NAS, gigabit switches and homeplugs? Advice please.

David_VI

David_VI

David_VI

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Was looking into a NAS last year, I hope to use it to centralise my media for my PC, Laptop and lounge PC as well as for backup.

Thing is surely to have such backups and content on a network you need a decent speed or it'll take weeks?

I've got a Sky Hub and use 500 Mbps homeplugs to get the network to the TV and Lounge PC.

Would I require a gigabit switch and would I still get decent enough upgrade in speed even though homeplugs aren't gigabit?

Thanks
 
Hi
A few more bits of information are required I believe.
1: How much media / data are you looking to backup?
2: How is your NAS connected to your network at present?
3: Do you have a switch at present?

I think you can get homeplugs that run at almost gigabit speeds, tho very rare. Besides this is of course dependent on the quality of your electrics.
best thing is get a gigabit switch and plug in your NAS and PC and transfer that way.
 
I wouldn't do any kind of hefty file transfers without gigabit to be honest. We have a 100 Mb/s infrastructure at work and it's a nightmare. Remember powerLine adapters only have an "up to" speed; IME they are as variable as WiFi in terms of throughput.
 
I don't have a NAS or switch yet, this is all planning :)
It would be a backup of just about everything and I believe the NAS would connect direct to the router or switch?

The NAS would be in the same room as the main PC though.

A thought just a occured, surely the backup won't be a backup eventually as the NAS will hold all my media (music, movies, pictures) eventually so those files won't be required locally on the PC... so will probably not be backing up a huge amount if it goes to plan?
 
Here's something else I've noticed. On the task manager of the lounge pc the link speed says 100mbps so this is a rather huge bottleneck?
 
Ah
understood.

Well i can certainly recommend the Synology range. I have a DS412+ and a DX513, so in total 9 bays to store HDDs.
Yes you can connect NAS directly to router, make sure its an unmanaged gigabit one. I have a TP Link one, but there are loads available and other users I am sure will recommend the best.

Backup wise depends on your data, how important is it? Do you want to back it up on site (at home) or off site?
When you get your NAS and HDDs you have the option of setting up what RAID configuration you want such as 0,1, etc etc.
All my backups are on USB drives off site.

How much data have you on your PC to transfer across?
 
David_VI said:
Here's something else I've noticed. On the task manager of the lounge pc the link speed says 100mbps so this is a rather huge bottleneck?
Click to expand...


That will be just what speed your connected to the network at, so your probably using a Cat5 or Cat5e cable. Either that or your Ethernet port is 10/100 not gigabit.

When transferring files over the network via cat6 cable to my NAS I tend to get between 40mb to 100mbs depending on the file size.
Its partly down to the type of HDD you have as well. for a NAS I use WD Red 2-3TBs ones
 
frog61 said:
That will be just what speed your connected to the network at, so your probably using a Cat5 or Cat5e cable. Either that or your Ethernet port is 10/100 not gigabit.

When transferring files over the network via cat6 cable to my NAS I tend to get between 40mb to 100mbs depending on the file size.
Its partly down to the type of HDD you have as well. for a NAS I use WD Red 2-3TBs ones
Click to expand...

It's a 10 year old HP slim so could it be the ethernet port? It's connected to a homeplug.

Can you connect directly using ethernet, would it eliminate that if I plugged the slimline directly into laptop and see what link speed is?
 
No I think you need to connect to a router / switch rather than PC to PC.

Get a cheap switch along with your NAS and connect your laptop and/or desktop to the switch as well and do the transfer that way.
Once done, connect your NAS to either the switch or homeplug depending on where you want your NAS.

Are wanting to play media files to a TV / AV from the NAS?
 
Most 500 spec homeplugs come with 10/100 ports - you won't get anything more than 100Mbit in either direction on them. For a NAS use hardwired copper for anything you will be copying large files to/from - anything else is just going to be horribly slow.
 
frog61 said:
No I think you need to connect to a router / switch rather than PC to PC.

Get a cheap switch along with your NAS and connect your laptop and/or desktop to the switch as well and do the transfer that way.
Once done, connect your NAS to either the switch or homeplug depending on where you want your NAS.

Are wanting to play media files to a TV / AV from the NAS?
Click to expand...

Well a side effect of this move is I can downsize my pcs amount of drives and not have so many duplicate files across my pcs.
The lounge one I want to access the NAS to stream music and videos but there will be nothing on it worth backing up.
So yeah NAS idea is primarily to centralise media so it can be accessed and streamed from different devices.
 
My NAS sits in my lounge connected to switch, whcih is then connected to my devices (TV, AV homeplug etc)
This was I can access media files from my other homeplugs or over wifi as router is connected to homeplug as well.

Go ahead and get the NAS first, get 1 or 2 HDDs and start the uploading.

Agree with Avalon, best to do transfer of data without the Homeplug right now.
Perhaps think about getting Homeplugs which have gigabit connections to be a bit more future proof and allow for faster access.
 
Ditch the homeplugs, cable the house up.

Once it's installed, it can't drop the connection and uses no power.
 
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