[KSN380]

Good day folks,

I currently have a home built PC with the following specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad CPU @ 2.4GHz
8GB RAM
6TB HD (2,2,1,1)
Windows 7 Ultimate
2 X ATI X1650
3 X 22" LCDs
1 X Panasonic 720P projector

Apple TV 250GB (1st gen) with XBMC (in the bedroom) wired to L/R PC, connected to a 42" LCD.

I have my PC setup in a corner of my L/R. With one of the cards HDMI out going to the projector. I have this setup so I can watch movies from the PC via VLC player (which I can control from my iPad).

My movie collection is nearing 1,000 now. Mostly 720p.

I'm trying to get some type of NAS setup going where the NAS can stay on all the time. Giving me the ability of putting my L/R PC to sleep when not in use. Another reason I'm trying to do this, is because my L/R is very large and thus not cooled as are the bedrooms. My PC sometimes hits temps of 62c.

If I could get a NAS setup in the bedroom, and have all the Apple TV's (purchasing 2 more soon) linked to it, that'd be great. This way I can shutdown the PC when not in use and have the NAS in the bedroom where it's mostly always colder.

I have all my hard drives connected to MB via SATA (non-raid) as I do not know what the benefits of raid really are.

I was thinking of pulling 2 2TB hard drives from the PC and purchasing 2 more, totaling 8TB for the NAS. The NAS has to have WIFI built-in (if there's such a thing) so all the APTVs can stream media off of it.

Can you folks offer some advice?

[eskro]

most members here use unRAID....
check in my signature for an unRAID Guide!

[Balinus]

I use a Synology Ds211j. Works like a charm (Download station, FTP, SSH, ...) and use only ~25W. If you need more space, look for 4-bay (or more!) NAS.

I would connect your NAS to your router/switch instead of using the wifi. The apple TV will connect through your router and not directly to the NAS.

From there, it is really easy to backup your NAS on an external USB/eSATA HDD connected directly to the NAS.

[seand]

Second on the idea that even if you wan to run wireless clients you really want your NAS to have a wired gigabit ethernet connection to your router. Server should always be a wired connection. Clients can receive wifi from your router if you so choose but if you are going to bother to set up a NAS at the very least run ethernet to it.

Plan for clients that in the future that may demand throughput for 1080p or that you might have multiple clients, don't build a big storage box and then leave its data bottlenecked by a slow wifi connection.

[Kirky99]

You don't mention a router, are your PCs just connected together via WiFi?

As mentioned, first i would get a router in place, then the "server" gets hardwired to that. Everything else can do wireless if you must, but i would wire everything i could. That many media PCs running wireless and you better have a good Wireless N connection. Even 1 client trying to do 1080p will stress a G connection (and will probably studder often).

[outatouch0]

Good advice here, I had similar thoughts. Long before I found XBMC, I went with the Synology NAS due to high consumer review ratings, relatively low price, no need to purchase an operating system, etc. Synology is quick, easy, and reliable.
Unraid may be better IDK anything about it

I recommend not skimping on your router for something like this. Netgear 3700 is well suited to the task(s) you describe.

[BigO]

Im running Freenas on some older hardware and i know a few others are running that as well. You may want to look into that option as well since its allows for a bit of flexibility if you need your NAS to do a little more than just store your files.

[QLink]

maybe take a look the HP Microserver N36L here.
As cheap or even cheaper than many normal NAS and you can do much more with it ...
you can use it as a NAS, as a server, as HTPC or all together

[bertybassett]

qnap or synology NASes are the prefect solutions. No messing with hardware, just drop in your HD(s) and you are off. Plus they only sip 25watts of power so you can leave them on 24/7. They are also phyiscally small in size so will fit in a cupboard or under your stairs.

The only downer is price starting at £150 up to £1000+

[kizer]

Personally I vote for unRAID. I have 5.5TB in my case and I can easily expand to 24TB just using 2TB drives.

I think it cost me $260 to build the machine not including the drives.

[Ethereal_Gaz]

I have a Synology NAS, and 3TB spread across 2 drives but that's plenty for me as I rarely keep a film once it's watched (unless it's exceptional, or one of the kids films). I did have issues with the NAS not automatically re-indexing its Upnp lists but that's not an issue with XBMC.

I too have mine plugged into my router. I think this is the best option. I use gigabit lan cables to the main PC but Homeplugs to my bedroom PC as I've found that even with wireless-n HD movies can sometimes stutter if the wifi is busy.