[csmart01]

Any comments / thoughts on the various 500G ~ $300 NAS drives for use as a music server on a Windows based Network? I don't have raid on my computer... I'm hoping to just make an "always available" drive (not shared off a PC that needs to be running). I'm looking at the Buffalo LS-500GL or the Maxtor Shared Data but like most things I start browsing the "epinions" and start finding all these "cons" (drives get lost on the network all the time, the Maxtor doesn't have a Windows environment on board (whatever that means), .... etc. Am I getting too worked up in the cyber talk and either will do the simple job I'm asking of it or are they a waste of money and I should invest in a more "complex" setup.

Thanks.

 

[chinch]

for music and general network filesharing a buffalo linkstation (ethenet connection to switch/router) is very effective. also allows FTP remote access and can be found around $200 with the new gigabit lan version a bit more. you can also add an additional usb external drive to it for simple backup.

 

[replayrob]

I run the SimpleTech STI-NAS/160 160GB NAS device on my home network for a MP3 server. I've had it three weeks now, and it's behaved quite well. I have the Acoustic Energy Wi-Fi Internet Radio ( https://www.reciva.com/index.php?pag...emart&Itemid=1 ) which in addition to internet audio streaming will also search the home network for Windows shares. My radio finds the SimpleTech drive and all the MP3 files which I then cue up and playback wirelessly via the Wi-Fi Internet Radio.

The SimpleTech NAS has an all aluminum enclosure and runs at room temps without a fan which makes it almost silent. The 160Gb model got pretty good reviews on Newegg and it was more than large enough for the amount of MP3 files I have. For only $79- I'm quite happy with it. FYI: I uploaded a 107MB MP3 to it last night... took about one min+ to transfer via ethernet, so it's pretty fast too. The other nice feature of the SimpleTech NAS drives is that they have two built in USB 2.0 ports for an additional USB drive an a USB printer (the NAS has a built-in printserver feature).


SimpleTech makes a 160GB, 250GB, 500GB and 1TB NAS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=&srchInDesc=

 

[DMGambone]

You're other option (although tougher to implement than these quick add-on solutions) is to take an old PC and turn that into a NAS server with Linux. That will then allow you to expand it much more easily.