Topic: Help: DIY NAS or Home Media Server

[cHess]

Dear Gurus,

May I ask for your help... Somebody suggested me to build a NAS or Home Media Server but I am still bit confused.
What do I need to start this project. Hopefully cheapest but effective set-up. Thanks in advance.
Anyone already done this on their HDD collections??? Would appreciate if you can share your set up.

[uvax]

If you have an old PC lying around then it may be worthwhile if you're up to the challenge of setting one up. It is a good learning experience putting up a linux box NAS by yourself.

If you're going to build one from scratch using brand new components - I'm not sure if the trade-off is worthwhile. You can buy a DNS-323 (2-bay) for P8K+ and stuff it with 2 HDDs and you're basically set. If you want something with more HDD bays I see that ehome is selling Thecus NAS models with 2,3,4,5 & 6 bays. Don't know how much they cost though. You can ask gren.

[raptor]

i agree with uvax ... if your objective is for low-cost low power consumption NAS, you're better-off buying off-the-shelf products ... those are already fully configured with additional features such as RAID and torrent downloaders without using a PC ... if you have old PC hardware and you do not mind the power consumption of a PC that is almost always ON to share storage contents, just install Linux and configure Samba

if you already have an NMT, those devices can already function as NAS - just add external storage and you're good to go

[cHess]

I had already asked gren of e-home, and researched thru internet. Yes, there are available ready units out there but still a bit expensive.
A pc is one of my alternative but not technically inclined for such things yet.
Perhaps a suggestion on what hardware and software to use....? and what are readily available here. I am thinking of 4~6 HDD which can be accessed thru wired or better yet wireless LAN.

[Clondalkin]

I had already asked gren of e-home, and researched thru internet. Yes, there are available ready units out there but still a bit expensive.

Stil VERY VERY expensive especially those capable of accommodating more than 3 HDDs.  Yung case palang PC na.   So instead of forking out hundreds of dollars for an NAS case, I've always ended up using that money for HDDs instead.      Amazingly convenient though. 

[uvax]

If you really want to build one yourself you can get an atom-based motherboard like the Intel D945GCLF (Atom processor built-in). Here's a sample of how much it costs (from PinoyPC):

rocessor: Intel Atom 230 (1.6Ghz)
Mother Board: Intel BLKD945GCLF Little Falls= PHP 3,000.00
Video Card: On Board
Hard Disk:   160GB Western Digital 7200rpm SATA = PHP 1,850.00
Memory: 2GB DDR2 800 Geil Single = PHP 1,100.00
Casing: Astone Enforcer Mini ITX (EM-ITX-B) 150W-PSU= PHP 1,400.00
LCD Monitor: Chimei CMV 633A 16" LCD Black   = PHP 4,300.00
Mouse: Logitech Office Wheel Mouse PS2 Black   = PHP 200.00
Keyboard: Logitech Classic Keyboard PS2 Black PHP 300.00
Optical Drive: Liteon LH-20A1L 20x DVD-RW SATA with LS= PHP 1,260.00

Total: PHP 13,410.00

You'll need to add a SATA card if you want to add more HDDS. That mobo has 1 available PCI slot. You can put it in a mid-tower casing so you have space for your HDDs. You can also use hot pluggable SATA racks like below for easy access to the HDDs:



http://www.pinoypc.net/forums/index.php?topic=51922.0

Downside is that it is not gigabit LAN.

If 10/100 lan only is okay with you there is also the Linksys NAS200 with 2 HDD bays. It's different from the DNS-323 in that it has 2 usb ports where you can add external HDDs.

Good luck bro if you are going through to build your own NAS. Sounds like a fun project!

[raptor]

bottom line sir is that a DIY would be more expensive than the available appliance type NAS ... another option is to buy an NMT (E-Great, PCH, or TVIX), which already has the NAS functionality, and install a multi-slot HDD enclosure (which is way cheaper than NAS enclosure) - there you have not only your NAS, but your media server as well ... if you connect it to your HT, you can play the media on any PC in your network.

if you are looking for Gigabit Ethernet support on NMT, i'm not sure if it is available with E-Great and PCH, but it is available with TVIX M6500 and M7000 ... but you'll need a Gigabit switch/router and Cat 6 cabling to make this work

[cHess]

Thanks for the infos. Try to research for more info.

Have anyone already done video streaming thru wireless LAN??? Any feedback?

[straker]

These are your options:
1. Portable hard drives - The most cheapest, however connectivity with HTs or TVs are rather hard.
2. HD boxes with video connectivity. The most likely option you have, but you need to buy a HD, and these boxes can fit only one HD. Check out TipidPC and most PC stores. Such boxes with LAN port will cost you more. Price range is 4000 Php at least.
3. NAS (Network Attached Storage). Its not destined to be a jukebox, but you can dump your movies, MP3s, and picture files. You do need a PC to play those files. It now depends if the PC as enough CPU muscle to play the files from NAS (be it wired or wireless), or you'l have to copy back to the PC.
4. PC. No contest, but the most expensive, if you build from the group up.

I'm at #3, using Linksys's NAS200 unit fitted with a Seagate 1TB that I bought from PCX almost a year ago. Nowadays the NAS200 is priced higher, at 7000-8000 range, compared to around 6200 when I bought it. Sulit ako 

[HD_MOVIES]

here's my setup..

case: coolermaster 590 - kasya 12 harddisk
mobo: gigabyte 780g
ram: 2gb
hdd: 7x 1.5tb seagate
gigabyte pro odin 550W modular psu
extra: pcie x1 2 port sata controller
       : pci 4 port sata controller
       : 6x 120mm fans

accessed by my egreat 31b via lan, 2pc's and kapit bahay for their pc's via wlan..

more or less 65k for that setup..

[cHess]

Nice one sir HD_Movies. Sir may pics ka?

How much yung case at saan mo sir nabili?

Kamusta po HD video streaming thru wireless lan?

[cHess]

Sirs, i a saw this set up.

[Dowals]

ang linis 

[raptor]

Hi Chess,

That's a server, that's why the cabling is neatly done ... it's probably for application or database due to multiple processors installed ... for home NAS setup, dual-processor is not needed

[uvax]

Yep, for purely NAS application even an atom proc will do.

[cHess]

Yes, I agree bros.

The pic attached was taken from an enthusiast. Collecting all his movies SD and HD. Then he had made it as a home media server where it can be accessed thru wireless LAN using Media Portal as his front end software.
Collectively, each HDD have 1TB of movies... wow....

[laukong]

Meron bang mabibilihan locally ng 4 port PCI SATA Controller? Thanks.

[kolokoys]

Guys, please enlighten me.. where can we purchase locally a NAS type unit?? It should be something like this.

http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=86

Since I have 4 units of 1TB external hard disk (in which I will remove the harddisk para maipasok na lang into 1 NAS, sort of a RAID hot swappable type) full of HD mkv files, would it be possible to just use 1 NAS to accommodate multiple harddisk to connect to WDTV or PCH?

San po kaya locally available?

Please advise. TIA 

[gunblade977]

sir, try the marketplace, some one is selling them. Here is the link

http://www.pinoydvd.com/index.php?topic=101869.msg1060482#msg1060482

[newwaveboy]

@kolokoys ...... inquire lang ako.

I myself have a couple of WD External HDD's & would want to replace these with a single NAS-unit ..... can we really remove the HDD from it's shell/cage & treat them as any normal internal SATA HDD ? .... if this is what you meant on your post.

Hehe, apologies as I dont know much about the architecture of the External WD's ..... thanks.

 

[kolokoys]

@gunblade977

Sir I just checked the link, for the HDPro, Sir I need one NAS unit which would accommodate up to at least 4 SATA 3.5" harddisk, yun po yatang HDPro ay up to only 1 piece Harddisk.

@newwaveboy

sir bale gagawin ko po e tanggalin yung internal 1 TB harddisk nya then i'll attach sana into 1 NAS unit, yes pede pong i dissassemble yung WD ext. disk, mine are WDs also. 

[gunblade977]

@kolokoys, check mo yung hydra 4 bay raid enclosure nya... separate nya binebenta, hindi lang ata nya na hiwalay na thread. Check his last post on the thread

[kolokoys]

@gunblade977

yes yes sir i got it...this should be it.. ..

at PHP17,888 hmmm...mura na ba ito???

[gunblade977]

mejo ok na yung price compared to drobo http://tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=3528243. Although I have no idea re the brand and quality of hydra. Check mo rin sa tipidpc, someone is selling a pre-owned at 13k

Mejo malaking investment pa nga ang raid at almost 18k, why not set up a pc, with lots of internal HDD tapos shared over the network?

[newwaveboy]

Thanks for the reply kolokoys ...... did not know that we can disassemble the WD external drives. 

At least, we have the option to treat these WD's as internal SATA drives ...... in case of a NAS purchase.

By the way, as far as I know .... PHP17,888 for the Hydra item is a good price ..... dont know much about the quality of this brand though.

[HD_MOVIES]

mejo ok na yung price compared to drobo http://tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=3528243. Although I have no idea re the brand and quality of hydra. Check mo rin sa tipidpc, someone is selling a pre-owned at 13k

Mejo malaking investment pa nga ang raid at almost 18k, why not set up a pc, with lots of internal HDD tapos shared over the network?

i agree with gunblade here.. 18k is too much for me.. i can assemble a good htpc already with that price and capable of playing almost all 1080p's that other NMT's cannot do.

[sultan72]

hi where can one buy a hot swappable/pluggable hdd sata rack?

thanks

[cHess]

bro, try looking at tipidpc. punta ka ng search function nila. HTH.