Hi,
I'm a newbie to the whole NAS setup and I need some advice on what to purchase. Basically I just need it for media streaming to my Smart TV that I recently bought. Maybe a little file sharing between friends and family at another state.
Suggestions will be much appreciated, also low on budget too so can't afford too much.
Also, need to be simple setup coz I'm not too techie.
Thanks
+1 on Synology. Powerful, easy and reliable.
I currently run just a cheap lenovo desktop with windows 8 running.
on startup, i've got ninite installer running, so it updates the critial software
I've also got extractnow to automatically extract archives (it scans certain folders). Karens replicator for automatic backups, and a script to empty the recycle bin every so often.
I have seen many good comments or reviews about Synology, might focus on there products. ANy advise on what model to get?
How much money have you got :)
You probably just want to start with a single disk entry level product like the DS115 or DS115j
https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/
You can test-drive the operating system here:
https://www.synology.com/en-global/dsm/5.1/live_demo
A couple of hundred dollars.
They probably start just under that, and go up to thousands of dollars for the top end ones (I think I saw one for $50k advertised recently). Be aware that you need to add your own SATA hard disk drive/s. These are the first ones I found as an example: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&p… http://www.estore.com.au/synology-ds115j-diskstation-1-bay-n… There may be some of last year's model still floating around some retailers. The model tells you a bit about the device, in the form xxyzz, xx=the type of NAS (DS=diskstation, RS=rackstation etc), y=the number of drives it holds, and zz=the year (which model). If there is a j after the number, I believe it is an economy/low power version. I'm not sure what se means, perhaps a dedicated media server?, but then again they all do that. + means it is a high-end version of that model, usually a faster cpu and more memory.
Another brand to look at is Thecus. I've not used them myself but I believe they are a rip off of Synology boxes, or they used to be. http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Network_Storage_%28NAS%29…
Would I be able to use my existing external hard drives?
With synology you can since it has USB ports. Although NAS drives like WD Red are recommended, there's nothing wrong in using standard drives. I'm in synology ds214 and I can't stop singing its praises.
Spend the extra and get a HP Microserver
I had the readyNAS - a storm seemed to blow the network connection so it's now a paperweight. Yet to recover my data - lucky it wasn't much.
I then got a cheap Promise NAS from MSY - they had a deal including a 4T drive. Turns out the Promise does't support 4T drives, so when I got it fully loaded, it failed. I returned it to MSY "not fit for purpose" - should have returned hard disks too - still haven't recovered data from them.
I'm not keen to try a 3rd time, so now I use USB drives and serviio. My PC goes into deep sleep when not in use (you wouldn't know it's on) so doubt it's using much power.
I installed coffee because my media player couldn't keep PC awake, now that's resolved and I'm happy again :)
Hey mate
I'm also a newbie to them, but bought my first one at the start of the year. I got a Synology DS415play. I got the play edition because my main intent was for media streaming, and I opted for a 4 bay even though I only have 2 x 3TB drives in it currently as I thought it would be handy to future proof. I also had to upgrade my router at the time as I found my old one from TPG (which I had been using for about 3-4 years) wasn't handling the streaming traffic well. However, once everything was set up, it has been an absolute dream. What I really love about it is the mobile app functionality. We have a few android devices, and so we are able to download the Synology android apps and control everything from there. It's great to be able to browse your media library on your phone, send it over to the TV either via DLNA or the chromecast, and just have it work flawlessly. Also set the Download Station feature up to grab all of our regular tv shows via RS. It's terrific, cannot recommend enough
Anyone know how I would be able to stream rmbv files from NAS to my Smart TV?
As my Sony Smart TV doesn't support this format.
You could either:-
Very happy DS413 (4 bay) and DS1813+ (8 bay) owner, previously had a couple of '11 series device, all starting with a DS211j (2 bay). You pay a premium and lose flexibility over a custom-build option (starting at $500 just for the empty 4-bay model) but for simplicity/set-and-forget they are excellent. Main competitors, Thecus and QNAP offer more powerful hardware options if transcoding is required (but sounds like it won't be in your case). I prefer Synology's focus on power efficiency and in my opinion, aesthetically they look a lot better too which may be a consideration depending on placement. The gap is closing all the time but Synology's admin software, DiskStation Manager (DSM), is widely regarded to be the best/most mature in this market too, is frequently updated and always maintains backward compatibility to previous 3 or more generations.
So in summary, I would recommend Synology!
I used to run an i3 PC as a NAS using FreeNAS, even for someone technologically competent it was a pain in the dick.
I've since moved to a Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ with 4 x 4tb drives in it. Works amazingly well.
Have a look at Netgear's products as well as Synology. You can get them from MSY and they regularly have them on special.