NAS Anyone know about it?

[Quillan]

I am looking to place all my media on a Network Attached Server and then use something like a Network Digital Media Player (wireless) to access it rather than go down the PC. This is because I like the of automatic backup and also I think I have about 1.3TB of media to backup. This is an area I know little about except for looking around on the Internet. I am leaning towards Netgear equipment because of price and what you can connect to it. I am also looking at the Roku M1000 to play music from around the house.

So anybody out there thats gone down this route that I can ask questions of or can pass on their experiences?

[FrancePCSupport]

Hi Quillan

 

Don't know if you still need any info or "hand holding" on the NAS front, but I can tell you pretty much everything you need to know on it.  I've been an avid NAS fan for about 3 years now and have more media backed up than "our price" :).

My main piece of advice would be to steer VERY clear of the Netgear SC-101 family.  They look like and tell you they behave like a NAS but really they are a SAN which is only good for local sharing and no good for streaming around your place.

Feel free to drop me a line, ask a question if you need any help

 

[Quillan]

Thanks for answering, I knew somebody somewhere would know something.

I have been looking at netgear products and in particular the ReadyNAS Duo or even the quad. I was under the impression that I can use this with a Digital Media Receiver and some other products like the Boom Box etc. I have part of my house hard wired for Ethernet and the rest is covered by a wireless network. I was under the impression that apart from downloading media you don't need a PC for this system.

With the ReadyNAS I was thinkng about buying a diskles box and ading my own drives as 1TB drives seem quite cheap at the moment.

I would be interested to hear about how you have set your up.

Apart from asking about the above I was also wondering how I can download DVD's to the NAS, do you do this and how do you do it? What about copying VHS tapes down, can this also be done as I have just over 1000 films of VHS stored in my garage. If you do download them is it correct that they end up in MP4 format and does this mean you loose the 'chapter' ability?

I looked at Sonos kit but its rather expensive (although appears to be very good) and uses its own storage format and software where as others seem to primarily use Unix based software.

Think thats enough for now.

[Quillan]

Well having spent a bit of time investigating and playing around I have now got quite a good system running and am looking forward to improving it.

I invested in a new computer with 1TB HDD and initially installed Windows XP Pro. I used a program called Orb which is a type of Media Extender, I have used this in conjunction with my Wii. I can play music stored on my PC via my Wii and HiFi, look at my pictures on my TV and watch a ripped video all of which are actually stored on my PC.

I have now bought a satellite card for my PC and installed it so I can watch TV via my Media Centre Extender whilst recording another channel via my normal Sky box and DVD/HDD recorder. A nice advantage of this system is that I can do all this remotely on any computer or mobile phone which has a browser.

I am now at step two having just installed Windows 7 Ultimate which has re-introduced the Microsoft Windows Media Centre software. Unfortunately it only works on PC's that have Media Player installed or via a Media Extender box. I can even record TV programs on my PC plus I can access YouTube etc. I have now ordered a Linksys DMA 2100 (don't have Hi Def telly) which is wireless and will connect my TV and PC together via WMC and allow me to control my PC via the TV and do all the things I have listed above.

I love the music side, when you open that up you get a montage of all the covers of your ripped CD's so its so nice and easy to spot what you want to play and just like an Ipod you can also select by artist or genre. So no more rummaging through CD's or DVD's for me plus its a great way to get rid of people "I'll just show you my holiday pictures on the TV" should work nicely.

The best bit is the price which if you take out the cost of the PC (€300) because I need one anyway its cost me 59 Euros so far much cheaper than buying a NAS which I asked about initially. If anyone is interested you can use a Wii, Xbox or PS2 as a Media Extender and do the same sort of thing.