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Forum Discussion
Help me with what to purchase.
Hi all,
I'm looking at getting a ReadyNAS system, as all my colleagues at work have one - so that seems as good a testimony as any.
My current data requirements are;
Music: 1.2TB and growing steadily as I get more CD's and Vinyl records. (FLAC)
Misc data: approx 1 TB
The reason I want to purchase a NAS box, is because I'm going to start digitizing my home-video collection as well - and that will require a ton of space, as I want as close to zero quality degradation from the source material as possible.
Hence I've more or less settled on a six-disc option, planning to fill it with WD Red 3TB drives. (My film collection at present has passed 400 titles, so the space will be required.)
I've been looking at the ReadyNAS Ultra 6(Which I can actually purchase in Denmark..), but it seems that line is being discontinued - to be replaced with a newer series of devices. I've looked at the 316, but it seems to be much more expensive than the Ultra series, based on the prices listed on NewEgg.
I will be using the NAS for DLNA streaming to devices in my home, I will be looking at ways to stream music to my phone(On the fly conversion to mp3 to keep data-reqs as low as possible, or something similar - suggestions welcome!!). , and I will want to use it to access my media when I'm on the road with my laptop. This is the primary reason why I'm looking for models which feature good processing power and plenty of memory.
I'm sorely tempted to do a Raid 1 configuration for the music drives, and possibly a Raid 5 for the remaining drives for data and the digital media collection. Either that, or raid1 everything to ensure the best possible redundancy. I'm really looking for opinions here. It's absolutely critical to me, that my data does not disappear. I will, of course, be keeping an off-site copy of particularly the music and important data-bits - which I am doing already.
Can any of you ReadyNAS'ers provide insights, suggestions or anything that might help me make the best choice possible, for my current and future usage scenario?
Thank you :-)
I'm looking at getting a ReadyNAS system, as all my colleagues at work have one - so that seems as good a testimony as any.
My current data requirements are;
Music: 1.2TB and growing steadily as I get more CD's and Vinyl records. (FLAC)
Misc data: approx 1 TB
The reason I want to purchase a NAS box, is because I'm going to start digitizing my home-video collection as well - and that will require a ton of space, as I want as close to zero quality degradation from the source material as possible.
Hence I've more or less settled on a six-disc option, planning to fill it with WD Red 3TB drives. (My film collection at present has passed 400 titles, so the space will be required.)
I've been looking at the ReadyNAS Ultra 6(Which I can actually purchase in Denmark..), but it seems that line is being discontinued - to be replaced with a newer series of devices. I've looked at the 316, but it seems to be much more expensive than the Ultra series, based on the prices listed on NewEgg.
I will be using the NAS for DLNA streaming to devices in my home, I will be looking at ways to stream music to my phone(On the fly conversion to mp3 to keep data-reqs as low as possible, or something similar - suggestions welcome!!). , and I will want to use it to access my media when I'm on the road with my laptop. This is the primary reason why I'm looking for models which feature good processing power and plenty of memory.
I'm sorely tempted to do a Raid 1 configuration for the music drives, and possibly a Raid 5 for the remaining drives for data and the digital media collection. Either that, or raid1 everything to ensure the best possible redundancy. I'm really looking for opinions here. It's absolutely critical to me, that my data does not disappear. I will, of course, be keeping an off-site copy of particularly the music and important data-bits - which I am doing already.
Can any of you ReadyNAS'ers provide insights, suggestions or anything that might help me make the best choice possible, for my current and future usage scenario?
Thank you :-)
31 Replies
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- I would buy one of the new models the RN316 or the RN516. If you want to transcode 1080p video to stream over the web then go with 516. For audio only the Atom CPU in the 316 would be enough.
- So basically you're saying that spending money on the Ultra series at this time would be a waste of money? :)
- You don't need to separate music and data/video on separate drives. You will get more space if you use a single XRAID-2 volume. With 6x3TB drives, you can get 15 TB of total space, your structuring only gives you 12 TB.
Alternatively you can get 12 TB with dual redundancy with a single volume - which is stronger protection than the raid-1 + raid-5 scheme, and offers the same space. Backup of course is needed no matter how you structure the disks.
Accessing the media on the road through streaming can be problematic, especially with DLNA. You'd want a VPN router for the best performance. ReadyNAS remote can be to unpredictable. Since you are transcoding on the fly you would need something like plex. If you are planning to also transcode video later on, you would want a pro-6 or a 516.
Newegg (and other retailers) are beginning to discount the older models to clear inventory - that is one reason why you are seeing such good deals on the older stuff. I agree with mdgm that you should look first at the new lines. I don't think he's telling you its a "waste of money" exactly. Just that he thinks the newer lines are a better investment. StephenB wrote: You don't need to separate music and data/video on separate drives. You will get more space if you use a single XRAID-2 volume. With 6x3TB drives, you can get 15 TB of total space, your structuring only gives you 12 TB.
Alternatively you can get 12 TB with dual redundancy with a single volume - which is stronger protection than the raid-1 + raid-5 scheme, and offers the same space. Backup of course is needed no matter how you structure the disks.
I just worry about array failure with that option. My thinking was to back-up my data on external WD Green drives and keep 'em stashed outside my home. The data doesn't change that frequently, so it could work.StephenB wrote:
Accessing the media on the road through streaming can be problematic, especially with DLNA. You'd want a VPN router for the best performance. ReadyNAS remote can be to unpredictable. Since you are transcoding on the fly you would need something like plex. If you are planning to also transcode video later on, you would want a pro-6 or a 516.
I have a DLNA enabled Samsung Blu-Ray player which should serve, for now. I'm planning on setting up a htpc box as well, since the DLNA mode on the blu-ray player is lacking. Specifically with my test-rips with embedded subtitles in .mkv files the player cannot display them. Nor will it let me use the chapters correctly, so I figure a small htpc would do that job nicely for me, with a remote attached. With a blu-ray drive it should be able to replace my blu-ray player entirely.
I'm thinking of locating some sort of media centre build which will allow me to have a home-library on display, which supports the functions I'm looking for as well. It would then pull the library from the NAS.
I've got an older model HP homeserver at present, on to which I've managed to force an installation of Ubuntu. I've upgraded it's celeron CPU to a c2d E5400, and it features four drive bays. I was looking at the ReadyNAS as an alternative to this for its ease of use.. but if it severely limits my options I might reconsider actually using this homeserver instead. It's a HP EX490 MediaSmart. The only issue is that it requires me to use one drivebay for system operation, which naturally will decrease the storage potential of the thing.
Are you are thinking that you'd pull a NAS hard drive, replace it, and store the old one off site? That is not a good way to do it. Replacing a drive requires rebuilding the array, which is stressful on the remaining drives and carries some risk. Also, although the drives can be removed easily, the connectors, etc. are not intended for a lot of swapping. The better approach is to use USB drives, or back up to another NAS.Froberg wrote: I just worry about array failure with that option. My thinking was to back-up my data on external WD Green drives and keep 'em stashed outside my home. The data doesn't change that frequently, so it could work.
Plex seems to work out well as a ReadyNAS DLNA server. It's built into the RNxxx models, but can be installed on the x86 products as well. It probably could be installed on one of your existing systems if you wanted to see how well it works.Froberg wrote: I have a DLNA enabled Samsung Blu-Ray player which should serve, for now. I'm planning on setting up a htpc box as well, since the DLNA mode on the blu-ray player is lacking. Specifically with my test-rips with embedded subtitles in .mkv files the player cannot display them. Nor will it let me use the chapters correctly, so I figure a small htpc would do that job nicely for me, with a remote attached. With a blu-ray drive it should be able to replace my blu-ray player entirely.
I'm thinking of locating some sort of media centre build which will allow me to have a home-library on display, which supports the functions I'm looking for as well. It would then pull the library from the NAS.
I've got an older model HP homeserver at present, on to which I've managed to force an installation of Ubuntu. I've upgraded it's celeron CPU to a c2d E5400, and it features four drive bays. I was looking at the ReadyNAS as an alternative to this for its ease of use.. but if it severely limits my options I might reconsider actually using this homeserver instead. It's a HP EX490 MediaSmart. The only issue is that it requires me to use one drivebay for system operation, which naturally will decrease the storage potential of the thing.
There are two main issues - one is whether you need on the fly video transcoding. If so, you need a good CPU in the server. The RN516 has the fastest CPU, the Pro line is faster than the ultra.
The second is how you access your media when you on the road. Is that something you are doing successfully now? If so, how?StephenB wrote: Are you are thinking that you'd pull a NAS hard drive, replace it, and store the old one off site? That is not a good way to do it. Replacing a drive requires rebuilding the array, which is stressful on the remaining drives and carries some risk. Also, although the drives can be removed easily, the connectors, etc. are not intended for a lot of swapping. The better approach is to use USB drives, or back up to another NAS.
No. I intend to transfer the data to external drives for safe-keeping.. I've no intention of swapping drives out willy-nilly. Particularly not since I'm investing in Red's which are Ideally suited for NAS usage and little else.StephenB wrote: Plex seems to work out well as a ReadyNAS DLNA server. It's built into the RNxxx models, but can be installed on the x86 products as well. It probably could be installed on one of your existing systems if you wanted to see how well it works.
There are two main issues - one is whether you need on the fly video transcoding. If so, you need a good CPU in the server. The RN516 has the fastest CPU, the Pro line is faster than the ultra.
AFAIK my Blu-Ray player transcodes video for me, as it stands. But I'm no expert, hence all these silly questions.StephenB wrote:
The second is how you access your media when you on the road. Is that something you are doing successfully now? If so, how?
No, that is something of a wish-list item for me. I would like to be able to use the data connection on my phone to pull media from my server at will. I was given the impression that this could be accomplished with the ReadyNAS line of products?
Good. Then I don't understand your concern about array failure. Recovery is a bit easier on the RAID-1 array you are proposing. But it is not easier for the RAID-5 array. Personally I'd go with XRAID-2 (possibly dual redundancy), and two backups (rotating one on-site with one off-site).Froberg wrote: No. I intend to transfer the data to external drives for safe-keeping.. I've no intention of swapping drives out willy-nilly.
No it doesn't. It decodes the audio/video it receives from your servers, and renders it. It isn't capable of video encoding. Also, to reduce the data rate of the video stream you'd need to convert the video ("transcode") at the server. This is the video equivalent of your on-the-fly conversion from flac to mp3 (which is audio transcoding).Froberg wrote: AFAIK my Blu-Ray player transcodes video for me, as it stands...
The combination of readynas remote + readynas dlna is supposed to do this (and works sometimes anyway). However, the throughput over the internet is very inconsistent, so streaming is not that easy. What works better is downloading the file from your NAS to the phone/tablet and playing it. You can also try FTP streaming (there are some mobile players that support that). That has the advantage of not needing to be routed through netgear servers. However, it can still stutter.Froberg wrote: No, that is something of a wish-list item for me. I would like to be able to use the data connection on my phone to pull media from my server at will. I was given the impression that this could be accomplished with the ReadyNAS line of products?
Recently I picked up a Seagate Wireless Plus - which is essentially a portable wireless NAS. I haven't had it long enough to fully assess it, but so far it seems to be an effective way to stream local content to my Android phone and iPad. It has 1 TB, so it would hold your music collection in MP3 format easily.- Thanks man, I appreciate it. :)
Seems to me it ought to work, maybe in combination with a squeezebox or something. - There are three obstacles to overcome.
1 - DLNA was not designed to go beyond the local LAN.
2 - Your NAS will be behind your home firewall, and you will usually be behind a second one when you are on the road. The solution to this problem is to have an internet server (not behind a firewall) help set up the connection. In some cases this server can "get out of the way", in others your media has to be forwarded through this server. Performance of that server can be a bottleneck.
3. Having enough bandwidth. In many cases your internet uplink bandwidth is a lot lower than your downlink. Speedtest.net can help you sort out what you are actually getting. Also, there are some ISPs that have a bandwidth cap for uploading. Anyway, if you have a slow uplink you might have issues with MP3, and certainly with video (which is more bandwidth intensive). - My connection is 50/5 so no worries there. DLNA for local use is all I intended. I was looking at alternative streaming options for external use.
Reg connection from outside, I am going to configure my router to allow it and use my domain for access if required. Shouldn't be much of an issue.
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