Hi Wanderer,

I used to use a Transporter (Audiophile Squeezeboz), but have recently moved to the NDS, so hopefully I can provide some answers, or at least opinions..

1 - Swapping drives from one NAS to another on a regular basis seems like a bad idea to me. Whilst the drives are removable, they are not really supposed to be unplugged frequently, just for maintenance. I'd suggest getting a USB drive as well,as the internal ones in the NAS, then copy the files to this for transportation.

2 - Probably not. Most NAS hardware runs a cut down version of Linux and the exact partitioning, RAID format etc. probably differs so it's unlikely to work.

3 - if you are planning to run the NAS 24x7 and use techniques like RAID to give you some resiliance in the event of a single drive failure you should use Data Centre quality drives. These are built to run continuously and also have different error correction algorithms that work better with RAID controllers.   Most drive manufacturers make these, but they are usually at least twice the price of a standard consumer drive.

4 - Most NAS' come bundled with a uPnP server - My QNAP NAS has Twonky, but I find Asset a better more reliable product so I run this on a separate Windows server. Unfortunately Asset only runs on Windows so you can't run it directly on the NAS and these are usually Linux based.

5 - Yes.

6 - No. You can copy as many times as you like - computers will make a perfect copy unless something horrible goes wrong like an unrecoverable drive error or some obscure software bug.

Hope that helps.... streaming can take a while too get your head around, but it's worth it ( he says listening to his NDS with a glass of wine in his hand  

Dave

Check out a Vortexbox ... though I wouldn't put non-music stuff on it, though you can. 

Hi Wanderer,

Here is what I did to get music onto a nas that I could then 'serve' to my NDS. Really simple:

1. Buy Synology 212j nas from Amazon

2. Buy 2 2tb Western Digital Caviar drives from Amazon.

3. Read the instructions on the nas, install the drives in the nas (15 minutes total).

4. Connect the nas to my router (switch), turn it on and let it boot.

5. Download the Synology Assistant app for my Macbook (and one for my Windows laptop), install and run.  It finds my nas on my network and opens up the nas user interface in a web browser window.

6. Learn the user interface (about 20 minutes just playing with the features, learning how to use the File Manager and to run its built-in apps; update the built-in apps).

7.  Copy music files / folders from my Mac to the music folder of the nas.

8. Turn on the built-in upnp music server of the nas.

9. Turn on my NDS; it quickly finds the nas and will play the music.

I really don't think I'm over-simplifying with this   It's quite straightforward now that I've done it, but it WAS a bit daunting at first!!

Many thanks for your helpful replies.I clearly need to consider your advice, think a bit more, do a bit more digging around the internet and then commit. It is actually a fascinating subject; I think many of us all like the technicalities almost as much as the music and, as you say, once you have got to grips with it, it probably isn't as difficult as we first imagine.

Thank you!

Hello wanderer

I use a ReadyNas_NVX which is a 4 disk nas so can offer some advice on using this brand.

If you buy any nas with more than one HDD in it you will not be able to transfer individual discs between drives assuming you use some form of redundancy, i.e. you have potential for recovery from a HDD failure. This is one of the strong points for using a nas. You certainly cannot transfer drives between different brands of nas.

ReadyNas and I expect other manufacturers have a HDD compatibility list on their website from which any proposed HDD should be selected. These are ‘enterprise’ quality HDD designed to be powered up 24/7, unlike desktop drives. This of course does mean that they are more expensive but essential in a nas.

The HDD although they look like any other HDD will usually fit into a caddy which is supplied with the nas, this then simply plugs into the nas unit.

Any nas can store you photo’s etc. Most nas now have an upnp server built in, but you will need to check any proposed nas. The ReadyNas units have a basic server which works well but it cannot transcode etc, it is possible to purchase a specially prepared form of ‘Twonky’ that can be loaded; details on the ReadyNas forum.

Another alternative that may be worth considering is the purchase of WHS machines, whilst they are still available, this would allow the use of Asset as the upnp server.

As has already been suggested, if you wish to use two nas in different locations it would be best to initially load your music on both at one location and then use a usb drive to add new music to the second nas as and when required. Of course, if you are brave enough you could synchronise drives across the Internet if you have access at both locations.

Hope this is of some interest.

Regards

Peter

Even more consistent would be a remote access to just one central server form the far location. Please don't ask me how, but I know that it can be done.

Indeed it could well be possible, I think it would depend on how the OP was planning on controlling/selecting his music. He would also need a fairly quick connection I would think.

The ReadyNas can certainly be accessed via the Internet should you be prepared to set that up, its how well or if the remote upnp server could access the files I don’t think the ReadyNas server is available over the Internet but stand to be corrected if others know differently. This is not something I have looked into.

Peter

If you have a ReadyNas Duo with two drives which are not mirrored, then I think that you could remove one of the drives and put it in the same slot of another ReadyNas Duo and it would work OK.

But I have not tried this!

If you have a ReadyNas Duo with two non mirrored drives it is quite easy to copy your music from one drive to the other. The quickest way of doing this is to ssh to the ReadNas and issue the appropriate Linux command.

The ReadyNas Duos use a 16KB block size (IIRC) which mean that they can not easily be read by a PC running Linux. Whether the drives can be read by a different brand of NAS would depend on whether they use the same block size.  

Instruction for reading a ReadNas disc with a Ubuntu PC can be found from this link: http://www.readynas.com/kb/faq

I keep four copies of my music and pictures, using two non mirrored disks in my NAS and two drives in my PC. I have had two NAS drive failures. Fortunately these did not result in any data loss, in the 2nd case the ReadNas warned me that the nearly 3 year old drive was failing and Seagate replaced it FOC.  I also keep copies of other data on my NAS.

Thank you all for your further advice - really helpful.

I will need a bit of time to take in all the advice, plus a bit of web searching, and then I will jump in!

It would seem that, at least until I have gained a bit more experience,  the safest way will be to use a separate usb drive for transfer between locations. It would also provide aditional backup.

Thanks again!