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Filuren

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 19, 2010
11
0
Hello MacRumors,

been looking for a nice, cheap NAS for the Apple TV.
I only have some few requirements for it, but kind of deal breaking

· Possible to install torrent client, Transmission or the like
· 1TB or greater
· Compatible with the Apple TV
· Wireless connection would be nice

I've been looking at My Book Live from WD, which looks really nice.
Can you recommend me something better or will this work just great for my needs? Is it possible to install FreeNAS on it (not a requirement, just a thought)?

Thanks

Forgot to mention my price range, I was thinking something between $200 - $300
 
Last edited:

HellDiverUK

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2009
460
0
Belfast, UK
You won't install FreeNAS on the WD. FreeNAS is designed for running on a PC.

I use FreeNAS 7 on a HP Microserver.

Be aware, if you want to use the ATV with a NAS, you'll need to Jailbreak it if it's a ATV2, or hack it or run Crystalbuntu if it's a ATV1.
 

Filuren

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 19, 2010
11
0
Alrighty, FreeNAS is out of the picture then. It's just that I knew a BitTorrent client was possible to use with FreeNAS, not sure wether or not it's with My Book Live.

For the Apple TV, it's jailbroken and can stream .AVI, .MKV, .ISO etc perfectly and without troubles. Just need the perfect NAS for my home :)
 

kingtj

macrumors 68030
Oct 23, 2003
2,606
749
Brunswick, MD
Hmm....

To be honest with you? I think your price range is, perhaps, a bit too low?

I was interested in a $200 or so NAS myself, and purchased a Coolmax CN-330 last year:

http://www.coolmaxusa.com/productDe...ils=overview&subcategory=NAS&category=NASSATA

It claimed to have a built in bittorrent client, as well as an "iTunes server" and other features that sounded good.

It turned out the device was pretty much junk, though. Along with having a poor quality (noisy) cooling fan built into it, it would lose all of your settings and reset to default any time you changed the drive configuration (RAID mirror to non-RAID drives, for example). The settings lost included the static IP address you previously assigned it on your LAN, making it a pain to reconnect again!

The iTunes server wasn't as good as it sounded either. If you copied your music to a specific folder on the NAS, it would make it available to copies of iTunes on your LAN as though it was being shared out from another copy of iTunes. But you couldn't actually manage any of it from iTunes. So you basically had to import the songs into iTunes on a regular PC or Mac first, adding any embedded cover art and description info for them, and then copy the whole iTunes music folder and associated .XML database files out to the NAS, so it could share all of it properly. Too much hassle unless you rarely/never update an existing music collection.

I wound up building a dedicated FreeNAS server for myself earlier this year, and it's pretty nice. BUT it has a few catches. First off, FreeNAS 8 is the current supported version and so far, it doesn't have support for any of the "extras" like torrent or uPnP media streaming. FreeNAS 7 has all of that, but it lacks other things like a newer filesystem with more advanced RAID capabilities. I don't think they make it too easy to upgrade from 7 to 8 either, if you start out using 7 and want to migrate later. You've got to back up all your data first and basically start over.

Price range to build a decent FreeNAS server is realistically going to be upwards of $500, IMO.


Hello MacRumors,

been looking for a nice, cheap NAS for the Apple TV.
I only have some few requirements for it, but kind of deal breaking

· Possible to install torrent client, Transmission or the like
· 1TB or greater
· Compatible with the Apple TV
· Wireless connection would be nice

I've been looking at My Book Live from WD, which looks really nice.
Can you recommend me something better or will this work just great for my needs? Is it possible to install FreeNAS on it (not a requirement, just a thought)?

Thanks

Forgot to mention my price range, I was thinking something between $200 - $300
 

dxtd

macrumors newbie
Oct 6, 2011
4
0
Synology is great

I really like Synology. I have the DS212 but it is $300 just for the box.
They have some entry level models for $149 and $199
http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS110j&lang=enu
http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS111&lang=enu
The software is great and they keep updating it and adding features.
http://www.synology.com/dsm/index.php?lang=enu
It has a torrent client.
I also have the WD and the Synology is a 1000 times better.
Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:

lostinjapan

macrumors newbie
Jan 7, 2012
4
0
MyBook Live

I bought a 2TB WD MyBook Live and connected to ATV1 after jailbreaking using firecore ATV Flash and Nito TV. Worked very well.

I've subsequently had a bigger problem, however pretty sure that's not related to the NAS.
 
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