Network Attached Storage suggestions

I wasn't sure if I should start this thread here or in the hard drive sub section. Well anyways, I want to set up a network hard drive in my home so I can easily backup my computers, and share data amongst several devices around my home. I have been ripping my DVDs and Blu Rays to high quality MPEG 4 (totally legal as long as I don't share them) and I am filling up an external hard drive pretty fast. I want to be able to stream them to my two PS3s and my computers easily. I don't know anything about setting this type of thing up and have just started to look/research possible NAS drives.

I am intrigued by this Synology Diskstation DS112. I would also consider the two bay model, but I think one 2 TB HD will do. I have seen cheaper alternatives, but I like that you can buy or supply your own HD in this particular model. Also it has gotten favorable reviews for it's interface, ease of use/setup, and compatibility. Many of the generic brands (like Seagate Black Armor, WD My Book, Buffalo Link Station) have gotten so so reviews and seem to be limited because of their software. D-Link and IOmega both appear to have promising single or double bay models. But I just don't know enough about NAS to really know which brands/models to avoid and which to focus on.

Any other suggestions? Will I be able to use Windows 7 backup utility on my notebook with NAS, or will I have to use their software? Also will I be able to access this storage from beyond my wifi? I have read that some can create a secure URL to provide access anywhere there is an internet connection. I really don't know what to expect, and I have no idea how easy it will be to setup. Any insight would be greatly appreciated....

 

I use a Zyxel NSA310 with a 2TB drive to do most of the above. They also have a 2 bay with raid capability which is cheaper than most others and will offer RAID for redundancy or speed if your network is up to scratch. The UI is pretty good considering the price. You can log in from outside your network but its not the best. I'm pretty sure we've used the Win7 tool to make a backup also. The Ps3 picks it up no worries.
I came from a Buffalo link or live station and the Zyxel is 100x better and has never dropped out while streaming a movie. Very easy to setup also.
I've also had a WD mybook world but for the price I'd take another Zyxel.

 

I have the Zyxel NSA310 too. I managed to get two for roughly $50 each which was a great bargain.
Good NAS and decent performance.

Complaints: fan can be too loud when it spins up and while Zyxel is rather good with quality of their firmware- updates are being postponed and planned features changed.

 

A big thank you to both of you for offering your experience. NAS is one thing that I have zero experience with, and I dont know what to expect as far as setup (software). My main concern is backup for my laptop because at the moment I have to do it manually.

I read somewhere that some NAS devices allow you access from the web by creating a secure URL, so you can access it almost anywhere. Although I dont necessarily need that option, it would be convenient. At the moment I would mainly access it wirelessly through my home network. What kind of read write speeds do you see wireless vs ethernet cable? I only ask for the sake of doing backups and large file transfers. Is there a big difference in the speed? Lastly, what kind of protection could I expect from the Zxyel? I read one review which stated that it lacked security, although that could just be attributed to the owner's ignorance.

 

I have a similar setup for similar reasons. Write speeds in excess of 35MB/s can be expected while using Ethernet wire. Wi-Fi speeds depend on your router and Wi-Fi card- not on a NAS. I have a router that does good in this respect so I have real-life speeds of 10-12MB/s.

I use Acronis TrueImage and differential backup- that means that a full backup is created only once in a while (in my case once every 50 days) and for the remainder of time backup files consist only of differences between full backup and current day.
This way while full backup is roughly 60GB (and has to be done via Ethernet) for the following 50 days, differential backups are no more than 2GB which takes no more than 3-4 minutes to transfer.

That's basic setup. Mine is a bit more complicated- I use TrueCrypt and don't store files on a NAS as such. There is a TrueCrypt container on a NAS that gets automatically mounted as a local drive on my computer. Acronis treats it as a local drive but in fact it makes backup copy into an encrypted container.

So NAS security is not that much of a concern for me. If someone feels like trying to decrypt 1TB TrueCrypt container be my guest. If the NAS gets stolen in a burglary- same thing- no one will be able to access my data.

 

Whoa, hang on. TrueCrypt mounts a container from a network location as a local drive on your laptop? Can this be used as a workaround for Dropbox only allowing its folder to be installed on a local drive? Maybe I should start a thread just to ask you this question, I feel like I'm hijacking the thread.

Now that I'm a hijacker, to the op I use a Buffalo Linkstation Pro Duo which I got for $100 and thought I was getting a great deal. It's not bad, but I can't tell you how ludicrous it was just to swap a couple of drives in and out of it when I was first setting it up. Other than that, I only have a few minor gripes, and I can't complain too much since the name brand stuff costs twice as much or more and does more or less the same thing. I was exactly like you, didn't know anything about NAS and just researched for hours and hours, but still felt like I was taking a huge risk when I eventually decided on the Buffalo. Now that I've done that, I wish I had asked around. Not that the Buffalo isn't working because it is, but given another shot I'd probably get something else.

My advice, if someone on here recommends something that's just out of your price range, save up for it instead of saving a few pennies.

 

Nevermind answered my own question. Created a storage container in True Crypt. Moved the container to my NAS. Mounted container as a local drive. Installed dropbox folder in the container. Now my dropbox files are all stored on NAS and shared across the network like I always wanted.

 

Have you considered any of the external 'cloud' hard drives that can connect to router via ethernet? A lot cheaper, I think, than actual NAS - could be wrong
I've a Seagate GoFlex Home 2TB connected to my dlink DIR-655 router via Gigabit Ethernet.
I, too, use it for exact purposes you have in mind - multiple device backups to a central location and local video server to set top player (I use an xbox 360 instead of ps3 though)

If considering, the the external 'cloud' hard drives, like I've suggested, the 1 issue I've had (that, I believe is a fault/inconvenience specific to the Seagate software - which I plan to add another and am planning to try Western Digital's 'Live' model line to try to rectify) is that when sharing videos for local network server streaming, the Seagate will not allow (recurrent - think that's the directory structure term?) adding sub folders containing separate Movie title folders (containing video files, cover art, ect) within the parent "movie" folder ( example: movies/movie title/title's file's or Tv Episodes/Series name/Season/Episode# ect)
It, rather annoyingly, demands all files loose inside a single share directory - which is absolute chaos when trying to browse media on the tv via whatever settop player or trying to share a url link with a friend or trying to access from internet remotely!

I wou;d look into price comparisons as I think NAS Servers are quite a bit more expensive than the ethernet cloud external hard drives. Unless you need more capacity than 3 TB or you're setup will not recognize greater than 2TB, which maybe case with our PS3's and xbox 360's...
Hope this may help?

 

It does help, and I appreciate it. There is limited info out there about these setups, especially my unique needs or variables. I am unsure what to expect and how much to invest. Reading through the reviews of "cloud" storage devices on Amazon, feelings are mixed. I guess it depends on your expectations, needs, and computing knowledge. Some are more compatible and accessible then others from what I gather. I am strongly considering the Synology single bay NAS despite its high price. I actually prefer buying the actual hard drive separately.

 

I also have an NSA310 (running debian). It's pretty sweet, and especially for $60 the bang for your buck is hard to beat.

The QNAP TS219PII just dropped in price by $50 or so. It's a great option. There is also a 1 bay TS119PII. There is around $50 of difference between the two.

I would recommend the QNAP if you are looking for performance. The NSA310 is more than enough for most tasks. I use mine mostly for rsync backups.