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Looking to Upgrade Storage

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October 9, 2014 12:53:37 AM

I have some computer knowledge but nothing formal and I was considering an alternative to external HDs for storage purposes. Currently, we have 3 external HDs (~3.5 TB) and store movies, tv shows, pictures, music, etc. across them. I've been thinking about a solution as I would prefer not to continue the trend with more external HDs and transition towards wireless access. I was considering a home server that could be accessed over the wifi signal, but I don't know much about servers to make researching feasible. The other issue is that we seem to relocate every few years so I wouldn't want a large machine, since we both rely on laptops at this stage of life, nor do I have spare peripherals for a tower setup.

Ideally, I'd like to have something about the size of a Gamecube that can be plugged into the laptop for setup or transfer, but can also be outlet powered and provide access over our wifi network. I'm not too worried about data loss (it would be a pain, but not critical) but would like the ability to stream a movie or music over the network without taking up regular HD space.

I've also considered cloud storage, but my previous experience with it is Dropbox, Google Drive, and the like where you still have the files on your computer, so I'm unsure about that.

Any advice or help?

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a b G Storage
October 9, 2014 2:59:23 AM

AlexandrTheGreat said:
I have some computer knowledge but nothing formal and I was considering an alternative to external HDs for storage purposes. Currently, we have 3 external HDs (~3.5 TB) and store movies, tv shows, pictures, music, etc. across them. I've been thinking about a solution as I would prefer not to continue the trend with more external HDs and transition towards wireless access. I was considering a home server that could be accessed over the wifi signal, but I don't know much about servers to make researching feasible. The other issue is that we seem to relocate every few years so I wouldn't want a large machine, since we both rely on laptops at this stage of life, nor do I have spare peripherals for a tower setup.

Ideally, I'd like to have something about the size of a Gamecube that can be plugged into the laptop for setup or transfer, but can also be outlet powered and provide access over our wifi network. I'm not too worried about data loss (it would be a pain, but not critical) but would like the ability to stream a movie or music over the network without taking up regular HD space.

I've also considered cloud storage, but my previous experience with it is Dropbox, Google Drive, and the like where you still have the files on your computer, so I'm unsure about that.

Any advice or help?


Hey AlexandrTheGrat,

As i7Baby mentioned, you have several options to choose from:
- you can have an external drive plugged in your Wi-Fi router (or more - depending on your router) and have a shared space among everyone that uses that router. You should check how big of a drive (if any) does your router support.
- Since you work on laptops, I would say you can configure one of them with iSCSI to, again, have a shared folder (or more) between selected users over the network (this way you will have to keep one of the laptops on and online all the time) and have an external drive plugged in all the time.
- The easiest thing you could do (and most costly) is to get a NAS device which would store internal drives and would have USB plugs for external drives for extended storage. This way you'd have the option to use your files from the NAS everywhere (not only in your home), backup and transfer files from your laptops and it'd take small space as they are usually small. I could suggest asking around here at Tom's Hardware for good NAS setups that would meet your requirements. you could check WD My Cloud series and see if any of them would be suitable for you:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/personalcloud/consumer/
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/personalcloud/expert/
- Clouds are good option but they are costly and less secure as you don't know where your data is stored (somewhere around the world).

Hope this comes in handy. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions,

Captain_WD.
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October 9, 2014 3:32:17 AM

Captain_WD said:
Hey AlexandrTheGreat,

As i7Baby mentioned, you have several options to choose from:
- you can have an external drive plugged in your Wi-Fi router (or more - depending on your router) and have a shared space among everyone that uses that router. You should check how big of a drive (if any) does your router support.
- Since you work on laptops, I would say you can configure one of them with iSCSI to, again, have a shared folder (or more) between selected users over the network (this way you will have to keep one of the laptops on and online all the time) and have an external drive plugged in all the time.
- The easiest thing you could do (and most costly) is to get a NAS device which would store internal drives and would have USB plugs for external drives for extended storage. This way you'd have the option to use your files from the NAS everywhere (not only in your home), backup and transfer files from your laptops and it'd take small space as they are usually small. I could suggest asking around here at Tom's Hardware for good NAS setups that would meet your requirements. you could check WD My Cloud series and see if any of them would be suitable for you:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/personalcloud/consumer/
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/personalcloud/expert/
- Clouds are good option but they are costly and less secure as you don't know where your data is stored (somewhere around the world).

Hope this comes in handy. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions,

Captain_WD.

Thanks for the reply! Currently our router has no USB slots, so attaching the externals to it is not an option. I was hoping to use that strategy until I'm able to purchase a NAS as they seem to be exactly what I'm looking for. I do have a few questions about them though. Would they work with any router, or are there specific requirements of a router for a NAS to be functional? I'd hate to purchase one and then find I also need a new router to use it. I'm also curious if a USB hub would work with a NAS to attach all my external drives into the system. I have my doubts, but technology does tend to surprise more often than not with it's capabilities.
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a c 120 G Storage
October 9, 2014 3:33:47 AM

As long as the router has a port for it, it'll work.
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a b G Storage
October 9, 2014 4:45:32 AM

AlexandrTheGreat said:
Captain_WD said:
Hey AlexandrTheGreat,

As i7Baby mentioned, you have several options to choose from:
- you can have an external drive plugged in your Wi-Fi router (or more - depending on your router) and have a shared space among everyone that uses that router. You should check how big of a drive (if any) does your router support.
- Since you work on laptops, I would say you can configure one of them with iSCSI to, again, have a shared folder (or more) between selected users over the network (this way you will have to keep one of the laptops on and online all the time) and have an external drive plugged in all the time.
- The easiest thing you could do (and most costly) is to get a NAS device which would store internal drives and would have USB plugs for external drives for extended storage. This way you'd have the option to use your files from the NAS everywhere (not only in your home), backup and transfer files from your laptops and it'd take small space as they are usually small. I could suggest asking around here at Tom's Hardware for good NAS setups that would meet your requirements. you could check WD My Cloud series and see if any of them would be suitable for you:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/personalcloud/consumer/
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/personalcloud/expert/
- Clouds are good option but they are costly and less secure as you don't know where your data is stored (somewhere around the world).

Hope this comes in handy. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions,

Captain_WD.

Thanks for the reply! Currently our router has no USB slots, so attaching the externals to it is not an option. I was hoping to use that strategy until I'm able to purchase a NAS as they seem to be exactly what I'm looking for. I do have a few questions about them though. Would they work with any router, or are there specific requirements of a router for a NAS to be functional? I'd hate to purchase one and then find I also need a new router to use it. I'm also curious if a USB hub would work with a NAS to attach all my external drives into the system. I have my doubts, but technology does tend to surprise more often than not with it's capabilities.


Hey again :) 

Any NAS should work with any router. All you need to do is attach a LAN cable from the NAS to the router and the rest is a matter of configuring and setting up the NAS. If you have any doubts, when you choose one, make a thread with the exact brand and model of the NAS and the router and me or the guys here at Tom's Hardware will check if they are compatible
Regarding the hub - it should work, but again - depends on the exact NAS if and how many drives or how big of a drive it can recognize. Same goes with routers and hubs with additional HDDs.

Captain_WD.
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