Anyone using a home NAS?

[slicendice]

I'm wondering about getting a home NAS for movies and music. I've got a spare 2TB drive which will probably be plenty (certainly short term) so all I'd need would be the enclosure. It would need to hook up to Sonos (which I believe is pretty straightforward) and also my LG TV (49SM9000PLA ~3 years old) for movies. I believe the TV should be able to access the movies on the NAS if it's on same LAN (which it would be)? 

 

I wouldn't really need RAID as all the stuff I'd be putting on there would be copies of originals that I already have (mainly CDs and DVDs).

 

Is anyone using one of these? Any recommendations? I've had a bit of a poke around and this Synology one seems to be well reviewed and isn't crazy expensive. 

[Mort]

I have a DS918+ for all my media at home. I'd definitely say get one with at least 4 bays and go for RAID (even if you're not using all the bays yet). It's a higher price point to setup, but gives you the ability to expand storage easier in the future, and (although I'm in the same boat with all the original DVD/BluRays to hand) no one wants to sit there and re-rip thousands of hours of films when you lose everything to a bad disk.

Nothing but praise for Synology though, the 918 has been rock solid for years running 24/7. Not had good experiences with WD disks, but since swapping them out for Seagate drives it's been plain sailing.

 

The OS running on the Synology NAS (DSM) should allow you to set up a DNLA server or host Plex etc. to serve the files to the TV/anything on your network. Not had any experience with Sonos stuff, but it should work easily enough (though be aware that I think you have to enable SMB1 and NTLMv1 which are both not great for security).

Edited 5 June, 2023 by Mort
I can't spell

[slicendice]

Thanks Mort

 

I was trying to keep costs down a bit as the Sonos stuff don't come cheap!! 😲 But that's a good point re the RAID. I'll have a poke around and see what the costs are for more bays.

 

The drive I've got is a Seagate one and pretty much brand new (it originally came in a home surveillance NVR that I upgraded) so hopefully should do the trick.

 

 

[varooom]

I have had several NAS units over the years, the Synology one's are quite good I'd say.

 

With drives, make sure they aren't SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) as they just are not designed for RW.  Usually bigger drives are CMR, just do a little research on why.

 

The Synology is capable of running a DLNA service that my similar age LG just sees fine for media, maybe that Sonos gear can talk to DLNA servers for media?  Then you wouldn't need to run SMB1 as it's awful security.

 

Synology does have an online test bed where you can have a play with a virtual Synology to see if you like the interface.

 

Look about for a 2nd hand 918 or 920 if possible, gives you plenty of future proofing.  If you setup with SHR1 if possible, which is Synology Hybrid Raid with ability to work if one drive fails, it's fairly robust.  Naturally the drives are mad prices, better if you can wait for Black Friday if you can.

 

Also research on "shucking" drives, they often put NAS drives into external USB's for Desktop, and you can look up how to open them up.  Cheaper than buying a NAS drive, but beware warranty would be a little more interesting is all.

[J.R.]

Pleased to say that I have read each posting and other than thinking it must be about recording films or TV programs I do not have a clue what any of the acronyms mean!

 

Respect to those of you that do though.

[varooom]

Acronym Soup.

 

NAS = Network attached storage.

In simple, it's like a hard drive connected to your router at home that all of your home devices can access.

 

I store documents on mine, so I can access my files from any PC/phone/tablet at home.  I can access my files from anywhere in the World also should I wish.

 

Powerful but dangerous if not set up securely.

[DougT]

I used a Synology DS411J quite happily for a few years. It got too slow in the end though, and wasn't really upgradable.

These days I use OpenMediaVault on an HP Proliant Microserver. Less easy to set up than the Synology though.

[petrolcan]

I've toyed with the idea of a NAS but decided they were too focused on doing just one thing when I needed more.

 

I've ended up with a proper PC that lives under the TV and stays on 24/7, Liquid cooled i7 & 32GB of RAM. Quite a large case with the ability to take ten (I think) HDDs of which I currently only have seven spaces filled. Runs W10, Plex, mIRC and qbit and does everything I ask of it.

 

Take what @varooomsays about shucking drives seriously, it's real easy to do and the savings can be more than 50% over a 'regular' HDD.