Cost effective NAS solution?

M

Matthysdt

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Sep 10, 2010
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I'm trying to find a cost effective way of setting up a simple NAS.

There are so many options and prices that I thought I'd ask here what solutions you've implemented.

I could go the HP Micro server route (+/- R2000) + Windows 8 (R1800) + 2TB HDD (R1100) = R4900

OR I could find some device similar to this ( http://www.addonics.com/products/nas40esu.php ), but then I'd want it to be at least USB3 capable, and be available in SA.

Any suggestions?

PS. I'm not much worried in having a RAID solution, since the data on this NAS wil already be a backup of an existing HDD.

Thanks!
 
karnuffel

karnuffel

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Jul 5, 2010
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Beachless said:
Why don't you use freenas instead of Windows ?
Click to expand...

This. Freenas 9.2 is the current release and working great. Just remember if you have existing ZFS or UFS formatted drives to import volumes and not add volumes... (yes I had this fail)
 
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Carnajo

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359
I have a micro server with OpenMediaVault, also works great, and don't let the name fool you, it isn't just limited to Media, it is a full NAS solution with many plugins available.
 
C

Carnajo

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Just looked at your original post, isn't a whole NAS overkill for 2TB of backup? Why not just use a USB solution, or do you need multiple PCs to access it on a network?
 
PsyWulf

PsyWulf

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Under 3TB and only personal-type backup - don't bother
NAS enters the realm of many multiple TB or the need to access it from multiple devices/machines/locations
 
cerebus

cerebus

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How well does something like FreeNas interface with a TV? Could the MS go into the hdmi and then just be able to find and sort through a large collection of photos? I'm not sure how that all works.
 
PsyWulf

PsyWulf

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cerebus said:
How well does something like FreeNas interface with a TV? Could the MS go into the hdmi and then just be able to find and sort through a large collection of photos? I'm not sure how that all works.
Click to expand...

If you are using HDMI out you'd need some form of software to actually output anything remotely understandable to the TV. With just freenas you'd be looking at what amounts to a terminal login screen :p You may rather be looking more at a media center than a NAS for that (XBMC for Linux on a Flash Drive) then all the storage drives in an array
 
MagicDude4Eva

MagicDude4Eva

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NAS is really preference. If you want to tinker go the cheaper HP Microserver route. If you want a painfree, workable solution go with a Synology. The price of a base NAS will become irrelevant once you start to put 5 x 4TB drives into it and your NAS will cost you more in HDD (expect to swop out your HDDs after 2 years).

I used a Popcorn Hour as a media player and then switched to a Xtreamer Ultra running XBMC. I would strongly recommend a Synology + Xtreamer for home entertainment (I would possibly replace the Xtreamer with a Xbox One if it supports all media formats)
 
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