Help Setting Up a Home Network / NAS

panthro · 23 May 2014 at 11:58

Hi guys, I need some advice on what hardware to buy for a small home network/back up/storage system.

The hardware I have in my flat are:

Macbook Pro
iPad Air
iPhone 5
Android phone
Playstation 3 & 4
Sonos Play 3
Sky HD
Yamaha Receiver
Sky Broadband Router (with a crap connection due to living in a flat)
Panasonic GT30 TV

I want to be able to back up and sync with the network, as well as connect to a NAS and stream films/music etc from it.

I don't have more than 1.5Gb at the moment, so a 2Gb HDD would be sufficient (plus a mirror for back up).

I have no idea if this is even possible with what I have. Can anyone spec/recommend me? Thanks

Steveocee · 23 May 2014 at 11:59

Depends on what you want to do? Do you want something off the shelf or do you want to get a bit more "involved" with something like a microserver?

panthro · 23 May 2014 at 12:03

I don't mind getting a bit involved, but my skills are limited to say the least so if an off-the-shelf system exists that can do everything I'd prefer it.

However if I can get more out of the system by getting stuck in then I'd prefer that.

Hope that makes sense.

R.O.S.S.I · 23 May 2014 at 12:16

For simplest wouldnt something like the Western Digital MyCloud drives be the best option, something a touch more involved would be buying something like a Zyxel NAS enclosure and filling it with whatever drives you want, and then the more involved method would be a small HP microserver.

I'd opt for the NAS enclosure route personally and filling it with drives as you see fit.

panthro · 23 May 2014 at 13:35

I think I'd prefer the enclosure route too as it seems more versatile, but not as complex as the microserver route.
What are the best options for me considering all the hardware? Would I need to upgrade the router to get the most out of it?

Steveocee · 23 May 2014 at 13:41

If you're streaming around the house then gigabit router is a must. Do you have any kind of budget in mind that you are aiming for?

panthro · 23 May 2014 at 13:54

I'm willing to spend up to £300ish for everything, plus HDD's if it gets me exactly what I want. I'll have a look at gigabit routers too. I could buy this second hand though.

visibleman · 23 May 2014 at 16:14

Look at either a QNap or Synology - both offer loads of features and are extremely easy to setup. And you should be able to get a two-bay enclosure and drives for £300 - 2x2TB is around £100/115, Synology DS213j or Qnap TS-212P, TS-120 TS-220 are in the £150-200 range.

As for a Microserver, i believe (could be wrong) all cashback offers have ended, in which case it makes it rather expensive for a simple NAS setup.

Steveocee · 23 May 2014 at 16:17

visibleman said:
As for a Microserver, i believe (could be wrong) all cashback offers have ended, in which case it makes it rather expensive for a simple NAS setup.

N40L going in MM for £70 at the moment!

panthro · 23 May 2014 at 18:39

I don't know the differences between QNAP and Synology! I'm assuming they are essentially the same though. Want to get the best bang for my buck

james.miller · 23 May 2014 at 18:43

visibleman said:
Look at either a QNap or Synology - both offer loads of features and are extremely easy to setup. And you should be able to get a two-bay enclosure and drives for £300 - 2x2TB is around £100/115, Synology DS213j or Qnap TS-212P, TS-120 TS-220 are in the £150-200 range.

As for a Microserver, i believe (could be wrong) all cashback offers have ended, in which case it makes it rather expensive for a simple NAS setup.

£200 without cashback, which is still very good for a 4x bay nas.

Essexraptor · 24 May 2014 at 01:57

Deleted

R.O.S.S.I · 24 May 2014 at 12:26

If it's the NAS enclosure route you want to go with what's wrong with grabbing something like a ZyXEL NSA320S for around £50 brand new and filling with whatever hard drives you want? Cheapest way I can think of.

Essexraptor · 24 May 2014 at 14:11

I posted earlier but deleted it

I still think for the amount of data involved a 3TB version of one of these will suit you best

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=280

about 170 quid ... connect it to your router.... job done

R.O.S.S.I · 26 May 2014 at 22:03

Was going to get a mini server myself like the N40L or N54L but seeing as they aren't on offer any more today I've just plumped for a D-Link DNS-345 4-bay NAS instead.

http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/home-sol.../dns-345-sharecenter-4-bay-cloud-storage-4000

They are on offer for £129.99 which I think is very good value for a 4-bay NAS when you compare with others. Will just be used for dishing up audio and video around the house should we need it but it will primarily be used for my SONOS equipment (once I get round to purchasing them)

Got it coming with a 3TB WD RED drive which I'll be adding more of the same to in the future for a RAID 5. Should do me nicely!

Caged · 26 May 2014 at 22:43

You should be aware of the anaemic performance of some NAS units - Synology are nice enough to publish the full specifications and throughput figures for all their products. This not only affects transfer speed but also how well the apps run on the boxes, how quickly they can index content, transcode etc.

R.O.S.S.I · 27 May 2014 at 19:17

For home use though most will be more than adequate.

panthro · 27 May 2014 at 23:03

I think I'm going to go with one of these

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-018-SY&groupid=46&catid=2125&subcat=2127

and add 2 x 2TB HDD's. No idea about RAID so that's next.

R.O.S.S.I · 28 May 2014 at 08:35

You'll probably want it set up in RAID 1 if you want some form of redundancy. You'll lose one of the 2TB drives however as it mirrors the contents to the other drive so you'll only have 2TB of usable space.

Steveocee · 28 May 2014 at 11:33

Excellent choice.

In basic, RAID 0 is striped data (so 2+2=4) and RAID 1 is mirrored (so 2+2=2)

If it was me, I'd get 2 x 3TB HDD's and RAID 1 them.