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Recommend me a good NAS system

T

thefunkymunky

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 24, 2005
1,270
2
London
Hey,

I need some advice on good NAS system to stick on my home network. Now this can be bundled with drives or without. I'm inclined to go without drives since more often than not its cheaper to supply your own drives, but anyway, here are some requirements.

At least 2 drive bays
OSX/Windows compatible
Time Machine compatible
Built-in DLNA certified media server (compatible with Mac/PC and PS3)
Built-in iTunes server
Bittorrent client support
Gigabit ethernet port
External USB ports and ideally FW800 port as well
Aesthetically pleasing (not a must but I'd like something that looks good - I am a Mac user after all :p )

No budget per-se - just want your recommendations. What do other people here use?

Cheers guys. :D
 
I would get a drobo if price wasn't a factor, but hooking a 2 bay drive via firewire 800 to a mini is in the same price range.
 
Maxtor’s Central Axis has been a great NAS for me, I use it to stream media to my home for music and movies as well as act as a repository for all my computers in the house for iTunes libraries. Depending on the amount of data you are looking at storing through you might need to look into something that can be attached for faster data transfers – I have a lacie Firewire 800 drive I use this for.
 
I think the only ones supporting Spotlight would be Time Capsule (not made to be open), or Airport Extreme (very slow).

I was looking at this at it seems the best would be a cheap PowerMac G5.
 
I would hook externals to a computer like a Mac Mini instead. This offers the features you want and isn't slowed down by crap NAS hardware.
All NAS devices are slowed down by the internal hardware, not the network connection. Most can't even use the bandwidth of a 100mb/s connection even with multiple drives.
If you want high speed, look into iSCSI storage or the more expensive fibre channel offered by Apple. Without these options, the fastest non-internal drive is a local Firewire 800 connection.
 
I been looking at the Netgear ReadyNAS particularly the Duo range however some reviews say the they're slow while others think they're great.

I can pick up a ReadyNAS Duo with a free 500GB (which I'd just wack on eBay) and buy two 1TB drives for around £250.

On eBay someone is selling a diskless 4-bay ReadyNAS NV+ for around £150.

Anyone got experience of these? Th range seem to have everything included I want.:confused:
 
geoffreak said:
All NAS devices are slowed down by the internal hardware, not the network connection. Most can't even use the bandwidth of a 100mb/s connection even with multiple drives.
Click to expand...

Bzzzzt...WRONG!....but thanks for playing. It IS the network that slows down most NAS boxes...that's why most now have 1Gb/s interfaces, however most home network routers and switches (and older computers) only support 100mb/s
 
thefunkymunky said:
I been looking at the Netgear ReadyNAS particularly the Duo range however some reviews say the they're slow while others think they're great.
Click to expand...

The older ReadyNAS products all use a custom processor and run slower than newer models that use Intel processors.

Older IT1004 Network Storage Processor:
ReadyNAS 600 (4 bay)
ReadyNAS X6 (4 bay)
ReadyNAS 1100 (4 bay rack mount)
ReadyNAS NV (4 bay)
ReadyNAS NV+ (4 bay)
ReadyNAS Duo (2 bay)

Newer Intel processors:
ReadyNAS NVX (4 bay)
ReadyNAS Pro (6 bay, comes in Business or Pioneer editions)
ReadyNAS 2100 (4 bay rack mount)
ReadyNAS 3200 (12 bay rack mount)

Any of them should work fine for streaming media and file storage. I use mine (a 600 and an NV+) mostly for storing photos and they are plenty fast since I don't work directly off the NAS. They also stream movies just fine with no stuttering over a gigabit network.

If you are going to have a bunch of users simultaneously working with large files you would definitely want one of the Intel models.

.
 
No NAS will work with TimeMachine on its own. I don't even remember what I had to do, but it was something in Terminal to get it to mount on my desktop, then I had to get TimeMachine to recognize it.

Oh, and everytime your Mac disconnects from the network (Sleep mode, power off, whatever) you'll have to re-mount from Finder.
 
Well, thanks guys. I've picked up a ReadyNAS Duo and 2 x 1TB drives. I plan on upgrading the RAM on this to 1GB at some point though. Hopefully it will do everything I want.:p
 
thefunkymunky said:
Well, thanks guys. I've picked up a ReadyNAS Duo and 2 x 1TB drives. I plan on upgrading the RAM on this to 1GB at some point though. Hopefully it will do everything I want.:p
Click to expand...

please keep us updated on how it goes. planning to pick up a new macbook in the next week or so. i have a readynas duo but was contemplating picking up a time capsule. would be interested to know your experience with the duo.
 
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