Hi,
I've been a lurker, and have recently bought a 24" Alu iMac and am very happy with it. However, I'm now trying to sort out the rest of the storage and stuff around my home "network" so I can keep things a little more organised.
Here's what I have:
iMac (currently 10.4.10 if that matters) 320 Gb, MyBook Pro on Firewire 800
Freecom media server 320gb (software not Mac compatable AFAIK, so have to connect via Laptop, or USB as FAT32)
2 x XP laptops (Sony Vaio and an Acer if it matters)
Netgear 834N router in the middle of it all.
Here's what I want to achieve:
I want a NAS to sit next to the Netgear, in a cupboard in the lounge (so must be relatively quiet) to be accessed as a network drive by laptops and iMac alike. I have (briefly) tried to understand the implications of the various formats, but one point of note is that this iMac is my first Mac, so all my data is in XP naming conventions (as in characters allowed etc) if that matters.
I'd like to have the NAS as a dumping ground, so all the media that's on the Freecom and iMac will effectively be mirroed on it and simply acts as a reference drive. I'd like to be able to use a laptop to transfer files from the NAS to the Freecom across a HomePlug network as an XP machine should be able to see both as drives.
I am worried about:
Noise - as close to silent as possible
Compatability - I want minimum fuss
Price - within reason
I'm not fussed about:
Raid/reliability - it's a dumping ground, everything I actually care about is backed up elsewhere so doesn't need to be over engineered, an enclosure and cheap drive better for me than an office system
Speeds - I don't stream anything, and don't care about top speeds, it'll be done overnight if it's gonna take too long: noise and compatibility is paramount.
So, can you guys offer any help or reccomendations please ?
I've been a lurker, and have recently bought a 24" Alu iMac and am very happy with it. However, I'm now trying to sort out the rest of the storage and stuff around my home "network" so I can keep things a little more organised.
Here's what I have:
iMac (currently 10.4.10 if that matters) 320 Gb, MyBook Pro on Firewire 800
Freecom media server 320gb (software not Mac compatable AFAIK, so have to connect via Laptop, or USB as FAT32)
2 x XP laptops (Sony Vaio and an Acer if it matters)
Netgear 834N router in the middle of it all.
Here's what I want to achieve:
I want a NAS to sit next to the Netgear, in a cupboard in the lounge (so must be relatively quiet) to be accessed as a network drive by laptops and iMac alike. I have (briefly) tried to understand the implications of the various formats, but one point of note is that this iMac is my first Mac, so all my data is in XP naming conventions (as in characters allowed etc) if that matters.
I'd like to have the NAS as a dumping ground, so all the media that's on the Freecom and iMac will effectively be mirroed on it and simply acts as a reference drive. I'd like to be able to use a laptop to transfer files from the NAS to the Freecom across a HomePlug network as an XP machine should be able to see both as drives.
I am worried about:
Noise - as close to silent as possible
Compatability - I want minimum fuss
Price - within reason
I'm not fussed about:
Raid/reliability - it's a dumping ground, everything I actually care about is backed up elsewhere so doesn't need to be over engineered, an enclosure and cheap drive better for me than an office system
Speeds - I don't stream anything, and don't care about top speeds, it'll be done overnight if it's gonna take too long: noise and compatibility is paramount.
So, can you guys offer any help or reccomendations please
?