Thread: NAS/storage recommendations please

I was just talking to OD about this the other day, without any immediate conviction. But I've just noticed upon queuing up some more keepers, I really am running ridiculously low on space.

Everything is on my HTPC at the moment. I have a relatively speedy 320GB primary drive, a 2TB drive and a 1TB drive. All are now full. My immediate reaction was to run down to Umart and grab a 2TB but there's no more drive bays, so I'd be replacing the 1TB.

Anyway, I thought I had better consider some long-term options. So I'm after some opinions and suggestions based on your research or personal experience, from the absolute budget options, through to the more comprehensive ones. Ideally, I'd like to ensure my data is always mirrored so if a drive fails I'm not left empty handed.

Enlighten me.

dont get a wd mybook world, they are extremely slow; cant even watch whilst copying.

thecus have some great nas drives

I'm starting to look at a combined NAS/HTPC. The AGP video card in my current HTPC died this week, just need the DGTEC PVR to die and I can spend money

The silverstone unit i grabbed for this: http://gamers-underground.com/tech-c...nclosures.html was/is excellent - hasn't skipped a beat. It should have a NAS rather than eSATA version.

Based on Jimmy's knowledge that most consumer grade NAS boxes are in fact shit, especially the software they run, he recommends I grab myself a bigger PSU, RAID card, and a case with lots of drive bays - and then convert my HTPC into a more comprehensive file storage solution than what it is now.

And that sounds awesome to me. In terms of flexibility, not having more boxes, and the cost.

the software you use with them is up to you - most will support whatever. that silverstone for eg: i dumped the backup app it shipped with and went back to smartsync. been brilliant. the unit itself is rock solid.

Thecus N7700+ - Ultimate Network Attached Storage | Overview

Thecus has a good name but never personally used it. Me personally I just stick with Synology - the software is continually updated and they don't nerf the software on the budget models as it seems to be a common platform across the entire range. I run a single drive Synology with 2TB for plain old backups, though planning to add a WHSv2 box when the final release comes out as well.

For storage just knock together a FreeNAS box. What I did was picked up off OCAU a VIA ITX board for ~25 and a small form factor Lenovo PSU ~30, then a 4 port Promise SATA card for ~30 off ebay (these are all inclusive of postage). I could not be happier

I've always wanted to get my hands on a Drobo FS. NAS storage, up to 5 HDDs of any capacity, speed or manufacturer. Hot-swappable. Automatic RAID with parity. You could literally just pull the drives out of your PC or other enclosures and stick them all in this. You'd need to back them up somewhere first though since this thing reformats them when they're first installed, but you could do it one drive at a time.

Best price I found was $879. Next best was $891.

Good review here.

USB, FireWire and eSATA versions also available.

All good - but the Thecus is still the best so far. Keep 'em coming... I want to make sure.