NAS+HTPC+Backup Question

[AaronD]

Hi

After much deliberation, mainly on this site, I got a Netgear ReadyNas duo and at £120 including two 500Gb drives - I reckon it's damn good value and a good wee device too. I can heartily recommend it.

I do however have another question relating to it.

My question really relates to an old HTPC that I'm about to replace and it's here that I've somehow got myself confused and I'm not sure why.

I'm about to spec the HTPC replacement up, it's purpose is only to record TV, play movies, rip the occasional DVD and surf. And it's on the storage side that I cannot figure out a sensible strategy.

• Do I spec the HTPC with multiple drives, taking the media storage away from the NAS (I'm not too keen on this idea, but it sure seems popular)
• Do I spec the HTPC up with a large single drive, for just recording TV, and copy/stream each movie from the NAS ?
• Have the HTPC system disk store the TV recordings. Then mirror two additional drives on the HTPC and store the movies on the HTPC. Not a backup, but some redundancy - maybe.
• Have a single hard drive on the HTPC for TV recording and another for movies. (Backup here could maybe take the form of an image of the hard drive ?)

I am asking here, as on most other forums the idea is top spec up a HTPC like a top end server, with 4+ SATA drfives etc... with not much thought to backups and is it the ideal approach etc.

I've got several laptops, and an iMac which are all backed up, but it is not the end of the world if the movie collection bites the dust. It will be irritating, but not catastrophic. I'd prefer I didn't lose it, but I don't want too much cost and time put into this.

I really hope this makes sense. If anyone can help with this, that would be great. Whilst on it's own this isn't a huge issue, I've already got a lot of kit here and would prefer now to start on a better approach to our home storage requirements.

many thanks
Aaron

 

[thiggins]

The answer depends on how you want to organize your network.

There's an advantage to having all of your files centrally stored. They can be backed up more easily (don't rely on RAID for backup) and are easier to keep track of.

Any backup should use a physically separate device to guard against corruption due to power failure, physical damage or theft.

 

[[OC]Pik4chu]

If the HTPC is going to be anywhere near the TV (which I assume it will) you dont want that to be your powerhouse storage system at the same time. It will be noticably loud. The most common practice is spec the HTPC with what it needs to play and record(if desired) shows. And have all the primary storage in a 2nd system off in closet somewhere out of sight and sound.

You can image the HTPC regularly for backups if you want but for the most part there shouldnt be anything on it that isnt on the back end server. After videos are recorded they should be copied back to the server. Also lower power options are good choices for HTPC systems for reasons including cost, heat, noise and size.

The backend server doesnt have to be fancy, it can be a regular NAS, a pc with big hard drives in it, or a full blown server with RAID etc it depends how much you need and how many TVs it must serve. If you are just planning on playing from one HTPC you dont have to go crazy. And as thiggins said, backups are still needed if you care about your recorded shows. Any kind of RAID is not a replacement for actual backups.

 

[Jesse B]

I would personally do as was suggested, and just make the HTPC do what it needs to do. Utilizing your existing network storage would allow you to access the media from the HTPC as well as any other computers on the network with relative ease. No point spending a bunch on hard drives when you already have an effective storage unit.

 

[Osamede]

If the HTPC is going to be anywhere near the TV (which I assume it will) you dont want that to be your powerhouse storage system at the same time. It will be noticably loud. The most common practice is spec the HTPC with what it needs to play and record(if desired) shows. And have all the primary storage in a 2nd system off in closet somewhere out of sight and sound.

Depends on what system you use. You can of course build an ultra quiet HTPC our self. Or for instance take a Mac Mini Server (14 db normal sound level), add on a USB TV card and you've got a pretty quiet 1TB HTPC.

 

[[OC]Pik4chu]

Depends on what system you use. You can of course build an ultra quiet HTPC our self. Or for instance take a Mac Mini Server (14 db normal sound level), add on a USB TV card and you've got a pretty quiet 1TB HTPC.

the 'powerhouse storage system' was the important part of that statement, yes you can get a quiet 1tb HTPC but that is not what I call powerhouse storage. I was referring to something like a full on media server, several TB, etc. and those get noisy

And while each persons use varies IMO 1tb isnt much for media storage. just shy of 200 dvd rips hit that limit for me.