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Nas
- Thread starter Poka5532
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http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas
I looked at the Drobos and realized they were too slow & custom to be worth the cost. The Synology 4-bay systems (i.e 411) seem to be fast, support USB backup and work with Time Machine. The Qnap gear is worth looking at as well.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas
I looked at the Drobos and realized they were too slow & custom to be worth the cost. The Synology 4-bay systems (i.e 411) seem to be fast, support USB backup and work with Time Machine. The Qnap gear is worth looking at as well.
What will you be using the Nas for?
I have a Nas connected to my time capsule used purely as a media hub for tv shows/movies/music etc. If your plans are for something similar, then a worldbook has served me well....
If you are looking for backup with raid then this isn't the option for you...
More details please
I have a Nas connected to my time capsule used purely as a media hub for tv shows/movies/music etc. If your plans are for something similar, then a worldbook has served me well....
If you are looking for backup with raid then this isn't the option for you...
More details please
I'm not a "computer whiz" by any means . . and recently started to research NAS as an option. I would be using it strictly as a media hub as well (videos and music).
I'm a PC user, but soon to be a 1st time Mac owner - ordering an iMac. Currently my media (videos and music) is stored on my PC. In order for me to stream my media from my other networked devices at home (laptops, apple TV, iPad, iPhones), my PC has to be awake with iTunes open.
As I understand it, if I store my media on NAS, I can access it from all computers at anytime without having my PC/iTunes open . . correct? If so, this is the solution I'm looking for.
You say "worldbook" is what you use? Is it the Western digital "my book world edition NAS" you're using? And, is a NAS server pretty simple and straightforward to setup?
Thanks
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Thanks for the link . . seems a bit complicated for me.
Question: If I choose to load all of my media (videos, photos, music) on the iMac internal hdd - basically using my iMac as my server for my other devices (laptop, apple tv, iphone), is there a way (an iphone app??) to remotely wake up my iMac and also to remotely launch iTunes on my iMac - so I can access the media from my other devices??
In other words . . I don't want to run upstairs to wake up my iMac and launch iTunes every time I want to access that library from my apple tv/iphone while sitting downstairs. Any suggestions and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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I have a synology. I have a 2tb samsung in it and it is close to flawless.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...042&cm_re=synology_110-_-22-108-042-_-Product
I have a macmini an imac and a macpro. MY network is all hard wired to this router.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127060
and this switch
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7325&cm_re=d-link_switch-_-33-127-325-_-Produ
I can add more synology units but I use it like a taxi cab to move info from one computer to another. If I record conan obrien on the imac in my kitchen and want to watch it on the mini in my bedroom. I move it to the synology and since all computers see I can then watch it in my bedroom. If i really want to keep something I move it to the mac pro is has lots of storage.
Noobish question:
Can you use an NAS to store an iTunes library and then point iTunes to that same library on multiple machines?
Also, can you use the same NAS as a Time Machine backup disk for multiple computers?
Can you use an NAS to store an iTunes library and then point iTunes to that same library on multiple machines?
Also, can you use the same NAS as a Time Machine backup disk for multiple computers?
Try the ReadyNAS range, esp the Ultra2 for simple operation.
Depending on how much you have to access, there are 2, 4 and 6 drive versions.
I have a 2 drive and a 6 drive plus another 6 drive for backup.
Fast and easy to use - but best of all, excellent forum support inc from the developers.
URL : http://www.readynas.com/forum/
There is also a special forum area for Mac topics/problems.
Depending on how much you have to access, there are 2, 4 and 6 drive versions.
I have a 2 drive and a 6 drive plus another 6 drive for backup.
Fast and easy to use - but best of all, excellent forum support inc from the developers.
URL : http://www.readynas.com/forum/
There is also a special forum area for Mac topics/problems.
This link may help
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3774
"The Wake on Demand feature of Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard lets your Mac continue to share items (such as music, printers, files, or your screen) when it is asleep."
but...
"Wake on Demand requires an Apple AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule"
I can strongly recommend the Apple Airport Extreme, it does a lot more for you than just Wake On Demand
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3774
"The Wake on Demand feature of Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard lets your Mac continue to share items (such as music, printers, files, or your screen) when it is asleep."
but...
"Wake on Demand requires an Apple AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule"
I can strongly recommend the Apple Airport Extreme, it does a lot more for you than just Wake On Demand
Is this the same as DLNA?
Both the Synology and Netgear NAS support DLNA, but I can't seem to find one that has an "iTunes server."
Try the ReadyNAS range : http://www.readynas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/ReadyNAS_Comparison_Home.pdf
I would suggest you look at Qnap, they are more expensive then the others, but in my opinion worth the extra money. I have a 6 bay Qnap that I have had for over a year and a half, never once had a problem with it.
www.qnap.com
www.qnap.com
Ah okay, I guess the Newegg "Details" tab doesn't list the complete specifications, because it doesn't mention an iTunes server capability for either the Synology or ReadyNAS line.
I would be interested in hearing about some other people's home network setups to get some ideas. Basically, in my house my wife and I both have iMacs, and we each have a Mac laptop. We would like to keep our iTunes libraries separate, but we'd each like to be able to access our respective libraries on both our own laptops and iMacs. We're currently using an Airport Extreme to share a 500GB USB 2.0 HDD and a USB printer.
We also have an Apple TV and would like to be able to access both libraries on the Apple TV. Aside from that, we'd like to be able to make Time Machine backups of both our iMacs. We have about 1 TB worth of combined media (songs/movies) at this point between the two of us and need room to expand.
I'm trying to decide whether an NAS would suit our needs, or a combination of NAS and upcoming Thunderbolt enclosures (using the NAS for iTunes/media stuff and Thunderbolt enclosures for Time Machine backups)... Can anyone offer some opinions on a setup that works well for these needs?
Sorry to hijack the thread slightly but this was something I've been kicking around in my head for awhile and really need some advice from someone who has a "killer setup" that I can copy.
Thanks.Ah okay, I guess the Newegg "Details" tab doesn't list the complete specifications, because it doesn't mention an iTunes server capability for either the Synology or ReadyNAS line.
I would be interested in hearing about some other people's home network setups to get some ideas. Basically, in my house my wife and I both have iMacs, and we each have a Mac laptop. We would like to keep our iTunes libraries separate, but we'd each like to be able to access our respective libraries on both our own laptops and iMacs. We're currently using an Airport Extreme to share a 500GB USB 2.0 HDD and a USB printer.
We also have an Apple TV and would like to be able to access both libraries on the Apple TV. Aside from that, we'd like to be able to make Time Machine backups of both our iMacs. We have about 1 TB worth of combined media (songs/movies) at this point between the two of us and need room to expand.
I'm trying to decide whether an NAS would suit our needs, or a combination of NAS and upcoming Thunderbolt enclosures (using the NAS for iTunes/media stuff and Thunderbolt enclosures for Time Machine backups)... Can anyone offer some opinions on a setup that works well for these needs?
Sorry to hijack the thread slightly but this was something I've been kicking around in my head for awhile and really need some advice from someone who has a "killer setup" that I can copy.
I have a Synology DS411+ that I use for storing iTunes library, backup, archiving, scratch, etc. It is hardwired to an AEBS and, the AEBS to a mini. There are also a couple of MBPs that access the NAS wirelessly. Everytime I launch iTunes on one of these MBPs, they load the iTunes library in the NAS. I also hae a couple of Apple TVs (1st gen) that are synced to this library. However, you need to have iTunes running so that the AppleTV sees the iibrary. I have not tried the NAS iTunes server. Finally, I also have running Sonos to stream music from the library to various zones.
For backup, I use Chronosync.
Hope the above helps.
Thanks, I'm thinking about getting a Synology DS411J (4-bay diskless NAS) and 4 of these Seagate Barracuda XT 3TB SATA-II Drives.
My question is: What type of RAID array would you suggest using? Based on this RAID calculator, I would get 8.3 TB of useable disk space from 4x 3TB drives in RAID 5. What kind of read/write speeds could I expect from this setup (hooked up to a router w/gigabit LAN)?
Would this setup be practical for streaming audio/video as an iTunes server, and for Time Machine backups? Or would I be better off waiting for Thunderbolt enclosures and just sharing them over the network? After all, my computer is almost always on. The whole Thunderbolt vs. NAS thing is driving me nuts...
Thanks!
My question is: What type of RAID array would you suggest using? Based on this RAID calculator, I would get 8.3 TB of useable disk space from 4x 3TB drives in RAID 5. What kind of read/write speeds could I expect from this setup (hooked up to a router w/gigabit LAN)?
Would this setup be practical for streaming audio/video as an iTunes server, and for Time Machine backups? Or would I be better off waiting for Thunderbolt enclosures and just sharing them over the network? After all, my computer is almost always on. The whole Thunderbolt vs. NAS thing is driving me nuts...
Thanks!
I've got a 411J with 4x 3TB hard drives, it's set up with Synology Hybrid Raid with one drive redundancy. Pretty much the same as Raid 5 but it allows you to have different size drives so you could expand the array by putting in a bigger drive (when you can get a bigger drive than 3TB!).
Performance - writing to the 411J is about 45MB/s on bigger files, reading is about 80MB/s. Not bad at all, but the Synology 1511+ writes at about 85MB/s and reads at 95MB/s - if speed is very important to you. I use the 1511+ for images that are being worked on in Lightroom and Photoshop so wanted it to be as quick as possible. It backs up overnight automatically to the 411J. Only had this system about a week (before that just stacks of external drives) but I'm very happy with it so far.
Not tried the itunes server, reading the synology forums it seems like there might be some problems with it - it doesn't work with
tv for example.
I have a D-Link DNS 321 its great and you can replace the drives at any time if you need extra storage unlike a lot of those Western Digital things. Also this is much cheaper. It supports an iTunes server, raid 0,1 ect. though it only has 2 drive bays, don't know how many you need/want.
Here's a question: What's the difference between using an NAS like the ones that have been mentioned, vs. using a Pogoplug (www.pogoplug.com)?
I guess one obvious difference is RAID functionality,... but as far as Time Machine backups and DLNA streaming, there doesn't seem to be a difference? What about performance?
I guess one obvious difference is RAID functionality,... but as far as Time Machine backups and DLNA streaming, there doesn't seem to be a difference? What about performance?
another vote for Qnap.
I have a two bay Qnap-259 Pro Turbo NAS i'm using for Timemachine and backup of the most important files on my 4 bay Qnap-459 Pro Turbo NAS. I love them, and the ability to run AFP so my mac's can read the data on the shares, and have the NAS joined into my windows active directory domain at the same time.
The four bay version a about maxes out my gigalan infrastructure with transfer speeds in excess of 85mb/s.
I'm running a mixed environment, with a Windows domain and MS Exchange server and ISCSI is another awesome feature of these higher-end Qnap systems.
If you value transfer speed, aim for a NAS with a intel dual cores (Atom) The Gigabit connection on the older dlink' 323s and other cheaper models is a more of a marketing feature, and you rarely see write speeds exceed 12mb's and read in the lower 20's on these devices due to the slow cpu's, which for me isn't at all enough when moving stuff around. For backup only they sucffice, but for a everyday storage solution the Qnap's (and high end synology's) are very nice to work with, and well supported by the manufacturers and online communities.
I have a two bay Qnap-259 Pro Turbo NAS i'm using for Timemachine and backup of the most important files on my 4 bay Qnap-459 Pro Turbo NAS. I love them, and the ability to run AFP so my mac's can read the data on the shares, and have the NAS joined into my windows active directory domain at the same time.
The four bay version a about maxes out my gigalan infrastructure with transfer speeds in excess of 85mb/s.
I'm running a mixed environment, with a Windows domain and MS Exchange server and ISCSI is another awesome feature of these higher-end Qnap systems.
If you value transfer speed, aim for a NAS with a intel dual cores (Atom) The Gigabit connection on the older dlink' 323s and other cheaper models is a more of a marketing feature, and you rarely see write speeds exceed 12mb's and read in the lower 20's on these devices due to the slow cpu's, which for me isn't at all enough when moving stuff around. For backup only they sucffice, but for a everyday storage solution the Qnap's (and high end synology's) are very nice to work with, and well supported by the manufacturers and online communities.
I was going to get a qnap model, but then I realised that the synology models cost less and offer better hardware specs than the equivalent qnap ones. Also the synology beat qnap in benchmarks.