New to NAS which NAS Drive

[heysidays]

Hi Guys
This is my first venture into NAS drives. I have four computers in my house with a multitude of ipods iphones etc. Two of the computers are running Mac Snow leopard version 10.6 and two laptops are running Linux Ubuntu 12.04.

I am currently with BT and have infinity with BT Home Hub 3 as my router.

I want to purchase a NAS drive that supports linux and Mac and possibly windows in the future. I would also like a NAS drive to be able to connect a network printer so USB is vital.

I have my eye on a Iomega ix2. However I have phoned the company and there appears to be two types of ix2.
The ix2 and the ix2-200. The company said the ix2 is the newest version with better software and better hardware meaning firmware support on the ix2 will be better and more supportive for longer.
You get three years warranty and telephone support with this product so that is pretty pleasing.

I suppose the question is....which of the two above I have mentioned is better for the Job. And if neither of the above seem to be recommend by peeps on this site could somebody recommend a drive that would fit my needs. I also want a device that is very easy to setup as I am not a computer boffin or anything like that. I need 4TB of storage as I have a lot of movies I want to share across the network for my children to be able to watch.
Sorry seems quite long winded but as I said I am new to setting up my own home network.
Thanks

 

[stevech]

Advise: Skip Iomega for sure.
Consider Synology, QNAP and Thecus.
See reviews on this web site.
Try-before-buy on these vendors' web sites.

 

[heysidays]

Hi
Thanks for the timely response. These companies products appear to be out of my price range. I am from the UK and my price range is £250 max and that includes the drives and storage. I have read the advice in the stickies at the top of the page and I am trying to understand which drive is going to be best suited.

I have looked at this drive as its within my price range for 4TB
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006TADRD2/?tag=smallncom-21

But again, the reviews on NAS charts don't seem to be very favorable towards this product.
I have spent hours trawling the net trying to find a product that is going to give me what I want within my budget but I just don't seem to be finding what I want.

 

[heysidays]

Advise: Skip Iomega for sure.
Consider Synology, QNAP and Thecus.
See reviews on this web site.
Try-before-buy on these vendors' web sites.

Sorry forgot to ask, why would you skip Iomega entirely??

Also would the Western Digital support Linux for playing movies back from the NAS drive??

 

[stevech]

Those three companies are the only ones, IMO, that have reliable and easy to use software for their NAS.

One of the DS212, 212j, etc. from Synology, without drives, or the equivalent 2-bay from QNAP or Thecus, is a good way to go. Will be under US$200 for the 2-bay (say, Newegg.com), and you can reuse drives you have now, or shop the Internet for sales on 2TB drives (2 ea). Or just start with one drive, add another later. Run the two as two independent volumes so one backs up the other, versus RAID, which fails you if the file system gets corrupted.

And/or use eSATA or USB3 to plug in a drive to make a backup.

 

[heysidays]

Those three companies are the only ones, IMO, that have reliable and easy to use software for their NAS.

One of the DS212, 212j, etc. from Synology, without drives, or the equivalent 2-bay from QNAP or Thecus, is a good way to go. Will be under US$200 for the 2-bay (say, Newegg.com), and you can reuse drives you have now, or shop the Internet for sales on 2TB drives (2 ea). Or just start with one drive, add another later. Run the two as two independent volumes so one backs up the other, versus RAID, which fails you if the file system gets corrupted.

And/or use eSATA or USB3 to plug in a drive to make a backup.

Hi Steve
Thanks for the timely response again.
If I choose to buy a two bay but only add one drive at a later date does the drive have to be the same size or can I mix and match 2TB/4TB, 2TB/3TB etc etc??
The software from Synology/QNAP/THECUS, does it recoginse the Linux machines. My two children have linux laptops and I just want to make sure that they can watch movies on their laptops before I go ahead and take the plunge. The Iomega ix2 software supports Linux and with the kids having Linux machines I need a NAS drive that supports this operating system. Also what is the customer support like for the three companies?? You clearly have dealings with the three companies and living in the UK I was wondering should I encounter problems whether they are helpful.

 

[stevech]

If you use a non-RAID config in the dual-bay, as I recommend (and as I do), then the second drive added merely has to be large enough to hold all the files you want backed up from the first drive. The two drives are separate volumes, separate file systems. So if a drive fails OR a file system becomes corrupt, the other is intact.

You can choose to use two drives in RAID1 which is mirroring - one drive is a bit-by-bi copy of the other. This protects from drive failure, but does not protect from a corrupt file system - because you'd have two copies of the same corrupt file system if you use RAID1. Hence, the prior paragraph.

There are some 1-bay NASes out there - e.g., Seagate. But IMO avoid these as they tend to be very slow, have feature-less software, and so on. They're really not much better than a USB drive on a PC that elects to share that drive of folders on that drive on the network (so long as that PC is on).

Linux: Yes. All the NASes, Windows and Linux machines use "SMB" for file/folder sharing on a network. Also - Android and Apple devices. And media services for music/video.

 

[heysidays]

Hi steve
Again thank you for the advice. After spending more hours reading I think I am going to plunge for the Synology DS212J, a 2 bay enclosure.

The reason behind this is the customer Forums on the internet and what looks like excellent customer support from the company.

However....the last question I suppose is regarding which hardrive to buy.
The one below seems to get many good reviews but I know nothing about Hardrives and what is good/bad. Going to go for a 3TB one and I need it to be coming in at the £100.00 to stay within my budget for the first drive I am going to buy. Could you give me some advice on which drive(S) you would buy within my budget that are both well built and economical to use.
Many Thanks Chris

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006KCX0UE/?tag=smallncom-21

 

[heysidays]

bump, anyone??

 

[thiggins]

You might try the WD Reds. They are supposed to be designed just for consumer NAS use and have a good mix of low power consumption and performance.

 

[heysidays]

You might try the WD Reds. They are supposed to be designed just for consumer NAS use and have a good mix of low power consumption and performance.

thanks thiggins will look into it
cheers

 

[stevech]

My DS212 has one 5400RPM and one 7200RPM. Both are 1TB.
Non-RAID config (two volumes).
The 5400RPM is the backup volume for the other drive. Time machine format so I can go back n months if need be. This is working well.

I had the 5400RPM already- took it out of a Seagate USB2 drive enclosure.
The 7200RPM I bought as a USB2 drive enclosure.

Due to mass marketing, these drives sold as USB enclosure drives are cheaper than buying a bare drive/OEM.

The extra

The WD "red" drives came out after I bought. Waiting to hear if they are worth the premium for a home user.