Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
disaster strikes...
#263754 06/15/09 02:43 PM
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 138
Golden Offline OP
veteran
OP Offline
veteran
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 138
So my backup external hard drive kicked the bucket last night (or this morning, hard to tell when). Had it for almost 2 years, so I am not terribly surprised, just ticked that I now have to reprioritize the electronics budget accordingly.

I have been interested in picking up a NAS drive, and thought you all might have some suggestions. In all honesty, I would prefer to spend as little as possible, while still getting at least a reliable terrabyte. It doesn't have to be wireless itself, an ethernet connection is absolutely fine. Remote access would be a huge plus, but if it bumps the price up a lot then it's not tantamount.

Any suggestions? You all have yet to fail me with your technical prowess!

- Sam


M60x2, VP150, M22x2
Sennheiser HD-595
Onkyo TX-SR507, PS3 (40gb)
Re: disaster strikes...
Golden #263755 06/15/09 02:45 PM
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
I've been very interested in the NetGear/Infrant ReadyNAS units, but they certainly are on the high end of things. Drobo's also fascinating, but that's on the extreme high end, especially when you buy the bit to make it a NAS. The reviews on Amazon on the other brands tend to give me pause, though.


I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: disaster strikes...
Ken.C #263757 06/15/09 02:59 PM
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,458
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,458
I've been interested in the Drobo for quite awhile as well. I can't figure out why the Amazon reviews are all over the place as well, but it's also caused me to hold off on purchasing....


::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
Re: disaster strikes...
Ken.C #263759 06/15/09 03:11 PM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,349
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,349
Hey, at least it was just your backup and not your 'work' drive! ;\) Easy enough to replace (relatively).

I recently decided that I wanted a NAS for my home network too. After shopping around a bit, I found a Buffalo Linkstation LS-L500GL on clearance for about $65 from eCost. 500GB, 7200RPM SATA drive, Gigabit NIC. Couldn't beat that price. Yes, they're a couple of years old and discontinued. But they're cheap. And there's a firmware update that improved the performance and apparently gives it the ability to do remote access over the WAN connection (over the internet), though I have not tried it to confirm that it works.

http://www.ecost.com/detail.aspx?edp=425...ci_sku=42543767

It's working quite well and I'm very pleased with it, especially for the price. It's very stable - I've just rebooted it once, after the firmware update. It's been running for months. It has worked perfectly for my Vista, XP, Windows7, OSX, and Ubuntu machines. I bought it for backup purposes, but have quickly discovered how nice it is to have one centralized spot to share files. Very handy - especially if you're like me and like to build/rebuild machines all the time. \:\)

The only problem with it is that it doesn't allow you very much in the way of customization. It basically just shows up on your network as part of the 'WORKGROUP' workgroup, with a 'Share' folder. That's about it. You can, of course, make whatever subfolders under the 'Share' that you want. But the workgroup is fixed, which can cause some headaches for certain situations. I've also seen complaints on forums that its version of whatever Linux filesystem that it uses can't handle some non-standard characters that Vista/OSX can, which has resulted in a few folks complaining of problems with their MP3 collections. I have had no such problems. Its fan is also pretty loud. Loud enough that you probably wouldn't want to keep it somewhere where silence is valued - like in a bedroom or a HT room. It's also NOT compatible with Time Machine on OSX, if that's of any concern to you.

From my positive experience with it, I'd say to take a peek at all of the Buffalo LinkStation offerings. Their LinkStation Mini is the successor to the one I have, and it's available in both 500GB and 1TB versions, and seems to have a lot more features.

Good luck!


M80v2 | VP150v2 | QS8v2
SVS Pci+ 20-39
Emotiva UMC-1 & LPA-1
M22ti + T-Amp, in the Office
Re: disaster strikes...
PeterChenoweth #263760 06/15/09 03:20 PM
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
The Buffalo only uses SMB, right? Or does it have full AFP and NFS servers?


I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: disaster strikes...
Ken.C #263808 06/15/09 08:48 PM
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 138
Golden Offline OP
veteran
OP Offline
veteran
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 138
Peter, thank you very much for that link, it's pretty much exactly the level of sophistication I am looking for in my NAS. I'll put in an order.

Just so other people can benefit, for those of you looking for more advanced features and capacity, I read great things about the Synology DS209+ NAS server. Minus the harddrives, you can find them online new for around $315 US. If it was in my budget, I think that's where my money would go.

I also liked the Drobo setup, but I really am looking for extended capacity rather than true backup capability. The files I'm backing up are really more of a convenience thing rather than a work necessity. That said, the Drobo system seems like it would put my mind at ease if data backup was my main concern.

Thanks for the help everyone.


M60x2, VP150, M22x2
Sennheiser HD-595
Onkyo TX-SR507, PS3 (40gb)
Re: disaster strikes...
Golden #263811 06/15/09 09:41 PM
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,181
Likes: 1
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,181
Likes: 1
Golden,
If it's not too late here's another option for you. D-Link DNS-323. I have been running one for a year or so now and have had few issues - all of which have been fixed in the latest firmware update.

It's not on the same level as the Synology, but it's pretty good for the money and works well with the PS3.

I also use it as an FTP server to access my personal files as I travel more than 50% of my time for work - that also works well.


Dan
On-Wall M5HP LCR, QS8 & EP500 in 7.1
Re: disaster strikes...
cb919 #263812 06/15/09 10:03 PM
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 138
Golden Offline OP
veteran
OP Offline
veteran
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 138
Dan, that's pretty similar to the Synology, for nearly $100 less. Still, I actually went with the Buffalo - at $67US + shipping it was too inexpensive a fit to pass up. My plans for a future SACD player are now still intact!

EDIT: man, I leave a lot of very important words out of sentances...

Last edited by Golden; 06/15/09 10:03 PM.

M60x2, VP150, M22x2
Sennheiser HD-595
Onkyo TX-SR507, PS3 (40gb)
Re: disaster strikes...
cb919 #263813 06/15/09 10:05 PM
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,185
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,185
Time Capsule is nice but it's pricey and adds a router which you may not need.

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have a Drobo but you have to pay extra for the sled (for LAN connection). It's also expensive.

The next one I would look at is the HP Media Vault line. There's the cheaper MediaSmart Server which is a 2 bay version. I've lots of positive reviews on that one.

After that, Buffalo might be nice. I know some of them are hackable, making them a bit more valuable.

Re: disaster strikes...
oldskoolboarder #263814 06/15/09 10:11 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 165
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 165
I built my own NAS. after a ebay purchase of buffalo NAS, ended in an empty box showing up, i configured an old desktop into the NAS.

It has been working good and works good with PS3 and HTPC. It has remote access, FTP, DLNA.

http://www.freenas.org

Regs,
Avi


---
Samsung 65" 8500, xbox 360
Sunfire AV7702
Marantz AV7704
Sony UBP-X1000ES
M80s, VP180, QS8s, EP350
Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  alan, Amie, Andrew, axiomadmin, Brent, Debbie, Ian, Jc 

Link Copied to Clipboard

Need Help Graphic

Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics24,940
Posts442,457
Members15,616
Most Online2,082
Jan 22nd, 2020
Top Posters
Ken.C 18,044
pmbuko 16,441
SirQuack 13,840
CV 12,077
MarkSJohnson 11,458
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 145 guests, and 4 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newsletter Signup
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4