I'm intending at some point to make a low-power media PC, for playing music only. I need to decide if thats all it will be, or if it will also take over general file-server duties, replacing my NAS. Both would be always on so could be merged to one device of similar (or perhaps lower) total power requirements if I choose.
As I see it, a modest atom based file-server would probably handle both duties and may be faster than my current NAS which is getting a little dated. However, putting a couple of big hard disks in the media PC may mean it requires more cooling. I could of course get a newer NAS in the future or else arrange a media PC case with more substantial passive cooling so neither is a show stopper, just pros and cons to consider.
I know quite a few people on here use media PCs and NAS, so I'm wondering what factors and preferences are behind the choice of whether to integrate them or not?
Cheers
Kev
As I see it, a modest atom based file-server would probably handle both duties and may be faster than my current NAS which is getting a little dated. However, putting a couple of big hard disks in the media PC may mean it requires more cooling. I could of course get a newer NAS in the future or else arrange a media PC case with more substantial passive cooling so neither is a show stopper, just pros and cons to consider.
I know quite a few people on here use media PCs and NAS, so I'm wondering what factors and preferences are behind the choice of whether to integrate them or not?
Cheers
Kev
I'm going for separate NAS and PC simply because the media PC can be off most of the day, and it seems that freeNAS software runs in its own world (linux/BSD) so you cant play media or even do anything else with the machine. There's Amahi which has access to a linux desktop, but I'm not sure how straightforward it is. Plus the faff of setting up the software when I can buy a NAS for 90 quid and it's just plug and play.
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The OS/software side is a good point, thanks. I'm sure there are many ways of implementing it, but yeah, keeping the two separate would allow greater flexibility - both initially and to chop and change later.
Cheers
Kev
Cheers
Kev
I recommend you to go for a proper NAS solution.
You are free to access your data from your network and also from outside [music streaming for your working place]. Additionally like said before, in sleeping-mode a NAS is not consuming much energy, but a PC will if it should run 24/7...
To have only a PC you have a fixed position in your livingspace where your data is located and no access from your bathroom/kitchen/garage/garden.
The cheapest radios nowadays have a WiFi and can play your music-collection 🙂
IMHO a Synology DS214 play is the best price/flexibility/performance-ratio.
You are free to access your data from your network and also from outside [music streaming for your working place]. Additionally like said before, in sleeping-mode a NAS is not consuming much energy, but a PC will if it should run 24/7...
To have only a PC you have a fixed position in your livingspace where your data is located and no access from your bathroom/kitchen/garage/garden.
The cheapest radios nowadays have a WiFi and can play your music-collection 🙂
IMHO a Synology DS214 play is the best price/flexibility/performance-ratio.
Thanks. Yes, I think you're right that a NAS can probably sleep more effectively than the PC. That said, there will be a PC always on anyway, for audio playing, so I don't know if it would gain very much or not. On the one hand a NAS would be an additional item using power, on the other hand the PC could be even lower power if dedicated just to playing music so could offset that. Hmm, not sure which wins.
I don't think access from elsewhere would be any different though; if I used the PC as a file server it would be networked in the same way as a NAS.
Thanks
Kev
I don't think access from elsewhere would be any different though; if I used the PC as a file server it would be networked in the same way as a NAS.
Thanks
Kev
I have a RaspberryPI running as a small MusicServer [Volumio].
Power consumption is nearly non-existent and i can handle it by using my mobilephone.
A small NUC PC fits also very well or the Zotac PCs.
Some of them are fan-less, the only noise comes from the used HDD if it is a spinning drive.
For the winter-time i wanna build the RaspPI in a nice Aluminium enclosure with a buffer and an IcePower module i got on hand.
I also tried to configure myself a NAS but it didn't worked well...not enough time for a proper configuration.
What i wanna say, setting up a mediaserver is easy done, a well running NAS not so easy.
It depends on your expectations and hardware you wanna use for this project...
Power consumption is nearly non-existent and i can handle it by using my mobilephone.
A small NUC PC fits also very well or the Zotac PCs.
Some of them are fan-less, the only noise comes from the used HDD if it is a spinning drive.
For the winter-time i wanna build the RaspPI in a nice Aluminium enclosure with a buffer and an IcePower module i got on hand.
I also tried to configure myself a NAS but it didn't worked well...not enough time for a proper configuration.
What i wanna say, setting up a mediaserver is easy done, a well running NAS not so easy.
It depends on your expectations and hardware you wanna use for this project...
Yeah, if I were to include a file server I'd be looking at better hardware and possibly OS than if it were simply a music player. Thats why I need to decide what approach is best for me before building it. I take the point about a dedicated NAS being designed for the purpose straight out of the box, too - sometimes the multi-function approach has more challenges and compromises.
So far the separate NAS is winning then, for being purpose-designed and allowing more flexibility wrt the music/media-player choices. In which case perhaps I'll just get a very simple little thing and save up for a better NAS in the longer term.
Cheers
Kev
I'm going to have a go with my USB 3.0 disk connected to the PC in the study and share it so that the PC in the lounge can work with a shared folder. I've not used Windows shared folders before.
Just a thought I had being that I already have the USB 3.0 disk. Maybe I won't need to buy a NAS after all. I'm not interested in DNLA or streaming stuff, the lounge/media PC runs Windows XP and I use VLC to play the files. Control is via a small handheld mini keyboard/touchpad. Works well.
Just a thought I had being that I already have the USB 3.0 disk. Maybe I won't need to buy a NAS after all. I'm not interested in DNLA or streaming stuff, the lounge/media PC runs Windows XP and I use VLC to play the files. Control is via a small handheld mini keyboard/touchpad. Works well.
I'm sure that could work, also some modern routers have a USB sharing port for the same purpose (though usually slower and less flexible on disk compatibility). It could be worth checking that your USB 3 disk will power down if not being used and/or has sufficient cooling - some are really just intended for occasional/brief use.
Cheers
kev
Cheers
kev
Do you want an NAS that can play media, or do you want a media PC with lots of HDD?
Consumer NAS systems are at best Intel Atom ITX systems, and at worst ARM solutions running some lightweight distro of Linux
Consumer NAS systems are at best Intel Atom ITX systems, and at worst ARM solutions running some lightweight distro of Linux
I already have a 128gb SSD on the USB port on the router and it's deathly slow due to being limited to USB 2.0 speed. Then again it could be that the network port on the PC I access it with is not gigabit... Must get a gigabit card and see if that improves matters.
I'm pretty sure the 2tb USB disk powers down when not in use and wakes on demand. It also has a fan. It's a Seagate Expansion 3.5 inch.
I'm pretty sure the 2tb USB disk powers down when not in use and wakes on demand. It also has a fan. It's a Seagate Expansion 3.5 inch.
Or it could be the router. Single core, something something running at maybe 500MHz.
Nowadays everything is essentially a general-purpose computer, albeit some are crappy ones.
Nowadays everything is essentially a general-purpose computer, albeit some are crappy ones.
I want the flexibility of a computer for the music/media player. So yes, I'm only considering whether that should also cover NAS duties or whether a separate NAS is better. I'm not looking to play media on the NAS, I suppose theres a tiny chance it could serve/stream media to a computer (without transcoding), but more likely it would just be used as a network file server.
Cheers
Kev
So far, the NAS I have tried to use as music servers don't provide a steady-enough stream. I get dropouts.
I'm using my mail server (Solaris OS) as file server for my music, NFS mounted to my music server. That has been working just fine for a few years. I do set the buffers up a bit, buffer about 3 seconds of music to avoid dropouts. Yes, the mail server is a multi-core AMD, and it's not really working very hard.
I'm using my mail server (Solaris OS) as file server for my music, NFS mounted to my music server. That has been working just fine for a few years. I do set the buffers up a bit, buffer about 3 seconds of music to avoid dropouts. Yes, the mail server is a multi-core AMD, and it's not really working very hard.
I don't understand all this streaming server stuff. I just open the folder on the networked drive and play files with VLC or winamp or whatever.
I tried to set up a network to share the USB drive last night. Got the network created and folder shared on the main maching ok (it is running XP), but trying to set up my wife's laptop running W7 I just couldn't manage it. I hate other versions of Windows trying to guess what I want to do and getting it wrong! I'll have to see if one of the IT guys from work can help me.
I tried to set up a network to share the USB drive last night. Got the network created and folder shared on the main maching ok (it is running XP), but trying to set up my wife's laptop running W7 I just couldn't manage it. I hate other versions of Windows trying to guess what I want to do and getting it wrong! I'll have to see if one of the IT guys from work can help me.
Yeah I'm 'definitely' no networking expert, but the automatic networking wizards/processes in win7/8/10 haven't worked that well for me either wrt legacy OSs like XP or other OSs like linux. I've found its best to do things manually, which to a degree can mean fighting the automatic doo-dahs. Also avoiding/disabling IPv6 within the local network can help simplify matters, especially where some machines don't do it, but thats probably because I'm not up to speed with it. Best of luck, I hope the IT guys can help you.
Anyway, back to the OP and I've decided, so thanks to all for the help. For me it will be a separate media PC and NAS - it seems a much more flexible way of doing things, allowing tinkering and software choices with the media PC without affecting the NAS. It also means the media PC won't be troubled by hard disk size/heat and can be optimised for playing music.
Cheers
Kev
Anyway, back to the OP and I've decided, so thanks to all for the help. For me it will be a separate media PC and NAS - it seems a much more flexible way of doing things, allowing tinkering and software choices with the media PC without affecting the NAS. It also means the media PC won't be troubled by hard disk size/heat and can be optimised for playing music.
Cheers
Kev
Well after a brief chat with an IT guy I found it was really easy to do, like you say manual method was best cos the stupid wizards haven't a clue. Now got 2 XP computers and 1 W7 all running and sharing various folders with different write permissions.
I'm so pleased with the setup that I ordered bits to build up a proper media PC based on mini-ITX Athlon 5350 SoC 😀 I'll run the 1TB and 2TB external drives from the USB 3.0 ports, adding another 2TB USB 3.0 drive when they fill up (they are nearly full). Drives are in a stack next to the computer. I get almost 100Mbps transfer which seems a good bit above the NAS I was looking at. The 90 quid that I would have had to shell out for the NAS has left me money to upgrade the spec of the PC and some beer money too 🙂 And it's expandable.
I'm so pleased with the setup that I ordered bits to build up a proper media PC based on mini-ITX Athlon 5350 SoC 😀 I'll run the 1TB and 2TB external drives from the USB 3.0 ports, adding another 2TB USB 3.0 drive when they fill up (they are nearly full). Drives are in a stack next to the computer. I get almost 100Mbps transfer which seems a good bit above the NAS I was looking at. The 90 quid that I would have had to shell out for the NAS has left me money to upgrade the spec of the PC and some beer money too 🙂 And it's expandable.
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Good stuff, glad its working for you!
Just a thought: as you expand your drives don't forget to also expand your backup capabilities to match. I had a 4Tb HDD fail (possibly due to an electrical storm, not sure, could have been the heat issue I mentioned earlier) with all my data and music on, which could have been a true disaster had I not got a couple of off-line backups kept in different places :-/
Cheers
Kev
Just a thought: as you expand your drives don't forget to also expand your backup capabilities to match. I had a 4Tb HDD fail (possibly due to an electrical storm, not sure, could have been the heat issue I mentioned earlier) with all my data and music on, which could have been a true disaster had I not got a couple of off-line backups kept in different places :-/
Cheers
Kev
Yes, vast majority of data is films ripped from DVD. No great loss if lost, but annoying all the same. The important data I backup to USB stick at the moment, but I'm thinking about setting up an incremental backup to a family member over the internet - buddy backup system.
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