Which is best?

chris_r · 26 May 2011 at 10:34

Hello,

I am looking for pros and cons of both, i am new to this whole NAS thing.

I want to store movies only on a HDD, i'm going to need around 4tb to start with.

Would i be best;

A: Getting a NAS box with 4tb Space
B: Putting 4tb into my Win XP Pro system, would the drives be really slow?

I don't understand the benefits on the NAS box?

For use in new home cinema build, coming soon :-)

cmndr_andi · 26 May 2011 at 10:38

I believe the benefits of a NAS box are:

low power usage
low noise
small size
RAID options
files constantly accessible to all computers on the network
allows you to use a small, quiet, low power HTPC with little local storage in the living room and pull all the files off the HTPC (which may be in another room)

There shouldn't be anything wrong with putting the HDDs on a standard PC - it just means that it needs to be on all the time if you want the files to be accessible from other networked computers 24/7 (which will use more power than a NAS box). If the XP Pro PC is going to be the htpc (and you don't need the files to be accessible 24/7 on other PCs) then installing the HDDs locally on the HTPC won't be an issue (so long as you have enough SATA paorts and the board support the type of RAID you plan to use),

chris_r · 26 May 2011 at 10:39

How much power are we talking do you think?

On the cost side, do you think i would save a good amount just throwing the drives in the pc system?

cmndr_andi · 26 May 2011 at 10:45

It really depends on the spec of your current system and whether you need the files to be accessible 24/7 (which they are on a NAS).

chris_r · 26 May 2011 at 17:28

So, say i just take the plunge and get a NAS and fill it with movies. Am i right to think it still needs to be hooked up to my PC anyway for me to select which movie to watch on my PJ?

cmndr_andi · 26 May 2011 at 17:49

You hook the NAS box up to a router/switch so all the drives are accessible from any network connected computer/device.

The NAS isn't really for video playing as it isn't a htpc, it is for network file storage so it won't decode the videos and send a video signal to your projector - you will need a PC of some description (to act as a HTPC) to do that. If you are building new I would suggest a small (M-ITX), low power (18W max) system based on an AMD fusion board.

SparkyG · 26 May 2011 at 18:59

Get a nas ... fill it up with media and stream to all the devices around your house (and across the internet if you wish)

matt1 · 28 May 2011 at 10:26

For movies, as stated the NAS will only be a storage device. Something like the AC Ryan PlayonHD streams content from a device onto your TV, I don't see why it wouldn't work streaming from the NAS. Obviously confirm this before spending any money.