Suitable NAS + media server s/w

I use  a Synology NAS ripping with  dpoweramp works well and is user friendly.

The WD my book is a pile of junk and I admire your ability to put up with it for so long. There are two makes of nas that are popular and work well - Synology and Qnap. There are two upnp servers that are popular and work well - Minimserver and Asset. Asset is easier to install and set up, but won't work on Synology. I used to use Minim on Synology but got fed up with Minim's complexity, so now use Asset on a Qnap 253A. Whichever option you choose, you should use WD Red drives, which are specifically designed for use in a nas. 

I use a Synology (216+II) NAS with MinimServer, and rip CDs using dBpPoweramp. This combination works flawlessly once you have negotiated the installation of MinimServer (easier now that Java and MinimServer itself are included as 3rd party packages bundled with the Synology DSM software. 

Synology's own media server (pre-loaded on most Synology NASs) works just as well (with the exception of the speed of artwork display) if you have no need of the FLAC to WAV transcoding ability of MinimServer.  

+1 for the WD Red drives recommended by HH.

Personally, I would agree with HH and limit my selection of NAS to models from either Synology or Qnap.

I too use Synology & also admire your perseverance with MyBook,  a mate had it as his first NAS for a year or two,  finally he bit the bullet & changed to QNAP with Asset & is amazed how much better in all respects.

Getting back to Synology,  they are a damn good NAS for most all applications,  & that goes for their native Media Server UPnP providing you don't want to transcode (transcoding means the NAS stores FLAC or another format & its OS changes it to stream WAV to the player),  it down samples 24bit to 16bit & won't play gapless.  It plays straight 24bit FLAC or AIFF perfectly,   but if you believe Naim players sound best playing WAV (which they do IMO) ,  then you will need to store audio as WAV (or DSD) as I do.       If you do want to store FLAC or AIFF & transcode to WAV,  then per HMACK's post,  Synology & Minimserver does a great job.   And also whatever NAS you go for, WD Red HDD.

I have used ReadyNas Duo by Netgear in the past amd it works just finr.  Very simple, but pony up for the intel models.  I am currently waiting for some hardware to show up as I am building a custom Vortexbox that would be able to host Roon Server  if I go that way in the future.

QNAP and Synology are well represented here and more flexible than the ReadyNAS.

Plenty of good advice above but just for variety I am using an Assetnas which is a preset up and very flexible Windows server whcih comes preconfigured with Assetnas.  A little more flexible than a standard NAS in my view but does the same job.  A little more expensive than some options but I would recommend one.  I have Asset running for music, mainly for my son now as I rarely stream local files, and Serviio for serving high res films.  The Assetnas comfortably runs both, often to different devices at the same time.

You can always try a UnitiServe

As far as NAS is concerned - QNAP or SYNOLOGY. There is a large and experienced user community on this forum, so one of us wil be able to guide you through a setup.

Adam Zielinski posted:

You can always try a UnitiServe    .............     ................  

Exactly the sort of response I was hoping for - thanks all. Due to work commitments I'll be away for a few days but will follow up on the suggestions.

Thanks. Much appreciated.

I would highly recommend Synology NAS and its build in Media Server.

It is an overall very polished product, often updated, well supported and easy to use.

When I had an ND5XS I started out with an NSA325 NAS, which was cheap and cheerful. Or rather cheap and noisy as it turned out, and worsening over the year I used it.  No problems other than noise, though I didn't like the supplied Twonky UPnP server and changed to Logitech Media Server which was easier to use, and worked OK with the streamer.

Seeking a silent solution I considered QNAP, but instead went for a headless Mac Mini running free Serviio UPnP server operating as a NAS on the network. Worked very well, and silently (the small slow fan only just audible when closer than 3ft from it in a quiet room. Having already added a separate DAC and by then only using the ND5XS as renderer, that also opened the door to try an alternative renderer and the rest, as they say, is history...

The three UPnP servers mentioned all streamed album tracks in the correct order - but I used to play store and browse by folder, so all it depended on was the track numbering to be correct. 

I've been using a Thecus N4800 NAS with Twonky for five or six years now - the NAS has a built in battery backup to shut down properly if the mains power goes off and a USB-3 port for fast backup.

I would go for QNAP, for reasons others have said as it has the flexibility of being able to run Asset or Minimserver.

A cheaper option would be to retain the WD NAS and setup a Raspberry Pi running Asset.  The MyBook is perfectly adequate to be used to hold your music and the Raspberry Pi would do the clever stuff.

It requires a bit of patience to setup and there are some excellent guides on the web, one in particular I believe was done by a forum member.  

Richard

qnap 205 /dpower on main system  wd live/jrivers  on pc system . both run perfect for years

Asset does run on the ARM version of Synology (not intel atom),  on the dBpoweramp forum >> Asset there is a sticky on how to install it.

Chris,

Good advice above. I will add:

>Roon
If you are thinking of using Roon, and want your NAS to host RoonServer, look carefully at the specs: Requires min, 2GB RAM and a 64 bit Intel chip architecture.

The things I look for in a NAS include:

>More than 2 discs;
>USB ports, preferably USB3 - allowing me to set up incremental backups;
>Ability to SSH into the underlying operating system;

Nice to have:

>Expandability, both in terms of HDD but also chaining extra units;
>Messaging, i.e. Send you emails when there is an issue, e.g. HDD failing.

I use a Synology 1812+. It is excellent, but I am doubtful that is will be able to host RoonServer (x86 Atom chip).

In terms of Music Servers I have used MinimServer, Syn. Media Server & LMS. Slightly different functionality, depending on Control Point Software. I find that the three are subtly different tonally (who knows why!). I am currently using Media Server, but two days ago it was LMS.

M

mrspoon posted:

Asset does run on the ARM version of Synology (not intel atom),  on the dBpoweramp forum >> Asset there is a sticky on how to install it.

Mr. Spoon, the Debian 64bit build runs just fine on my Synology DS412+ (Intel Atom).

Further to the above, I suspect Mr. Spoon's hands are tied and he is not able to respond, but Illustrate (makers of Asset) have steadfastly refused to support Asset on Synology, despite the fact that they support QNAP's Intel-based NASes and, as I indicated above, their Intel Debian Linux build runs fine on Synology NASes with an Intel CPU. Illustrate will not say why they won't support Synology, but it doesn't look like it is for any technical reasons.

So, if you already have a Synology Intel NAS and you want to run Asset on it, you can -- you just won't have the luxury of a supported Synology package and you'll need to install it from the command line rather than using the Synology Package Manager. Illustrate will probably not support this configuration, so whether you are happy to pay for it beyond the 30-day trial is up to you, but the restricted version will continue running, of course.

Just download the Intel Debian Linux 64 bit build from the Illustrate site and follow the instructions in the Asset forum as mentioned above for installing the Pi build on an ARM-based NAS (you can use the same asset.conf file to ensure Asset gets restarted automatically when the NAS reboots).

My DS412+ (with only 1GB of memory) is happily running the Synology Media Server, MinimServer, Asset and Logitech Media Server.