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Oh I see. And what do you need that for - streaming music? You could also do that with a PC you leave running of course. |
How useful is a NAS? • Page 2
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monkman76 18,987 posts
Seen 4 days ago
Registered 13 years ago -
monkman76 wrote:
It could have lots of uses. Getting files, photo, whatever. I can upload remotely as well, which can be useful for photography amongst other things.
Oh I see. And what do you need that for - streaming music?
You could also do that with a PC you leave running of course.
And yes, I could just leave a PC running, but I would have had to re-empt needing to do that.
It's just another benefit. For some it could be a life-changing one, for others a nice to have on occasion. -
monkman76 18,987 posts
Seen 4 days ago
Registered 13 years agoYeah fair enough, really just trying to see how I could get more use out of my own NAS tbh. Cheers. -
Popzeus 8,425 posts
Seen 5 years ago
Registered 16 years agoLove mine. I have a fully redundant 6TB array (4 x 2TB drives in a ReadyNAS) with my entire DVD collection on it, which I can stream to tellies throughout the house via an HTPC and a jailbroken Apple TV. It also houses all my documents and automatically backs them up to a web server overnight.
It can be a pain in the arse to maintain - I had to start again from a factory reset after a couple of disk fails, and it doesn't play nicely with Mountain Lion - but I wouldn't be without it now that I'm used to it. If anything I'll probably end up buying another to run alongside it. -
Popzeus 8,425 posts
Seen 5 years ago
Registered 16 years agokalel wrote:
Stop showing off about your lah-di-dah broadband speeds.
monkman76 wrote:
I can access my NAS remotely.
kalel wrote:
Probably being dim but what do you mean by this? In my fairly layman usage, my NAS is an alternative to the likes of Dropbox.
the Cloud based advantages. -
I'm currently looking at a new computer, and having a NAS drive really opens up my options.
It makes getting something without an optical drive or even a large HHD/SSD much more feasible as an option. I don't really need a primary big home computer anymore. I can just keep all my stuff on a NAS, and know that in a pinch, wherever I am, as long as I can get to somewhere with internet I can access my stuff. -
nickthegun 87,711 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 16 years agoWhen I built my PC, I specced it without an optical drive partially to see how far I could get without one. The answer is 'very'. -
chopsen 21,958 posts
Seen 10 hours ago
Registered 16 years agokalel wrote:
Games are big.
I don't really need a primary big home computer anymore. -
THFourteen 54,987 posts
Seen 60 minutes ago
Registered 16 years agoMy laptop has an optical drive and its a waste of space. I used it once to install windows 8 on, which i could have done via USB.
Although, on the ocassion i get games on release day (FIFA 13, Battlefield 3) it means i can play them within an hour using the disk to install, instead of waiting 6+ hours for the game to download from overworked servers.
but i only have an 8mb bb connection. -
mrpon 37,366 posts
Seen 25 minutes ago
Registered 15 years agoChopsen wrote:
Apparently you can run Steam from a NAS. Haven't configured it myself, so only play one "big" game at a time on my SSD.
kalel wrote:
Games are big.
I don't really need a primary big home computer anymore. -
Chopsen wrote:
Again, depends on your needs. Gamers will get use out of a big computer, and probably not much out of a NAS.
kalel wrote:
Games are big.
I don't really need a primary big home computer anymore.
However, a freelancer who sometimes works from home, sometimes works in offices, and sometimes works on the road, will find a small, light laptop and a NAS drive they can access from anywhere enormously useful. -
Tonka 31,979 posts
Seen 2 hours ago
Registered 18 years agomonkman76 wrote:
Main reason for me to get a NAS was that I didn't want a PC turned on at all times, making noise and sucking energy.
Yeah fair enough, really just trying to see how I could get more use out of my own NAS tbh. Cheers.
I guess that if I had a bit of talent in PC building I could whack something together that didn't consume much power or made much noise. But I don't so I didn't. -
Genuine question, what is the advantage to having a NAS as opposed to a micro itx form factor pc sitting under the telly?
Another vote for no optical drive from me. Not needed one for a good 2 years now. -
p.s. I don't really have a clue about NAS' -
Depends how many devices will need to access it really. If you're happy to have a machine on all the time under your telly, then no problem. If you'll only use it with the telly or with other devices under the telly, then definitely no problem.
Has anyone got a FreeNAS setup going, or similar? It's a little project I intend to start before too long. -
MMMarmite 1,659 posts
Seen 22 hours ago
Registered 15 years agoBremenacht wrote:Has anyone got a FreeNAS setup going, or similar? It's a little project I intend to start before too long.
I was looking at FreeNAS for ZFS-based storage at work but the hardware requirements seemed a bit heavy for what we needed (assuming you opt for ZFS with compression and deduplication). It does look alright for home-use though and I would consider doing it, if I had anything to run it on
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Dirtbox 92,595 posts
Seen 13 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago -
I think I need to read quite a bit more about ZFS myself. I've read some people didn't get on with it. -
Dirtbox wrote:
Now that's cool.
cool stuff .. such as.. hosting files -
Dirtbox 92,595 posts
Seen 13 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago -
kalel wrote:
You are doing what I have done.
I'm currently looking at a new computer, and having a NAS drive really opens up my options.
It makes getting something without an optical drive or even a large HHD/SSD much more feasible as an option. I don't really need a primary big home computer anymore. I can just keep all my stuff on a NAS, and know that in a pinch, wherever I am, as long as I can get to somewhere with internet I can access my stuff.
I have got a D-Link 320l. For £50, it has two bays which you can stick up to 8TB in (if you get one of the compatible 4TB drives). Was the cheapest option for me, just slapped in 2 x 1TB drives
My front room PC just navigates directly to the mapped NAS if I want media, the SSD sits there for games and OS.
There are a variety of other PC's dotted around that can get on it. An iPhone app for streaming your media (compatible file types only, no transcoding).
It DID stream to my PS3, but I think I bobbinsed up the settings and need to hit the forum for help. Once again, no transcoding.
If you want transcoding, you need to fork out some cash for a slicker piece of hardware.
There is a web app too, but I think it is a bit shonky, so local network is the best access point. -
mrpon 37,366 posts
Seen 25 minutes ago
Registered 15 years agoMy shitty Tesco PVR connects to mine with a single button press on the remote, which is nice.
You wouldn't believe the amount of brownie points that got. And yes, I have. -
nickthegun 87,711 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 16 years agoYeah, the ability to watch my little pony on any device in the house at the touch of a button has, well, been widely ignored in its brilliance, but I think its cool. -
Popzeus 8,425 posts
Seen 5 years ago
Registered 16 years agoDirtbox wrote:
It's a cheapo dumb file server without any of the cool stuff you can use a server for, such as running programs, streaming video, hosting files and media you can access from net and so on. They're fine if your technical needs don't involve anything more than playing music in your bathroom, but otherwise they aren't worth bothering with.
I think they're basically pointless gadgets for people who can't fathom a better solution and you'll struggle to find a worthwhile use for it.
That's me told. -
crispyduckman 1,903 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 13 years agoI've had my NAS and it's disks running more or less constantly (i.e. never switched off or spun down) for almost 5 years now without any kind of failure or maintenance. TBH, I find the NAS less and less useful these days and I could probably live without it now. However, if it's still your thing, I highly recommend getting Seagate drives. Mine have been great. -
monkman76 18,987 posts
Seen 4 days ago
Registered 13 years agoRight, trying to set up my NAS for remote access and am bamboozled by all the ways you can do this. How are folks here doing it? IP address or using DynDNS or something? VPN? etc etc 
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Uncle Lou, where do you live? I'm only asking, as I've got a Netgear ReadyNAS Duo sat here doing nothing. It's no drive in it at the moment, as I needed it for a media centre build, but if you wanted it, then you can have it for the price of postage. Just bung a old hard drive in and you're away. I got it from EG myself from the charity thread last year, so I'd only be passing the good vibe along. Yours if you want it sir! -
Jetset_UK 3,578 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 18 years agoSo I've been thinking of putting a little NAS box together. Mainly so I can stream movies to different devices, and download completely legal movies and TV shows that I obviously already own on DVD but cant be bothered to rip.
Wanting something low powered that can sit under the stairs, perhaps running FreeNAS 7, with a VPN. Any ideas or tips people?
Edited by Jetset_UK at 12:57:49 25-04-2013 -
figgis 7,721 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 16 years agoQnap or synology , get what you can afford (drives are a separate cost). Get sickbeard and couch potato. -
I'm using a raspberry pi as a NAS type thing. It it's what my sonos system runs of, and it doesn't draw much power, and is dinky.
You can set up VPN on it, but it's easier if you have a router that supports it.
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