NAS help for a newbie please

[Machinist60]

Our current set up is two desktops (win7, xp sp3) RJ45 to a NetGear WNR2000 router with WiFi to an LG Smart TV ST600, a WD TV Live, a Nexus 10 and a Nexus 7 tablet. The xp desktop has two external usb hard drives, SeaGate SRD00F2 and WD MyPassport Ultra. I would like to use the SG drive as an NAS device, it contains chiefly movies, photos and TV programs for streaming to the WiFi devices, usually only one at a time. I am thinking of upgrading the router to support NAS, but I do not know or understand all the pros and cons.

Any comments and suggestions will be welcome.

Thanks, John.

 

[L&LD]

What you're asking for is not a NAS. You're asking for USB attached storage from a router. Not the same thing.

At best, the performance will be little better than USB 2 speeds overall, even when connected to USB 3.0 ports on the drive and the router. And this is if you're willing to spend about $300 for the top rated router right now (and it is compatible with your drive and USB 3.0 cable) which is the RT-AC3200 right now (along with some free bugs for your beta testing pleasure).

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/bar/175-ntfs-read-usb-3-0

If your network (wired and wireless) is satisfactory to you right now, consider just getting a true NAS. If you also need to upgrade your wireless performance then you'll need to do both.

QNAP and Synology should be your only choices if reliability, dependability and performance is your long term goals (and they should be). A two bay model may be all you need, but I suggest that you consider a four bay model even if you only start with a single drive today.

 

[stevech]

vastly different feature set too.

 

[Machinist60]

Thanks for your replies guys. After your advice and a bit more reading I have a somewhat better understanding. I'll get a 2 bay QNAP or Synology NAS and possibly a compatible HDD.

Do I need a faster router to support streaming from one of these and will the NAS USB 3.0 with my SeaGate SRD00F2 external HDD as the only HDD cut it?

John.

 

[L&LD]

Depends on what kind of streaming it is.

But you don't use an external USB drive with a NAS except to backup to, not to stream from.

 

[TonyH]

Our current set up is two desktops (win7, xp sp3) RJ45 to a NetGear WNR2000 router with WiFi to an LG Smart TV ST600, a WD TV Live, a Nexus 10 and a Nexus 7 tablet. The xp desktop has two external usb hard drives, SeaGate SRD00F2 and WD MyPassport Ultra. I would like to use the SG drive as an NAS device, it contains chiefly movies, photos and TV programs for streaming to the WiFi devices, usually only one at a time. I am thinking of upgrading the router to support NAS, but I do not know or understand all the pros and cons.

Any comments and suggestions will be welcome.

Thanks, John.

Hi,
NAS itself is actually a computer with it's own OS and attached to a network with it.s own ip address and port number.. Your USB attached hard drive is just a storage, a peripheral device attached to a PC. Can you call your PC a NAS?
Term NAS is very often misused for sure.

 

[thiggins]

But you don't use an external USB drive with a NAS except to backup to, not to stream from.

Some of the latest routers have storage performance that can keep up with an HD stream just fine.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/bar/175-ntfs-read-usb-3-0

 

[L&LD]

Some of the latest routers have storage performance that can keep up with an HD stream just fine.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/bar/175-ntfs-read-usb-3-0

I am not doubting that. What I mentioned is that connecting an external USB drive to a NAS will not normally allow streaming (or any LAN access) from that external drive (it is only meant to be backed up to).

 

[thiggins]

I am not doubting that. What I mentioned is that connecting an external USB drive to a NAS will not normally allow streaming (or any LAN access) from that external drive (it is only meant to be backed up to).

Sorry. Didn't read your post carefully enough.

 

[L&LD]

NP.

Just didn't want the OP to be confused.

 

[micthenick]

I have a netgear r7000 with a 4gb wd elements attached via the 3.0 port. Playon, roku, airwire all play the videos from the element without any buffering or stutter. Transferring videos to the unit is at approx 40gb. Playon requires VLC which does it's transcoding for other than mp4 videos which pass through to the player. 5.0 roku 3 is especially fast.