Which setup

[stuarta]

I'm looking at buying a new NAS drive and just after some advice on which to go for

At the moment it will be used for storing my music collection as well as other docs and possibly videos. I would stream the videos back via my Xbox 360 and audio wise, possibly either via the iphone app, USB speakers or a Squeezebox. I might possibly also look at the IP camera option as well

Options I have is

210J with 2 x Samsung HD103SJ 1Tb drives £220
210J with 2 x Samsung HD204UI/Z4 2tb drives £251
210J with 2 x Seagate ST31000528AS 1Tb drives £173

211J with 2 x Samsung HD103SJ 1Tb drives £246
211J with 2 x Seagate ST32000542AS 2Tb drives £285

211 with 2 x Samsung HD103SJ 1Tb drives £305

Sorry I know there are several options there and hard to tell. I'd just appreciate recommendations based on the prices. I'm not sure if there is a noticeable enough difference in both NAS version and drives to warrant the difference in price.

Many thanks

 

[thiggins]

Any of your options will do the job. The main difference is higher performance for higher price. But even the lowest model will work fine for your applications.

Don't go crazy getting the highest performance drive. They will make little to no difference in NAS performance and run hotter and noisier. Just make sure any drive is on the approved list for the NAS you buy.

 

[stuarta]

wow thanks for the quick reply.

So question then really is whether the performance differences between the 210J/211J/211 are worth it.

I see the Samsung HD204UI/Z4 2Tb drive is an 'Eco' drive and the Seagate ST32000542AS is supposed to be a low consumption one.

hmmm, big difference between £173 and £305, but don't want to skimp and have regrets later

 

[Chunkers]

Can't comment on much else but with the price difference between the DS210j and DS211j being very small (in the UK the newer model seems to be about £10 more expensive) it would seem sensible to avoid the DS210j and enjoy the benefit of a significant CPU upgrade.

Whether you require the further increase in power (and price) of the DS211 over the DS211j I can't comment.

Its early days, but my impression is that my DS211j manages Squeezebox and NAS duties pretty well so I would imagine the DS211 is probably only needed if you plan to run a lot of other simultaneous services.

Chunks

 

[stuarta]

Yep I think I will pass on the 210J so between the 211 and 211J. Also been recommended the WD Caviar EARS drives over the Samsung ones.

Price wise it seems to be about £245 for the J and £305 for the standard 211. The offer of the J with the 2x1Tb drives is good but then not sure if I wants to sacrifice speed for capacity.

Don't mind paying the extra if it's worth it to futureproof myself

 

[stuarta]

Right gone for the DS211 as only £60 more than the J and would always be wondering what the difference would be.

Also opted for for 2x WD Caviar Green 1Tb's (WD10EARS)

Looking forward to it arriving and playing with it all