Do you use your NAS just for music?

Posted by: Renzo on 22 April 2012

Hello, I'm just about to decide on my new NAS for my music files. Having a photo library that would be useful to also have on the NAS I was wondering if there are any pro's for just having the music on one NAS and all other files on a seperate one, or can I just go ahead and put them all on the same one? Thanks

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by Simon-in-Suffolk

Hi, my NAS is used for many things, my photos, some types of backup as well as audio, but i run a seperate uPNP server from my NAS.

Simon

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by GeeJay

Photo library streamed to iPad or Sony PS3 works great. Also use it for streaming films (DVD and MKV rips of Blu-Ray) direct to PS3.

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by Guido Fawkes

Yes - I use the Vortexbox for music only - no reason it couldn't serve photographs using a share to iPhoto or similar, but not something I've ever tried.

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by David

Geejay,

Can I ask what you are using to streamphotos to your iPad? What software on the iPad?

Thanks

David

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by The Meerkat

Renzo

I only got my Qnap NAS a couple of weeks ago. I got it purely to go with my Unitiserve SSD. The only thing that I use the NAS for, is to play back music. Of course though, you can use the NAS to store anything you want, providing that the file types are supported.

David

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by GeeJay

Originally Posted by David:

Geejay,

Can I ask what you are using to streamphotos to your iPad? What software on the iPad?

Thanks

David

Hi David,

There are a range of Synology apps (I have the Synology DS212 NAS) available from the App Store, and the one for photos is called DSPhoto +. This app allows you to directly look at the thumbnails of your photos, perform a slide show and even edit them in iPhoto (or other photo editing apps). I'm sure QNAP and the other manufacturers of NASs have similar apps available. Just do a search on the App Store for whoever makes your NAS.

One of the other Synology apps (DSAudio) allows you to stream music files directly from the NAS to UPnP devices (e.g. Apple TV, Sony PS3, Pioneer A/V system, NDX and even to the iPad itself), transcoding as it does so.

Hope this is helpful.

George.

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by Steven Shaw

Use my nas mainly for serving music, storing pictures and videos/DVDs, and as a time machine backup for my mac.

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by McGhie

Hi Renzo I recently installed Windows Home Server 2011 on an HP ProLiant MicroServer that I bought last year. The server cost less than £140 (with a cashback offer from HP), excluding drives (WHS2011 was less than £40). I use this to: - Back up my desktop and laptop (once a day, using built in WHS functionality), so I can restore desktop/PC in event of system disk failure - Back itself up locally (twice a day, using built in WHS functionality), so I can recover data in event of failure of one of the drives in server - Back itself up to cloud (using CrashPlan), in case of fire/theft (all data stored offsite) - Store all of my data (inc media files) - Stream music (using WHS2011 version of Asset) The main purpose is the latter but the other stuff happens in the background (much of it scheduled for when I'm not around/awake). WHS also provides remote access and streaming. It has its own media streamer, but I just use the brilliant Asset UPnP, for which a WHS2011 version came out last month. Cheers Ian

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by Gale 401

Originally Posted by Guido Fawkes:

Yes - I use the Vortexbox for music only - no reason it couldn't serve photographs using a share to iPhoto or similar, but not something I've ever tried.

Same here with the Vortex box, Music only.

The Mac does photos,but then i burn them to discs after a month or two.

I need things keep things simple.

Stu.

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by fatcat

Had a QNAP a couple of weeks and only use it for streaming music. However, when I have a bit of time I will be attempting to use it as a print server.

Posted on: 22 April 2012 by Renzo

Thanks for the replies guys. I keep my photo's on my PC at the moment running Win 7 and using Elements. My daughter has a Macbook and keeps her's in there. I was wanting to keep everything centralised on a NAS. My main concern was whether the streaming performance would be compromised if the NAS was being accessed simultaneously for music and photo/video work?

Posted on: 23 April 2012 by McGhie

The more you want the NAS to do in parallel, the better spec you'll want. Most NASs have slow processors and very little RAM but you can check their specs out. I think you'll get away with a mediocre NAS if just streaming (maybe not if also transcoding). From there it depends what else you're doing. If just copying the odd file across the network then you may not notice any streaming degradation. If you expect to be doing lots in parallel, suspect you might be in the future or want some headroom so that you don't need to worry about this then it may be worth considering something better spec'ed. My MicroServer keeps a live sync of all the family's docs, runs four daily backups and almost live backup to cloud (so it's mainly file sharing). It has an Athlon II Neo Dual Core 1.3GHz processor and 8GB (supplied with 2 but RAM is so cheap nowadays - it would have been rude not to!) And it was cheap as chips, especially with the £100 cashback from HP. I'd recommend one to anyone considering a NAS (or wanting to run Asset). I replaced a noisy Netgear ReadyNAS Duo with one and haven't looked back. You can install FreeNAS on it or VortexBox, or you can install Windows Home Server 2011 and Asset UPnP... Cheers Ian

Posted on: 23 April 2012 by CariocaJeff

Here in Rio I also stream video, but never at same time as music. Saved having to haul my DVDs all the way down here. Back in uk in couple of weeks, and my new system in uk coming together. Want a NAS to support the hi-res files I have to use with my HDX. Torn between a faster NAS (qnap ts-259pro+) with a 2 tb HDD, or a slower NAS (qnap ts-219, or even ts212) with a 480gb SSD. Both options fit the budget. NAS will be dedicated to music. Storage volume isn't a huge issue, as mainly only for hi-res stuff so the ssd will be large enough as have the ability to add 2nd later. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Posted on: 23 April 2012 by Julian H

My NAS is actually a WHS2011 server with 3x2Tb drives running RAID5 with an effective 4Tb protected storage. I use it for music, images, backing up my iFleet and misc general file storage, letters etc..,

Cheers, Julian

Posted on: 23 April 2012 by Nagoya

Did you build this yourself, Julian? Thanks!

Posted on: 23 April 2012 by Julian H

Its a HP Proliant Microserver which comes as a basic unit with no O/S and a starter hard drive. I used the starter harddrive for the O/S and added the three 2Tb drives, increased the RAM and installed WHS2011 and Asset uPnP on it.

Julian

Posted on: 23 April 2012 by McGhie

In my WHS I have a system disk, a mirrored pair of disks for data (RAID1) and a backup disk. I then use Live Mesh to keep data in sync between PC and server. I also use this to sync my docs to Sky Drive (5GB free cloud backup). That's all free and real time. WHS backs up my PC and laptop once a day. This means that if a system drive fails on a computer at home I can pop a new drive in and restore the system. So all my data and client system backups are on the server. WHS then backs itself up to my backup drive twice a day. Then my data on the server is backed up to the cloud using CrashPlan (<$3pm), so my it's recoverable in case of fire or theft. This is almost real time (runs every 15 mins, I think, though obviously little to no data changes over each 15 min period, do it won't usually have much to do. The issue (if you can call it that) with this is getting the data up there in the first place. My uploads are at a rate of about 10GB per day (around 250GB per month) - broadband data upload speed is the limiting factor, of course. And if I needed to get the data back from the cloud I'd have a long download (quicker than upload, mind). Cheers Ian

Posted on: 23 April 2012 by Guido Fawkes

Originally Posted by Julian H:

Julian

Sounds an ideal candidate for a Vortexbox

Posted on: 24 April 2012 by McGhie

I was running VortexBox on my MicroServer for about 9 months, until I heard that a WHS2011 version of Asset UPnP was due out in March. I upgraded to WHS2011 and the beta of Asset UPnP for WHS2011 in Feb, then installed the new version of Asset when, as promised, it came out in March. Haven't looked back. I only used VortexBox for UPnP streaming (have used dBpoweramp all along for ripping duties) and Asset beats it hands down. And I have been mightily impressed by WHS2011 - it's a Super NAS. Cheers Ian

Posted on: 24 April 2012 by Julian H

Originally Posted by Guido Fawkes:

Originally Posted by Julian H:

Julian

Sounds an ideal candidate for a Vortexbox

I am not sure what adding that would offer over what I already have?

Posted on: 24 April 2012 by Guido Fawkes

Originally Posted by Julian H:

Originally Posted by Guido Fawkes:

Originally Posted by Julian H:

Julian

Sounds an ideal candidate for a Vortexbox

I am not sure what adding that would offer over what I already have?

Nothing at all Julian ,,,, I just thought it sounded a nice server to use for running a Vortexbox.

In case anybody was thinking what's a nice server to run a VB on

All the best, Guy

Posted on: 24 April 2012 by Guido Fawkes

Originally Posted by McGhie:

That is the strangest use of the word upgraded I've ever heard -

Assuming Asset becomes available on Linux or OS X what would its advantage be to me?

The Vortexbox works perfectly and serves UPnP streams to my Naim UQ.

I'm really puzzled what a different server could do that I would ever use.

Other than transcode to WAV on the fly, which is interesting - does Asset do anything extra that another UPnP server cannot?

Posted on: 24 April 2012 by zincalloy62

Hi - I use my NAS for music, video and photos. Separate uPnp server on the NAS for music. Having it all in one place means I can stream music to my audio streamer, and also stream video and photos to my PS3 Also makes backup strategy very simple - USB HDD connected to the NAS. No problems at all.

Posted on: 24 April 2012 by pcstockton

Originally Posted by Guido Fawkes:

does Asset do anything extra that another UPnP server cannot?

Yes. It obviously does not require you to dedicate a computer solely to Vortebox duties.

Does a Vortebox do anything a nice NAS cannot?

Posted on: 24 April 2012 by McGhie

Originally Posted by Guido Fawkes:

Assuming Asset becomes available on Linux or OS X what would its advantage be to me?

The Vortexbox works perfectly and serves UPnP streams to my Naim UQ.

I'm really puzzled what a different server could do that I would ever use.

Other than transcode to WAV on the fly, which is interesting - does Asset do anything extra that another UPnP server cannot?

Hi Guido

You can probably find the answer on the website - www.dbpoweramp.com. Here are my thoughts:

VB's UPnP app lets you pick a source folder and lets you choose to stream either FLAC or MP3 files using a limited (unconfigurable) browse tree. If you're happy with that then that's great.

Asset UPnP lets you pick multiple source folders (not just one) and lets you choose to stream a wide range of audio formats (not limited to FLAC/MP3) using a customisable browse tree. It also lets you apply filters, transcode, apply replaygain, handle "The", configure how to display tracks from albums with multiple disks, configure how to display track names. Basically it is a lot more configurable than the VB app, which I used for many months before my recent upgrade.

I've also used the app supplied with the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo, which is awful, and Twonky (on same ReadyNAS Duo), which is better than the supplied app but has some limitations. The VortexBox software is simple but does the job, and I used it for many months from when I ditched the noisy ReadyNAS Duo for the MicroServer until a couple of months ago. Since the end of 2010, however, I've also run Asset on my PC, which is turned off most of the time, and had a strong preference for it. I jumped ship as soon as I heard about the WHS2011 version of Asset.

Cheers

Ian