What I would suggest for you, and what I used in my old box was: Get a ESATA Port Multiplier enclosure.
4 bay or 5 bay, you can get some models cheap. The one I got had a esata card also with it (PCI E). Use that on a pc and it works wonders. Price of entry is relatively cheap also. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Anthony Q. Martin Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 4:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [H] NAS Box Vs PC for more movie storage Zul, Thanks for the words. I'd be convinced but the bucks are holding me back, seriously so. Assuming 3TB=$130, then 15TB of storage = $1450 with this solution. Given the function, I just don't see the value. Probably because I started with hardware that was already paid for. And while I do have to maintain the PC, I still use it for other things, as I'm not watching movies that much. I'll have to do more thinking.... On 10/25/2011 8:44 AM, Naushad, Zulfiqar wrote: > I have a Synology DS1511. > > Yes, its 800 bucks, yes it's expensive, but in my opinion it just works. > > I could build a PC, but then I would have to worry about things like > OS, updating the OS etc. Plus if you buy one with a backplane and > hotswappable drive racks, the price adds up real quick. To top it all > off, even the smallest 5 drive PC build would be big. > > The Synology is small, and does everything I could ever want from a NAS. > > I do my torrents on it, I unzip/unrar split torrents, I even do file > management on it (i.e. moving files from a folder to another). It > just works and I love it. > > A PC would do much more in terms of raw functionality, but hey, I > don't want to "maintain" the PC. The synology sits in my tv cabinet, > makes little noise and uses even less power. > > In the end it all comes down to a price/ease of use ratio. I wanted > something that was really plug and forget, and this does the job well. > I tell you one thing. I've had several forms of NAS'es over several > years. I started of with a home-made PC, then upgraded to one of > those Buffalo Terastations, then to a HP HomeServer (Windows Home > Server) and finally the Synology. > > The Synology by far was the best, in terms of performance as well as > functionality for me. It fits so well in my digital lifestyle I > really don't think I could live without it anymore. > > If this unit somehow dies, I'll get another Synology. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Anthony > Q. Martin > Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 2:50 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [H] NAS Box Vs PC for more movie storage > > Thinking ahead a bit...assuming hard drive prices return to normal > after the flood waters recede and the country has time to stabilize.... > > I'm trying to understand what the advantages of a formal NAS box (like > a Snyology 5-bay diskstation) is over a low-end PC for movie serving? > The discless version of this thing is $800+ and the 5TB (a mere 5TB?) > is $1400+. What's up with that? > > I don't consider movies backed up to hard drive to be critical, so I > personally don't see the need for raid etc. to recover lost drives, > which is why I'm just using Win7 homegroup without any kind of > sophistication. But I see a lot of people talking about using a NAS > box like this for the same purposes I'm after (movie/music serving) in > my house. I'm sure I can build up a cheap PC for way less. > > While on the topic...my movie server only has slots for two more HDs > (one is coming). I'd rather not add a second PC...it would be nice to > have a box that holds an array of drives and serves them up as > individual drives, something of like this thing: > > http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HF2-SU3S23-External-Drive-Enclosure/d > p/ > B003X26VV4/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319542826&sr=1-2 > > which works over usb 3.0, so in theory I could add two of these over > usb 3.0, to get another 8*3=24TB. Problem is, these are noisy (at > least at ear level) and sometimes the drives drop out (I own one > already). But two of these is cheaper than a cheap PC. > > I think Greg said is has about 60TB of space....what kind of box is > that in? > > Has anyone built a DIY box for HD storage over a usb 3.0 connection? > > > >
