File Higherarchy for NAS Storage

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Another incredibly NOOB question. So, if I get a NAS, and I buy a couple WD RED hard drives....
A - just because I have a 2 or 4 bay NAS, do all bays have to have a hard drive in them? Can I start with just 1 hard drive until I get more money to buy more?
B - Does the hard drive simply slide into place? Or, is there some bolting to do?

:)

A. 1 is ok. You can add any number in future (but if you go with a RAID it takes a while to mirror from one to many)
B. My two Synology NAS's I've owned have clip in caddys. No small bolts required.
 
A. 1 is ok. You can add any number in future (but if you go with a RAID it takes a while to mirror from one to many)
B. My two Synology NAS's I've owned have clip in caddys. No small bolts required.

Cool. Well, I don't know if I understand RAID, but the NAS I would get claims to have RAID...
 
It connects to the router with an Ethernet cable. Your PC also has to be on the network, preferably also connected with an Ethernet cable. You can use a wireless connection with the PC, but it may affect performance. Remember the PC/media player is streaming data from the router, then passing it to the AVR. A wireless connection is slower than a wired connection.

Also, the NAS is not a silent device. You don't have to see it to access it. Its better off somewhere else besides your listening room.

I feel compelled to respond to this particular post again, as I guess I want to be absolutely clear what I'm getting myself into here. So, to beat this horse a bit more...

Currently my music is on external drive, which is connected via USB directly to my PC. So, in that sense, it's not going through the network, or other. Direct...as a result, I suppose there is little if any "lag". I certainly never have any hiccups when listening to my music (Foobar)

But with NAS, I will be asking my PC to access the music (non-directly) via the network. Not wirelessly, but still, with the router being the central piece now, PC to router, NAS to router...and they gotta all play nice together. Is there a possibility (or likelyhood) that the connection between my PC and the NAS will be slower and or have hiccups? I will be super disappointed if the answer is yes and may abort this...

Yes, I will hook up PC and NAS with ethernet to router, so not wirelessly. I just don't know if I will have the same performance with Foobar that I have now...
Hope I'm making this clear. I know I tend to ramble...which is what I do when I don't completely understand something. :)
 
Yes, I will hook up PC and NAS with ethernet to router, so not wirelessly. I just don't know if I will have the same performance with Foobar that I have now...
Hope I'm making this clear. I know I tend to ramble...which is what I do when I don't completely understand something. :)
Unless there is something flakey about your local ethernet, you will have no problems. I have been using remotely-located, ethernet-connected NAS drives for years and I have no trouble with 24/384 or DSD256 multichannel files using JRMC.
 
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A - just because I have a 2 or 4 bay NAS, do all bays have to have a hard drive in them? Can I start with just 1 hard drive until I get more money to buy more?
A. 1 is ok. You can add any number in future (but if you go with a RAID it takes a while to mirror from one to many)

Please note that using a single drive in the NAS is OK but you cannot have RAID with only one drive. Depending on the manufacturer and firmware of the drive, you may not be able to directly migrate from that single drive to a RAID without reformatting. Please read the NAS setup instructions carefully so that you can migrate easily at a later date.
 
Unless there is something flakey about your local ethernet, you will have no problems. I have been using remotely-located, ethernet-connected NAS drives for years and I have no trouble with 24/384 or DSD256 multichannel files using JRMC.

OK, that's good to hear. I should probably just go ahead and go NAS. It's just a decent amount of money and well, we all have many things to spend money on.
 
As Clint's not here to encourage, go on spend the money you know you want a dual disc NAS RAID. :upthumb

You shouldn't need to worry about speed/lag as these days most routers have multiple (100M/1G) Ethernet ports which utilise an internal Ethernet Switch, so data will be routed directly from the NAS to your PC - this stops clashes with other users who may be downloading/streaming. I've a main 1Gigabit 24-port Ethernet switch in the loft which connects to the router, and my NAS are connected to the switch in the loft. On my network I've a couple of secondary 1Gbit switches one for the PC and my networked printers, and another in the hi-fi rack which connects all the equipment together. I've no problem downloading files whilst streaming surround music to my system.

OK, that's good to hear. I should probably just go ahead and go NAS. It's just a decent amount of money and well, we all have many things to spend money on.
 
Gene, where to do you play the files at the moment? On your Oppo 103? When you go NAS you may as well skip the pc and use the Oppo Media Control app and go NAS - 103 using ethernet.

The Oppo Mc app is not so fashy as Foobar that strue, but very easy to use for stereo and multichannel.
 
Gene, where to do you play the files at the moment? On your Oppo 103? When you go NAS you may as well skip the pc and use the Oppo Media Control app and go NAS - 103 using ethernet.

The Oppo Mc app is not so fashy as Foobar that strue, but very easy to use for stereo and multichannel.

No, I don't use the Oppo. I use my PC/Foobar. I guess I should get over the flash factor...which is really why I like Foobar. A little eye candy. When I get everything lined up, I will try the Oppo just to see how it works. :) Thanks for the suggestion.
 
As Clint's not here to encourage, go on spend the money you know you want a dual disc NAS RAID. :upthumb

You shouldn't need to worry about speed/lag as these days most routers have multiple (100M/1G) Ethernet ports which utilise an internal Ethernet Switch, so data will be routed directly from the NAS to your PC - this stops clashes with other users who may be downloading/streaming. I've a main 1Gigabit 24-port Ethernet switch in the loft which connects to the router, and my NAS are connected to the switch in the loft. On my network I've a couple of secondary 1Gbit switches one for the PC and my networked printers, and another in the hi-fi rack which connects all the equipment together. I've no problem downloading files whilst streaming surround music to my system.

So, Robert...are you another person who votes that I get the 4 bay vs 2 bay? ;)
 
No, I don't use the Oppo. I use my PC/Foobar. I guess I should get over the flash factor...which is really why I like Foobar. A little eye candy. When I get everything lined up, I will try the Oppo just to see how it works. :) Thanks for the suggestion.
i can understand, I like the screens that you, Jan and a few others are posting.

My question was more where do the files go from your pc, I guess to the Oppo. Therefore my suggestion, cuts out a little hardware.
 
So, Robert...are you another person who votes that I get the 4 bay vs 2 bay? ;)

Haha, yes Sir. Well, maybe not. It depends on how much you are going to rip. Will you also rip movies? Then a few terrabytes are easily filled. With music probably not. a 4 bay NAS is more future proof even when you start with 2 HDDs. Not sure if RAID is the way to go though. Personally I would be more happy with a decent back up. I have a back up on a portable HDD and recently opened a livedrive account and uploaded all the ripped music. Takes a bit, a week in my case, of time for the first upoad, but after that it goes fast.
 
Haha, yes Sir. Well, maybe not. It depends on how much you are going to rip. Will you also rip movies? Then a few terrabytes are easily filled. With music probably not. a 4 bay NAS is more future proof even when you start with 2 HDDs. Not sure if RAID is the way to go though. Personally I would be more happy with a decent back up. I have a back up on a portable HDD and recently opened a livedrive account and uploaded all the ripped music. Takes a bit, a week in my case, of time for the first upoad, but after that it goes fast.

No chance I will rip movies. I basically quit buying/watching movies several years ago. I just have no interest.
 
i can understand, I like the screens that you, Jan and a few others are posting.

My question was more where do the files go from your pc, I guess to the Oppo. Therefore my suggestion, cuts out a little hardware.

My PC is hooked up directly to my Denon AVR via HDMI. Again, Oppo is not in the picture for what I'm currently doing.
 
Gene: Your question on performance over Ethernet.

if your PC has only USB 2.0 ports then Ethernet at 1Gbps will be faster for copying files to your NAS than copying using your USB Drive. If you only have a 100Mbps network then USB 2.0 is about same speed.

Any Ethernet version will be ok for playback.

You can see the NAS performance for filecopying on the Synology website.

if you are thinking about a NAS then I'd think about data redundancy now (disk mirroring which requires 2 or more drives) and future disk space required for all your music media:

Example: All my original media discs have been ripped to files and now on my NAS:
I have over 3TB of FLAC (Hires MCH and stereo) - I only ever listen to FLAC via NAS
I have over 4TB of Music Video/Concerts (Mostly HD and MCH)
I have almost all my original MCH audio discs saved as ISOs (4TB) - my backup

Will you eventually do this? If so I'd recommend buying a 4-bay NAS and individual drives that are at least 4TB each. Check the Synology RAID calculator: 4 x 4TB drives will give you 12TB of storage (4TB is used for redundancy - if one drive fails you don't lose data).

You can start with only one drive.
 
Gene: Your question on performance over Ethernet.

if your PC has only USB 2.0 ports then Ethernet at 1Gbps will be faster for copying files to your NAS than copying using your USB Drive. If you only have a 100Mbps network then USB 2.0 is about same speed.

Any Ethernet version will be ok for playback.

You can see the NAS performance for filecopying on the Synology website.

if you are thinking about a NAS then I'd think about data redundancy now (disk mirroring which requires 2 or more drives) and future disk space required for all your music media:

Example: All my original media discs have been ripped to files and now on my NAS:
I have over 3TB of FLAC (Hires MCH and stereo) - I only ever listen to FLAC via NAS
I have over 4TB of Music Video/Concerts (Mostly HD and MCH)
I have almost all my original MCH audio discs saved as ISOs (4TB) - my backup

Will you eventually do this? If so I'd recommend buying a 4-bay NAS and individual drives that are at least 4TB each. Check the Synology RAID calculator: 4 x 4TB drives will give you 12TB of storage (4TB is used for redundancy - if one drive fails you don't lose data).

You can start with only one drive.

I guess I shouldn't rule out Music Videos. Obviously I have a good number of those. I just haven't had interest in ripping those.
I am keeping all my ISO's, which for now are just any SACD that I rip. I have a good number (dozens) yet to rip, so I will increase that load in the next few months.

My PC has a 3.0 USB.
 
Again, I'd like to thank everyone who ever posts their opinions, experiences and thoughts in this thread. I read all posts and take them all into consideration. If I don't answer you directly, it's likely because I either forgot, or got sidetracked, etc. I'm reading them all. (y)
 
Another question...
There are some slight differences in numbers between same brand, 2 bay vs 4 bay

2Bay
USB 3.0 (2x)

4Bay
USB 3.0 (1x)

What does that mean???
 
Another question...
There are some slight differences in numbers between same brand, 2 bay vs 4 bay

2Bay
USB 3.0 (2x)

4Bay
USB 3.0 (1x)

What does that mean???

Number of USB 3.0 ports. You may never use any, although you could copy your existing USB drive to the NAS by doing it from the NAS instead of via your PC. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't need 2.
 
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