whs or nas?
Posted by: aysil on 30 June 2011
any comments?
Posted on: 01 July 2011 by okli
what are you trying to compare?
WHS is an operating system - piece of software, which can be installed on a NAS (as for example on Asset NAS products), NAS is a piece of hardware used as a storage.
Posted on: 01 July 2011 by aysil
I did not know that whs could be installed on any regular nas. I phrase my question differently then: Is there any advantage of using whs installed on our network for our purposes compared to using a regular nas? Recently some members reported using small whs devices, and I was curious.
Posted on: 01 July 2011 by okli
Hi aysil,
Actually it depends on your requirements and personal preferences. As far as I can understand you are looking for a ready solution - NAS. There are many Linux based boxes like QNAP, ReadyNas, Buffalo, etc. and the audiophile Vortexbox. On the other side there are WHS based home server from HP for example and the more audiophile tailored products like RipNAS or AssetNAS. You have to know what services you need - file server, UPnP server, print server, etc. After that you simply have to compare the features of the products, the user interface and factors like stability, backup, etc. If some product can fullfil your needs I think that it is not so important if it is windows based (whs) or linux based as long as you don't consider to open ssh session and install custom compiled linux kernel ;-). But if you are proficent in Windows or Linux OS it is of course an advantage if you select product based on your OS skills - IMHO this could be the only advantage.
Posted on: 01 July 2011 by Simon-in-Suffolk
Aysil, the WHS operating system is a slimmed down version of the Windows Server operating system, the version often used in industrial server computers. However don't let that put you off, as WHS is very simplified and typically you control via a simple GUI console window from another regular PC and it is typically not designed for you to poke underneath the cover, unless you want to... It really ican be switch on and forget unlike a regular laptop or desktop computer.
The only time my WHS gets a re start is if the power goes because of a thunderstorm ::-)
The NAS could be in built in the WHS machine or from other devices on your network. Using Asset for example you can aggregate differenent NASs on your network into a single library.
One thing to note consumer purpose built NASs tend to have low powered CPUs as they don't need to do much. If your uPNP streamer is transcoding and delivering multiple streams you might appreciate the small additional power of a small WHS device for the streaming and library database.
Simon
The only time my WHS gets a re start is if the power goes because of a thunderstorm ::-)
The NAS could be in built in the WHS machine or from other devices on your network. Using Asset for example you can aggregate differenent NASs on your network into a single library.
One thing to note consumer purpose built NASs tend to have low powered CPUs as they don't need to do much. If your uPNP streamer is transcoding and delivering multiple streams you might appreciate the small additional power of a small WHS device for the streaming and library database.
Simon