Nas choice and network confusion??

[epyscs]

I am looking for some advice on a NAS but after looking through various options I am confused about what will be best, plus what next with my current setup for network etc and the best way to work it all from here.

Current Network is as follows:
DGN3500 Wireless Router with Gb ethernet.
Buffalo Linkstation HS-DS500GL 500gb Gigabit ethernet & USB (80% full but could easily fill right now)
500gb usb2 western digital elements backup hard drive thingy (backups of 1 laptop plus some extra random work stuff at the moment)
2 laptops - both 500gb hard drives and 2/3 full.
I just got a HD video camera, plus a new 12mp camera for the gf so storage needs will increase significantly.
No feeds for video to tv etc, but considering for music etc in the near future.

Requirements for a drive (roughly in order of importance):

• solid backup of both laptops
• central store of music, photos and videos (see what we can take off the lappys)
• - note I will start streaming itunes and video's to TV at some point in the near future. Additional options like ftp access / spin-down of disks automated backups to another device (maybe the linkstation if i can upgrade drive).

My thoughts are currently with the netgear readynas duo or something like the qnap 219 but this is a little over the budget I was hoping to spend. I like the idea of the xraid in the netgear device as it allows upgrade of the space etc and I am not a techie person when it comes to RAID, but can learn fast but the choice of devices is a hinderance at the moment - so any ideas that might narrow the list (e.g. 'you want something that defo does...X' etc)

So my queries in addition to any recommendations (apologies for the randomness of questions):

• When do i consider UPS / Surge protection?
• What do i need to ensure i always have a good backup for photos / videos?
• What can I do to back up the main NAS? Can this be done with the current Linkstation and the USB drive as the target?
• Is there a way to point picassa and itunes to the NAS for their libraries?

Hopefully you might be able to help narrow the list a little!

Chris

 

[thiggins]

Start here:
How To Buy a NAS - The Short(er) Version

To your questions:
- Always put a NAS on a UPS
- Run a reliable desktop backup app like SyncBack or many others
- Depending on the NAS, you can run scheduled backups to an attached drive, another NAS on the network or even a cloud backup service like Amazon S3. Unfortunately, the LinkStation will only network backup to / from other Buffalo NASes. But Iomega and NETGEAR ReadyNASes can back up to any network share, so could use the Buffalo as a backup target.
- Yes. Both Picasa and iTunes let you point them to networked shares for their libraries. A bit of a pain for both, but it works.