NAS/HTPC for media streaming and cloud duties

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YJD

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Oct 30, 2012
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So I am looking to set up a stress free / fool proof storage system which should be able to do the following

- Provide a cloud for backing up family photos / videos etc. (no need for any google drive, dropbox syncs, would be nice to have but not need to have)
- Act as a time capsule for the wife's mac and as a backup for my win 8.1 gaming rig and laptop
- Play music via itunes (through airplay and apple TV 3 or chromecast, again would be nice to have but not need to have especially if there's better options)
- Be a media server for streaming movies (wired or wireless) through Apple TV3 or Chromecast
- Be compatible with an andriod phone/tablet as well as iphone/ipad (dont ask wife swears by apple)
- Be stress free / fool proof easy to use since I have to travel for work and the wife isn't tech savy so a few clicks here and there and all of the above can happen in my absence while I can remotely monitor and troubleshoot if required.

I have a decent know how of building PC rigs but a little new to the whole NAS/HTPC scene.

The way I see it is I have the following options
1) Get a NAS like the Synology DS214play which can do all sorts as well as media transcode whilst streaming non supported file formats (but will hog my internet bandwidth I assume If i went the wireless route)
2) Get a NAS with XBMC or Plex but with the same caveats as above
3) Build an HTPC (I have an i5 and a MVGene mobo lying around) which meets all my requirements, except I dont know how or what software/apps I need to do so.


Any and all guidance or tips ideas are welcome and I am open to further suggestions. That includes redirecting me to the correct forums/sites if further research is required.

Thanks
 
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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I can recommend the Synology NAS products very highly. The other two vendors to check are Qnap, and Thecus. They have 2 drive units also. The Qnap NAS looks real nice also. -- Check SmallNetBuilder website for lots of NAS specific info.

I would recommend ANY implementation be wired ethernet. Wireless networking from a file server is just asking for performance issues.

Plex is available as a plug-in to Synology.

Simple and stress free to me will be a commercial unit over a homemade. You have lots of users and forums, and if all else fails a vendor to look at for help.

Get NAS rated hard disks -- WD Red or WD Red Pro, or equivalent. Don't go cheap on hard drives. -- I hope you realized that Synology, Qnap, and Thecus are usually purchased as bring your own disk units. The Newegg price for the DS214play is without any storage.
 
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Free2play_noobs

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Y

YJD

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Oct 30, 2012
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Yea which is why the cost of a Synology DS214play or a Qnap TS-251 ($350 + 2 WD Reds $250) is what made me consider going the HTPC route.

All I need is to slap in some ram and get a mATX case.

This FreeNAS thing looks good, will probably require some learning though.
 
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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There is an old saying in engineering "Cheaper, Better, Faster... Pick any two..." That is really the trade off you are making. You are trading "Faster" (pre-configured applications, plug-in disks and go) for "Cheaper". That isn't a bad thing, but it wasn't what I read as being the critical aspects you were using as your criteria....
 
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Y

YJD

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Oct 30, 2012
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Thanks that FreeNAS looks interesting. But having the i5 and MVG which are basically overkill for this sort of thing got me thinking if I could do a dual OS for say example run a FreeNAS and Win 8 or SteamOS so you can use the PC for some light gaming or is that too much to ask.

 
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Y

YJD

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Oct 30, 2012
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You are absolutely correct sir. I think I was just getting a bit greedy there. My mind is set on the Synology and will probably pick one up next week or so.

Thank you and do advise if there is anything else I should know of or any better options out there.
 
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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There are "evangelists" for different implementations. We may yet hear from a couple more. I personally chose the "appliance" implementation because I wanted the no-muss-no-fuss implementation. I might like building my desktop PC and tinkering with it, but my media and backups I just want to work. I didn't want to have to figure out why NFS wasn't working for this or CIFS wasn't visible here. The appliances just work (knock wood).
 
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