Hi there.....thought I'd try here first.

Looking at getting a Network hard drive setup for home due to the ever increasing amount of data (music, photos, movies etc....) amassing on each computer on the network.

Looking for at least 1TB of storage with capability of the unit being able to be seen and used with iTunes (apparently this is a specific option for it to be compatible). Not fussed about what Raid setup it supports but upto RAID 5 will do, so may need to have 3+ HDD bays.

Anyone had any experience with these and has any recommnedations or tips of things to look out for, brands to avoid, better setups etc....

Any info much appreciated.

The ones I've looked at so far are the Iomega units and the D-Link setups....any others?

Cheers.

Hey mate.

I just bought a QNap TS-439Pro-2. Awesome device. Got 4x 1.5TB hard drives in it.

Best of the bunch, nothing else compares.

1Gb RAM onboard
Intel Atom Processor
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
Heaps of extra services, FTP, DLNA Streaming to Media Centres, Loungeroom/TV/Plasma. It's a win.
RAID/0/1/5/6 etc.
Remote Backup, External eSata, print server, USB, iTunes support, Torrent Downloader

Welcome to come look at it if you want before buying, but it shits on everything else out there, I have done all the research.

http://qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=148

Review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/qnap-t...s-review-test/

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Should have bought an STI

If you don't plan on building something yourself. QNAP are the business followed by Buffalo.

I have built a neat little unit using an old laptop and a metal ext hdd case. Also have a mini itx case but thats still the size of a small desktop.

Rocco hasn't even made that many movies...

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Balls.

I read ya.

Need to think about the future though Calculated that i can fit about ~4500 700Mb movies on it, and that's with it conf'd as a RAID5 (1 drive is parity)

Great for streaming movies direct into the loungeroom to the XBox.

The Dlink and Netgear ones are pretty tame. The 439Pro is more a business device than home use. QNap make smaller ones, which are still superior to DLink etc.

I give it 2-5 years before Video stores shut their doors and pack up shop. It's all going to be through the Internet.

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Should have bought an STI

Thanks Rich.....does look like the business but looks exy though.....what did the enclosure set you back on it's own? I like the dual support too.

Does it allow you to run itunes on one of your PCs with the data on the NAS?

As I said, it's really just for home but I'm thinking of still being able to be conf'd as RAID 5 especially because it will hold my photo library. I could start with 3 x 1TB HDD in RAID 5 and then get another down the track if need be.

The enclosure was 1200 without drives. Big drives are stupid on their own, if they die, you're fucked. They need to be in a RAID1/5 at least so that you've got some redundancy. RAID doesn't = backup though.

I haven't played with the iTunes service so i'm not sure how that works. It is obviously much more expensive, but it's worth it for the quality and features. It's a device that will last you. 1TB drives are under $100 these days.

In terms of speed. It's fast as. I've got it plugged into a gig switch using both GigE ports @ 2Gbps. So for about $1400 you can have it fully loaded with drives. If you're keen, I got mine from Trinix in Welshpool. They did a deal for me on the price of the drives too.

It uses hardly any power at all, and spins down the drives after an hour of no use, which is a big + over a PC with heaps of drives in it running Windows Server etc doing the same thing.

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Should have bought an STI

What hard drives did you go for.......found these on the bay:

I Like these:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Western-Digit...item563b166469

Also found these:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SEAGATE-3-5-1...item20afd2d161

Found some Samsungs but I'm not a fan of anything Samsung.

SEAGATE 1.5TB ST31500341AS SATA 32MB 7200.11RPM

Been running them in the NAS for a bit now, so far no issues at all.

With the research I did - If i didn't go for this one, the next best one down (big step down) Was the Acer H340, which has Windows 2003 Home Server installed on it.

The Q-Nap is a Linux bases OS, but all managed through web interface.

If you have Apple Macs at home, the Q-NAP has great Mac features (Incl TimeMachine) and very good aftermarket support on the Internet/Forums for updates and extra features.

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Should have bought an STI

OK....so stuff like the Dlink DNS-343 or the Iomega etc.... are no good for home?
What features will I miss out on with these lower speced units.

Also do Qnap do a cheaper model than the one you got with similar features? Really need the itunes thing to work on it.