Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems NAS drive selection help

the ReadyNAS Duo, diskless is on Amazon for <$300. Combined with two large SATA drives, with RAID1 you have pretty good data redundancy. External USB backup is a must, with rotating offsite storage in case of fire or theft.

My Sonos system is fed by a ReadyNAS 1100 with RAID5. IMO, the readynas SW has matured and is pretty good. Don't expect fast cpu(intel) for cheap prices, though. Their PRO line uses Intel CPUs for computing on the file server, if you need it. Sonos doesn't really need it, so I don't care.

I would consider doubling my disks and swapping off site file backup with a fellow Hitchhiker (only FLAC and MP3, photos). PM if interested. My CD/ROIO collection is about 700 Gb, so Mozy/etc is uneconomical.

I may be the minority but I don't see the need for a RAID. On my NAS I have about 300gb of music, which I backup to a USB disk. Since the files don't change often a disk crash would just entail buying a new drive and restoring from my backup. I do not yet have an off site backup, but am working on it. I will probably buy another HD and store it at the office, maybe using the PogoPlug <http://www.pogoplugged.com/>. And I still have the original CDs in the basement.

+1. No need to have a RAID if you back up regularly. It's part of my Sunday morning routine.

when I was building out my NAS, the "sweet priced" drive was 750Gb. Now it seems like it is a 1.5Gb drive. I would be happy with Raid1 with 2 1.5Tb drives but at the time to achieve a large partition, 4X750Gb drives were what was needed. Of course, I'm still growing into the 2nd half of that terabyte ....
maybe if i figure out multi-channel high rez FLAC and keeping my fingers crossed for Sonos 3.0 :-)

I heard (at HH2?) that drives bigger than 1TB have more reliability problems and that it's safest to go with 1TB at this time. Anyone else got thoughts on this?

1TB hold a big CD collection in FLAC (2000+). So ask yourself how big a drive you are actually likely to need in the next 3-5 years. Add 50% for comfort and work backwards. Personally, I wouldn't go over 1Tb until 2Tb becomes common

Cliff

Thank you all!

I could not have hoped for better information from so many in response to my query. With this under my belt I am continuing my internet searches and price checks and hope in the near future to have a system set up.

Much mahalo and aloha!

Hello,
I have found what seems to be the future of NAS server, try the Synology brand, they make NAS drives with 1Ghz processor and more than 128mo, the last being requiered for running without any PC squeezecenter to be used with SB. Also it is seems that the upcoming Squeezebox touch is going to sport 24bit 96khz digital output so I advise to wait for it to become true. I have spotted the Synology ds409slim that is a four drive enclore of 2,5" drives cool and quiet, not that expensive and with 128mo ram!

The Seagate 1.5TB drives had horrendous issues originally, which an updated firmware was supposed to fix - but I've heard bad things from colleagues still. The Western Digital drives seem to be the best all round currently.

1TB is still enough for ~2800 70min CDs with FLAC / WMA Lossless / Apple Lossless

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/200...ean-availability-for-mediasmart-servers/


Hp have changed their minds as a result of pressure from users happy with their earlier version smartservers demanding a European release . There's a review of the top machine here :

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2008/12/28/review-hp-mediasmart-server-ex48/


~M~

For my NAS, I am getting a Tranquil PC upgraded to give me the core of 2x 1TB Western Digital drives, 2GB RAM, an Atom motherboard and Gigabit LAN. And an external HDD (for backup) to be stored at a remote location. That spec. has come together thanks to earlier comments in this thread.

I plan to use the CD ripping software "RipNAS Essentials". This seems to have comprehensive metadata, taking feeds from four providers.

I am curious how the metadata is handled when, instead of ripping a CD or DVD-A, I download an album. Can I rely on the download service to always deliver complete metadata? And album art on every occasion? If there are gaps, could I use "RipNAS Essentials" to collect the metadata and art?

I will add an external CD/DVD unit, to give me flexibility in where the slot sits. I am attracted by the spec. of the TEAC unit recommended with "RipNAS Essentials" at:
http://www.dBpoweramp.com/ripnas-essentials.htm

As a newbie to NAS, I would appreciate any comfort that I'm heading in the right direction with this drive - and guidance on metadata with downloads.

FYI I've been using a couple of QNAP TS-109s for a couple of years now and they've been great. Very quiet indeed.....

S