NAS noob questions

[fakebun]

Hi guys. I am completely new to the whole NAS scenario and I was wondering if NAS can do the following....

- be the shared storage for all computers who connect to the same router that the NAS is on for reading and/or writing?

- connect to my ps3 for streaming?

- back up pictures, music, documents automatically? this probably requires a special software rather than NAS...

- able to retrieve contents of NAS from another computer via internet?

Please enlighten me on other cool stuff NAS can do and recommend a beginner NAS enclosure and type of hard drives best suited for the job. My budget is not too much...probably around $150-200 (with drives hopefully)

P.S. with using NAS, is wifi acceptable? or should I use powerline adapter to achieve wired connection?

Thank you guys so much.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Hi guys. I am completely new to the whole NAS scenario and I was wondering if NAS can do the following....

- be the shared storage for all computers who connect to the same router that the NAS is on for reading and/or writing?

It can.

- connect to my ps3 for streaming?

Sure.

- back up pictures, music, documents automatically? this probably requires a special software rather than NAS...

Yup. Although automated backups require automated backup software. (I'm pretty sure Windows' built in backup utility only supports local storage... although I suppose if your NAS box supports iSCSI, then you can use that protocol. Except then you're not so much a NAS anymore, but a SAN.)

- able to retrieve contents of NAS from another computer via internet?

Yup, although it depends on your ISP too.

Please enlighten me on other cool stuff NAS can do and recommend a beginner NAS enclosure and type of hard drives best suited for the job. My budget is not too much...probably around $150-200 (with drives hopefully)

P.S. with using NAS, is wifi acceptable? or should I use powerline adapter to achieve wired connection?

Thank you guys so much.

Nothing I can recommend within your budget. A decent home NAS enclosure costs more than that.

Although I guess if you have an old PC, you can install FreeNAS OS and put $150 into HDDs for it.

WiFi will work, I suppose. But performance will suck. Ideally, you have it hard-wired into your router with an old fashioned copper wire.

 

[Enigma102083]

What you want feature-wise for the price you're willing to pay is possible with NAS4Free (FreeNAS sucks now, the good devs forked off and did NAS4Free), and a lot of sweat and possibly tears. But can be done.

 

[fakebun]

thx guys!

I am looking to hardwire the NAS to the router, but access it from other computers via wifi. Does it matter if my computers are a mix of apples and pc?

Is LaCie's big2 or Netgear's ReadyNAS V2+ (the 2 bay entry version) good place to start? I have some harddrives lying around.

Lastly, does my harddrive have to be clean at the time of installation? If I want to upgrade the harddrives do I have to manually move everything into the other (i heard something about using RAID it writes files into both drives so you can always do "something" and then easily remove and add a new HDD in there)

 

[smitbret]

A good NAS will do all of the things you are asking.

However, given your budget, there is no real answer for purchasing a pre-built. However if you have an older PC (CPU, MB, PSU, Case, Memory) and already have the HDDs, you could install Windows Home Server 2011 for about $50 and it will do everything you've mentioned.

If you had to build from scratch, you could still do it with about $250:

AMD FM2 ~$50
FM2 Motherboard ~$50
WHS 2011 ~$50
4GB Memory ~ $40

That will leave you with about $60 for a really cheap case and a decent PSU like the Corsair C430 for $30-$40. An FM1 system would be slightly less.

Hardwire the NAS, and don't worry about wireless for the clients, that will probably be fine.

 

[smitbret]

thx guys!

Lastly, does my harddrive have to be clean at the time of installation? If I want to upgrade the harddrives do I have to manually move everything into the other (i heard something about using RAID it writes files into both drives so you can always do "something" and then easily remove and add a new HDD in there)

It's going to depend on the type of setup you have. If you use a commercial RAID setup then the drives need to be clean when installed since you will lose any data when you intialize it. If you just run a JBOD setup with Windows, then you'll only need 1 blank HDD to set up your OS.

I think we would need to know the HDDs (sizes & connections) that you have on hand as well as establish the route you'll go and if you'll be able to wipe the drives with your NAS solution.

This question will probably get more/better attention on the Memory & Storage Board

 

[Elixer]

A good NAS will do all of the things you are asking.

However, given your budget, there is no real answer for purchasing a pre-built. However if you have an older PC (CPU, MB, PSU, Case, Memory) and already have the HDDs, you could install Windows Home Server 2011 for about $50 and it will do everything you've mentioned.

If you had to build from scratch, you could still do it with about $250:

AMD FM2 ~$50
FM2 Motherboard ~$50
WHS 2011 ~$50
4GB Memory ~ $40

That will leave you with about $60 for a really cheap case and a decent PSU like the Corsair C430 for $30-$40. An FM1 system would be slightly less.

Hardwire the NAS, and don't worry about wireless for the clients, that will probably be fine.

Hmm, for a NAS, you could get something like this ASRock E35LM1 AMD E-240 APU AMD A50M Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo for $55, then you need RAM + PSU + CASE + linux for OS (free)...
It has 4 SATA 6gb/s ports + gigabit LAN
Actually, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138365 looks good for NAS, comes with free 8GB RAM as well for $80, but only 3 SATA ports. however, you got USB 3 ports as well...

 

[smitbret]

Hmm, for a NAS, you could get something like this ASRock E35LM1 AMD E-240 APU AMD A50M Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo for $55, then you need RAM + PSU + CASE + linux for OS (free)...
It has 4 SATA 6gb/s ports + gigabit LAN
Actually, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138365 looks good for NAS, comes with free 8GB RAM as well for $80, but only 3 SATA ports. however, you got USB 3 ports as well...

That's a great buy for his budget! I would be a little wary with that CPU if he is going to need to do any transcoding when streaming video to his PS3, though, but on a budget it leaves a little room for the HDDs. Has the gigabit port for the networking and can do an add-in card for future adds.