What NAS for low noise?

Posted by: divuk83 on 20 February 2010

Hi All

Following on from the ReadyNAS Duo thread.....

I'm looking into getting a NAS to go with my Uniti however I'm unsure as to which one to get. I have seen the list of which ones Naim have tested, however I would be interested to see what everyone is using on here and what they think about it.

I like the look of the silent and fanless RipNAS however don't really want to spend quite that much money. I would like a least 1tb of useable storeage with RAID1 (so 2x1tb drives), it also need to be quiet as it will unfortunately be stowed away somewhere in the same room as the hifi. I know this somewhat defeats the point of a NAS however my PC, Laptop, Router and Hub are all in the same room as the hi-fi. My PC is fairly quiet but not silent despite my best efforts, it would be nice to be able to stream music with it turned off. It seems daft to run a long cable out of the room across the house for the NAS and I don't paticularly want it buzzing away in any of the other nearby rooms. I have 2 places that might be suitable such as the loft and a store cupboard however these are very cold and quite damp so I wouldn't really want to use them.

Cheers

Dave

Posted on: 20 February 2010 by garyi

I would really recommend the loft or store cupboard. Cold should not be an issue as long as its not serious minus figures and what do you mean by damp, sort of cold or is there water everywhere?

I cannot think of any device running two TB drives that will not be intrusively noisy, so really you want it out of the music room. And if your PC is noisy get a mac mini, they are silent unless you strap it to your ear.

Posted on: 20 February 2010 by divuk83

I have just had the loft insulated and some floor put down however this is causing really bad condensation on the inside off the roof and is dripping water all over everything I have stored in the loft. Its a shame because it would be an ideal place for a NAS as all I have to do is feed some cable through the ceiling. The plan is to get vent tiles and a few air bricks fitted however I would still be a bit paranoid about damp or dripping water.

The PC has lots of noise reduction modifications however as its used for gaming the GTX285 graphics card generates a fair bit of heat and noise. I don't really think a Mac mini would be an ideal replacement as they don't really do games.

Are any of the NAS devices fanless like the RipNAS?

Dave

Posted on: 20 February 2010 by Graham Russell

I have a Buffalo TeraStation raid box which is pretty quiet.

You need to consider both fan noise and disk noise. Most disks "rattle" when being accessed. New solid state disks are silent, but are significantly more expensive per GB.

I recently built a silent PC for playing music. It connects to the Buffalo box which is remote on my home network. Performance is superb in my opinion.

Graham

Posted on: 20 February 2010 by garyi

I think you have more pressing concerns. It sounds like the insulation and boards in your roof have blocked the air ways at the extremities of the house, if you have that much water build up that its pooring, your roof is in jeopardy!

Posted on: 21 February 2010 by Paul Hannan

Is the list of NAS drives NAIM have tested published???

Posted on: 21 February 2010 by rich46

quote:
Originally posted by divuk83:
I have just had the loft insulated and some floor put down however this is causing really bad condensation on the inside off the roof and is dripping water all over everything I have stored in the loft. Its a shame because it would be an ideal place for a NAS as all I have to do is feed some cable through the ceiling. The plan is to get vent tiles and a few air bricks fitted however I would still be a bit paranoid about damp or dripping water.

The PC has lots of noise reduction modifications however as its used for gaming the GTX285 graphics card generates a fair bit of heat and noise. I don't really think a Mac mini would be an ideal replacement as they don't really do games.

Are any of the NAS devices fanless like the RipNAS?

Dave

ripnas is agreat unit, i guess alittle expensive ,i use a 1.5 tera sansung story nas. seems well built and silent. and it as a switch on the unit foe easierswitching off allan

Posted on: 21 February 2010 by gary1 (US)

Dave,

I'd store the computer stuff in another room besides the music system. Remember the NAS will only be "buzzing" when you are playing music, otherwise it's silent.

I think it will be worth the effort and cost for the increase in music enjoyment.

Posted on: 21 February 2010 by Klout10

quote:
Originally posted by Paul Hannan:
Is the list of NAS drives NAIM have tested published???

Yes

here

Regards,
Michel

Posted on: 21 February 2010 by Paul Hannan

Thanks

Posted on: 21 February 2010 by JamH

I would be reluctnt to put a computer in my loft/attic -- I know someone who did and the fan died and the power supply started a fire.

Posted on: 21 February 2010 by divuk83

quote:
Originally posted by garyi:
I think you have more pressing concerns. It sounds like the insulation and boards in your roof have blocked the air ways at the extremities of the house, if you have that much water build up that its pooring, your roof is in jeopardy!

The condensation is caused by the warm air condensing on the black platisc under the roof tiles. Its only really a problem when its very cold outside (or there is snow on the roof!). There is ventilation under the eves of the house however its not letting the air escape higher up on the roof. I think a few vent tiles and an air brick will sort it however having a loft full of soggy boxes and suitcases has left me a little aprehensive about putting anything electrical up there!

I think the most sensible thing will be to find somewhere outside of the listening room to put the NAS, rather than trying to find somthing cheaper than a RipNAS that is totally silent.

Before that I need my Uniti to arrive though.....

Cheers all

Dave