NAS for MBP & Windows?

Orford · 27 Jan 2011 at 21:18

We're looking for recommendations for a good NAS drive that can be used for backup of both a MBP and numerous Windows devices.

The ability to access from work or mobile device would be a great plus. Also does the hard drive need to be formatted FAT32 for the MBP or can it be left NTFS. Reasonable price would be a big help.

Raymond Lin · 27 Jan 2011 at 21:21

Drobo works...it works for both PC and Mac.

Can even use as cloud storage with some plugins.

Price...it's like £500 + cost of HDs so not cheap.

DoubleCheese · 27 Jan 2011 at 21:34

Look up the QNAP and Synology NAS devices, almost all are cross platform and significantly cheaper than the Drobos.

Irish_Tom · 27 Jan 2011 at 21:34

I was going to get a Drobo but I keep hearing that they are unreliable and have slower transfer speeds than other NAS solutions on the market.

I'm now looking at this QNAP TS-419P+

Fill it with four 2Tb HDDs and it's about £700 for 6TB of space. (So cheaper than Drobo FS). The Drobo has a few 'Drobo Apps' which allow you to run an UPNP server for instance, but it seems the QNAP comes with all of these things built in.

It can be formatted in EXT3/4 NTFS or HFS+ so if you're only using Macs then stick it on HFS+. I *think* (but can seem to find any hard evidence) that you can format it as EXT3/4 and then it will be accessible by both Mac and Windows but if anyone knows different I'd be quite interested as well.

Orford · 27 Jan 2011 at 21:40

Raymond Lin said:
Drobo works...it works for both PC and Mac.

Can even use as cloud storage with some plugins.

Price...it's like £500 + cost of HDs so not cheap.

Sorry I forgot to say it was for home use and not business. The MBP wasn't bought with our long dreamed about lottery win I'm afraid.

Irish_Tom · 27 Jan 2011 at 21:44

What kind of budget were you thinking of and how much space do you require?

We've all suggested fairly high-spec NAS solutions so far (for home use I might add) because usually any less than 4TB doesn't really require a full-blown NAS, just get an external 2Tb HDD and be done with it.

Raymond Lin · 27 Jan 2011 at 21:54

Apple 1TB TC ?

Orford · 27 Jan 2011 at 21:54

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

We're looking for something under £200, the reason for a networking solution is due to 2 laptops, 1 PC and a MBP. The current external HD we have is used by the laptops/PC but not as often as should due to the moving about, plugging in/out etc. So now we have another OS we were thinking of a central solution that both OS can backup to/access.

Raymond Lin · 27 Jan 2011 at 22:00

Orford said:
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

We're looking for something under £200, the reason for a networking solution is due to 2 laptops, 1 PC and a MBP. The current external HD we have is used by the laptops/PC but not as often as should due to the moving about, plugging in/out etc. So now we have another OS we were thinking of a central solution that both OS can backup to/access.

Well, a single 2TB HD is like £60...so that doesn't leave much for the NAS.

I feel like this is a DIY job and not a off the shelf plug and play I am afraid.

Irish_Tom · 27 Jan 2011 at 22:02

Something like this?

I can't work out from the description but I think it comes with 1TB installed and space for another drive when you've got a bit more cash.

That would seem to fit the bill (and the budget).

ringo747 · 27 Jan 2011 at 22:03

Look at Synology for a NAS - I got one before Christmas and honestly it is one of the best purchases ever. Have 2 x2TB drives in them - above your budget but you could look at the DS211j or cheaper 1 drive versions. They are so easy to use and the software is amazing.

Orford · 27 Jan 2011 at 22:18

ringo747 said:
Look at Synology for a NAS - I got one before Christmas and honestly it is one of the best purchases ever. Have 2 x2TB drives in them - above your budget but you could look at the DS211j or cheaper 1 drive versions. They are so easy to use and the software is amazing.

This one looks like it may do the job a 1TB spin point F3 would be enough for us for now (file backup), however I do like the DS211J, might have to see if we can stretch the budget for the 2 drive version.

Thanks for everyones help. :cool:

ringo747 · 27 Jan 2011 at 22:59

If you have an external HD already you could check this out:

USB Station

DoubleCheese · 27 Jan 2011 at 23:03

The QNAP TS110 looks like an excellent choice, higher specced than the Synology and only slightly more expensive (£10).

ringo747 · 27 Jan 2011 at 23:21

It's probably worth checking out live demos of the two OSes to see which you like best. The DSM3.0 with Synology is brilliant.

Tunney · 28 Jan 2011 at 00:19

I love my Drobo. I wouldn't swap it for anything else on the market.

But, yeah, no-where near £200.

Irish_Tom · 31 Jan 2011 at 20:59

Can anyone shed any light on the file format question?

Orford · 31 Jan 2011 at 22:06

From the synology web site drives format to EXT3/4 and it supports time capsule for apple.

File System

•EXT4
•EXT3
•FAT32 (External Disk Only)8
•NTFS (External Disk Only)8

for the QNAP ts-419p+

File System

•Internal HDD: EXT3, EXT4
•External HDD: EXT3, EXT4, NTFS, FAT32, HFS+

Housey · 31 Jan 2011 at 22:22

http://www.trustedreviews.com/networking/review/2011/01/31/Synology-DiskStation-DS411j/p1

I have the DS410j and I use it for both tasks.

Irish_Tom · 1 Feb 2011 at 08:41

Cheers Orford!