I’ve decided that I need a NAS to share iPhoto and iTunes libraries between a couple of macs.
Any recommendations?

I probably only need 1 tb.

What’s good and bad these days?

I’m still mentally scarred from trying to get a Buffalo Link station working nicely on a windows network about a decade ago, so the easier the better please 🙂

Only used one which was a Synology DS214, found it pretty good but might be a bit OTT for what you want. Lots of features including remote viewing and streaming etc.

I have one of these;

http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/desktop-hard-drives/goflex-home/

been great. Have 4 pc’s/laptops linked to it all doing synced backups and sharing files.

I would use it ‘wired’ if possible for the initial backup because the speed is so much faster than wi-fi for a big backup but the incremental ones are fine on wi-fi.

Synology +1. Only scratched the surface of mine, in terms of functionality, for home use but seems to do what I tell it to do without fuss.

Synology +1

+1

Or of course, theres QNAP. It neednt be hard setting it up, you might not use all the features, buts its nice to have them!!

Western Digital mycloud? Certainly no QNAP but cheap enough, does what you want without bells and whistles.

Thanks Guys – a few things to think about
Build quality + flexibility + expandability vs cheaper WD myCloud type approach

Mmm

I went for a Lacie 2big one this time. It seems very well built. Had a couple of QNAPs (209 Pro and a 219 I think) but they both died on me after a couple of years (one taking both disks with it.)

I like the Lacie as it doesn’t try and do too much. I really only use it as a TimeMachine backup, though it can serve media. I have a Mac mini that’s always on that I use for any services.

I use to run loads of stuff on the NAS but they tend to be quite low power, not much memory, and generally seem to run a lot better if you just use them for storage and not as a mini server.

Zyxel NSA325 for about 80 quid (driveless)

I probably only need 1 tb.

Oh no you don’t! Go for the maximum you can afford, you’ll fill a 1Tb easily; my iPad has nearly 5000 photos on, I have 160Gb of music in iTunes, it builds up quickly. Then there’s all your software. And video…

I’d happily recommend Qnap NASs – I have both a Ts-219 and a TS-212 for lighter duties.

For those that are NAS/Synology-curious however, there is a good review at El Reg of the DS214 – http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/03/review_synology_ds214_home_nas/

12TB array over here of films, xbox ISO backups, music, photos, and PC/Mac backups…

I’m using a cheap HP NAS (can’t remember the name of the model!), stuffed with 4TB disks, and a second external esata disk array (for backup).

I am long overdue a NAS, mostly photos and musak and sh1te, so what are the votes for;
Synology DS213J
or
QNAP TS-212

or comparable suggestions

Seagate Central works just fine for us.

I was going to buy a 2tB but thought, ‘No, let’s future proof and get a 3tB…’ Glad I did and sort of wish I’d gone for 4tB. Do need to buy another one for back up now, though!

This is looking favourite at the moment – Synology DS214se 2 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

Now what size disks to get 😕

some of these devices are great but if you want more options to customise your server then i can highly recommend the HP micro servers running ubuntu server but could easily run or dual boot any server config you can imagine. room for at least 4 disks and more external.
often deals on these and of course linux is free.
not as hard as you might think to setup

key software being
webmin (to control over the web)
serviio (dlna server for audio,video,photo)
subsonic server (alternate audio server great for mobiles/tablet and internet)
samba/nfs/SSH/FTP etc

Not sure how good they are but just had an email promoting these:

http://www.dabs.com/products/netgear-readynas-102–2-bay–1-2ghz-512mb–diskless–8K4P.html?utm_source=retention%20email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email171213&utm_content=i800

Decision made!

I’ve gone for the cheap and cheerful ZyXEL NSA310 and a 3tb disk to go in it. I don’t want or need the raid and £60 for the enclosure is cheap enough for a dabble.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005LDM09U

Good old Amazon!

I thought my ZyXEL unit was OK, but there were some niggles which it wasn’t obvious how to resolve. Anyway, I was on a customer’s site today who had a Synology DS112J and I managed to have a play with it.

Needless to say tonight, I’ve boxed the ZyXEL up for returning back to Amazon and ordered one in its place. The user interface and ease of use is night and day. The Synology even auto fettles the port forwarding on your router for you! Very, very clever!

Cheers for update…..

Useful after this thread today:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/recommend-me-a-nas