NAS suggestion
#1
I have a Zotac for my front end on my TV and currently a homebuilt tower with 4x 2TB drives. I was going to switch it from Windows and hardware RAID to FreeNAS and a RaidZ with ZFS. However, before I do that I wonder if I am better off buying an actual hardware NAS. I have about 2.5TB of media so far and have some to rip still so I want enough storage to future proof me. My current server probably won't cut it eventually plus I am using Seagate "green" drives which I know now I shouldn't have gone with.

Any recommendations on a good NAS would be appreciated.

EDIT: Browsing Newegg and saw this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822148667

Seems like plenty of storage but boy is it pricey. I wonder if I am better off keeping what I have and using FreeNAS and RAID5. If I recall 8 TB in storage goes to about 3.6 in RAID 5? That won't last long so I'd need larger drives right?
Server: Synology Diskstation 1511+ with 8x WD Red NAS 3TB drives, DSM 5.2
Main HTPC: Home Built i3, 8GB RAM, Corsair 128GB SSD, nVidia 630GTX, Harmony Home Control, Pioneer VSX-53, Panasonic VT30 65" 3D TV, Windows 10, Isengard
Bedroom HTPC: Zotac-ID 41 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Rii micro keyboard remote, Samsung HW-E550, Sony 32" Google TV, OpenElec 6.0 beta 4
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#2
If want expandability and don't mind putting it together yourself, check out unraid. It is designed for use as a HT media NAS. As long as the parity drive is as large as the largest drive in the array you can add over 20 drives.
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#3
That's exactly what I am looking at. Do you format the drives as NTFS or can you ZFS or is it another format? I like the fact that you can keep adding drives to it.
Server: Synology Diskstation 1511+ with 8x WD Red NAS 3TB drives, DSM 5.2
Main HTPC: Home Built i3, 8GB RAM, Corsair 128GB SSD, nVidia 630GTX, Harmony Home Control, Pioneer VSX-53, Panasonic VT30 65" 3D TV, Windows 10, Isengard
Bedroom HTPC: Zotac-ID 41 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Rii micro keyboard remote, Samsung HW-E550, Sony 32" Google TV, OpenElec 6.0 beta 4
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#4
Pat, you really need to lean back and read up a bit on your own.

A NAS is a device with a built in OS, aka firmware. It's pretty much the same as for example a router or firewall which can also be bought either as HW+OS/FW bundle or OS/application installed on a computer. As such, you're stuck with whatever features the manufacturer has decided to supply you with when you buy a NAS.

Do yourself a favour and just finish your current front and backend setup and let it all rest for a while (as long as it all works), because the rest is pretty much about yourself deciding which path to take (aka needs, taste preferences), not trawling this forum for some god given truth and optimum, because there isn't any.
HTPC: LibreELEC 7 on Shuttle XS35GTv2 & Raspberry Pi 3
NAS: NAS4Free 2x 3TB Raid1
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#5
Yeah that's good advice I guess. FWIW I'm going to try unRAID with 4x 3TB drives on my existing box. That should carry me a long time.
Server: Synology Diskstation 1511+ with 8x WD Red NAS 3TB drives, DSM 5.2
Main HTPC: Home Built i3, 8GB RAM, Corsair 128GB SSD, nVidia 630GTX, Harmony Home Control, Pioneer VSX-53, Panasonic VT30 65" 3D TV, Windows 10, Isengard
Bedroom HTPC: Zotac-ID 41 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Rii micro keyboard remote, Samsung HW-E550, Sony 32" Google TV, OpenElec 6.0 beta 4
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#6
patseguin Wrote:Yeah that's good advice I guess. FWIW I'm going to try unRAID with 4x 3TB drives on my existing box. That should carry me a long time.
If you drop down to only 3 x 3TB drives then you can use the free version of unRAID. You'd have 6TB of parity protected storage with that setup.
HTPC: Win 7 Home 64-bit | MB | CPU | GPU | RAM | Case | PSU | Tuner | HDDs: OS, Media | DVD Burner | Remote
Media server: unraid 4.7 | CPU | MB | RAM | Case | PSU | HDDs: Parity-2TB, Data-2x2TB
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#7
Oh I thought it was free. That being the case, I wonder if I'm better off with FreeNAS.

Looked back at the page and a Pro version for $69 which isn't bad and then I could use all my storage. Do you use the ZFS with this?
Server: Synology Diskstation 1511+ with 8x WD Red NAS 3TB drives, DSM 5.2
Main HTPC: Home Built i3, 8GB RAM, Corsair 128GB SSD, nVidia 630GTX, Harmony Home Control, Pioneer VSX-53, Panasonic VT30 65" 3D TV, Windows 10, Isengard
Bedroom HTPC: Zotac-ID 41 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Rii micro keyboard remote, Samsung HW-E550, Sony 32" Google TV, OpenElec 6.0 beta 4
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#8
Although I myself really like the idea of using true Freeware (and unRAID is more of Shareware), methinks the flexibility of unRAID would be something going well with your needs, preferences and personality Smile
HTPC: LibreELEC 7 on Shuttle XS35GTv2 & Raspberry Pi 3
NAS: NAS4Free 2x 3TB Raid1
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#9
patseguin Wrote:Oh I thought it was free. That being the case, I wonder if I'm better off with FreeNAS.

Looked back at the page and a Pro version for $69 which isn't bad and then I could use all my storage. Do you use the ZFS with this?
unRAID does not require any additional s/w.
HTPC: Win 7 Home 64-bit | MB | CPU | GPU | RAM | Case | PSU | Tuner | HDDs: OS, Media | DVD Burner | Remote
Media server: unraid 4.7 | CPU | MB | RAM | Case | PSU | HDDs: Parity-2TB, Data-2x2TB
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#10
Unraid doesn't use zfs/ntfs. It uses reiserfs. There are 3 unraid versions, one which is free. With 3TB HDD that gives you quite a bit of storage before you have to buy anything. Upgrading from free to paid is simple, as is adding more drives to the array.

Even though unraid is simple to set up and use, you should do your homework beforehand. Each NAS solution has its strengths and weaknesses. Unraid is very strong in the features that make it an good HT media NAS. Even so, it isn't what you want if you're looking to just add NAS capability to a Windows box.
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