf, that seems cheap. I'll have a look at this.



Thanks also t72bogie. Netgear seem to be a recommended brand but I never thought I would forgive them for the cr*p wireless router they sold be about 5 years ago!!!

Thinking much more seriously about a 4-bay now, given that 1TB drives are going so cheap.

Can anyone tell me why the Netgear NV+ RND4000 is priced at £230 in some places and £430+ at others? seems very odd :confused:

The NV+ is a good box, but it's been around a little while. Perfectly good for what it does though, but if it's something that will be used as a squeezebox server maybe later on I feel it's a little bit too slow, if your not gonna run things like that on there it would fit the bill.

IIRC it's the same cpu that drives the readynas duo, so a little bit more overhead as it's controlling 4 drives opposed to 2.
 
the NV+ is being discounted by some places...bargain at £230 - I had one before I upgraded to a Pro model :smashin:

the Stora product is designed for ease of use...so that your mom and dad could set it up

the readynas products are not difficult, but they are fully featured NAS boxes

main difference between them in my view, is that the Stora is quite closed - you can only do what it supports from Netgear

the readynas line are quite "open" and there are hundreds of 3rd party linux/unix add-ons that have been done by the community ...so its more suitable if you know what you are doing and what you want i.e. bit torrent or NZb clients and such like (not supported on Stora)
 

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