Login at Kodi Home

maverick2076 · 2015-05-14, 18:23

I've been running XBMC/Kodi for about 5 years, with all my media on external HDD's attached to my HTPC. I'm going to be upgrading my HTPC to an HP Stream Mini in the very near future and probably adding a second one to my bedroom shortly after that. As such, I'd like to move my media to a NAS so both boxes can access it from one point. Trouble is that I am not the most hardware savvy guy in the world and I know very little about NAS's. So, help me pick an easy to use, efficient and affordable NAS solution that meets the following criteria:

1. Works with Windows (both my Kodi boxes will be Windows builds, and I would like our other computers to be able to utilize it.)
2. 6-8TB storage
3. Easy to install and use
4. As affordable as possible. It doesn't need to be the cheapest available solution, but I don't want a $3K server build either.

shabuboy · (This post was last modified: 2015-05-14, 20:53 by shabuboy.)

Your best resource:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-popular

Added:
In the past I had different brands as well as build-your-own. Also had some with Raid. For the past 3-4 years had a WD NAS.
Before making a decision make sure you fully understand backup vs redundancy, read this: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/digital-stora...edundancy/

neutronspin · 2015-05-14, 20:09

I have had good luck with Synology NAS...the software they provide is excellent and works with Windows well. There are others but no experience with them.

movie78 · 2015-05-14, 20:30

Build yourself a Nas Server

Full tower case with maximum drive bay available
Use Nas4free or FreeNas as OS

This option will allow you to expand your drive storage as needed.

Done...

**katsup** · 2015-05-14, 21:39

Look up HDHomeRun DVR and decide if you want to use it now or in the future and go with a compatible NAS if you do. The Kodi stretch goal has been met so their will be an addon.

Just about all of the NAS servers on the market can do #1, and #3 applies to most commercial NAS devices. #2 would be a deciding factor based on how many drives you want and the desired sizes.

**Tinwarble** · (This post was last modified: 2015-05-14, 21:48 by Tinwarble.)

(2015-05-14, 18:23)maverick2076 Wrote: I've been running XBMC/Kodi for about 5 years, with all my media on external HDD's attached to my HTPC. I'm going to be upgrading my HTPC to an HP Stream Mini in the very near future and probably adding a second one to my bedroom shortly after that. As such, I'd like to move my media to a NAS so both boxes can access it from one point. Trouble is that I am not the most hardware savvy guy in the world and I know very little about NAS's. So, help me pick an easy to use, efficient and affordable NAS solution that meets the following criteria:

1. Works with Windows (both my Kodi boxes will be Windows builds, and I would like our other computers to be able to utilize it.)
2. 6-8TB storage
3. Easy to install and use
4. As affordable as possible. It doesn't need to be the cheapest available solution, but I don't want a $3K server build either.

1. That's not something that you should have to worry about with a NAS. Unless you get something weird and for some reason it doesn't use SMB (which is highly unlikely) then really any NAS is going to work with Windows. Keep in mind that a NAS is, in it's simplest terms, just another computer on your network.

3. For ease of use and installation, you'll want to go with a pre-built NAS. Something like a QNAP, Synology or WD will work well for what you'll most likely be using it for and with the exception of running through the initial setup they are mostly just plug and play.

2. Back to storage. How much storage a NAS will give you really depends on what you want to spend. There are single and double storage "personal" NASs that can offer you anywhere from 2-8TB of storage. These are self contained NASs and the drives can not be easily swapped out. Then there are multiple bay NASs that can have 2, 4, 6, etc bays. You can buy these as a complete unit (with drives) or you can buy them as diskless units and add drives as money permits.

4. That's always the case, isn't it. My suggestion shop around, and also make sure that you look at the difference in prices of getting a complete unit vs a diskless unit then buying the drives separately. Sometimes you will save money buying the NAS and the drives individually rather than buying a complete unit.

pcdude · 2015-05-14, 21:49

Agree - build your own. You can use a higher performance processor that will allow you to run server applications better such as DVR backends.

neutronspin · 2015-05-14, 22:13

(2015-05-14, 21:49)pcdude Wrote: Agree - build your own. You can use a higher performance processor that will allow you to run server applications better such as DVR backends.

I agree but it depends on the user whether they have the time, patience or skills to roll their own. Also the interface from the free distros can be a little intimidating if you are used to user friendly GUI. The commercial NAS sellers software are more user friendly....of course you are paying a premium for this. Definitely more bang for your buck building your own tho.... Smile

martink0646 · 2015-05-31, 20:18

Hi,

Piggybacking on this thread, I have 20 HDD's (3 internal & 17 external sized between 500GB & 2TB) holding my media (7,500+ movies, 13,000+ TV Episodes & 15,000+ music tracks). At times in the past I have looked into combining them to offer a more user friendly solution. At the moment I live with drives going down & re-rip files as & when necessary but a solution to avoid that would be ideal. It would be useful to build (or have one built for me) a RAID array, probably in a rack mount format.

My drives are all connected to one PC in a media cupboard & the output is distributed around the house over CAT5. The system works OK at he moment but it would be much tidier & provide easier access & management to have a 'one box' solution'. The problem I have is that the 'system' has grown organically over the years so no planning was done at the outset when SWMBO decided that having one room, full of shelves to hold my films needed to change.

The problem as I see it is that the sheer number of drives seems to make a 'one box' solution' either impossible to source or prohibitively expensive? In addition to this AIUI, RAID1 is completely out of the question. RAID 5 would seem to be workable as it would only need 1 extra drive?

I am interested in your views.

M

spcano01 · 2015-06-07, 19:46

Id say get synology and be done with it. I have the 1813+, and love it.I had a home built nas with amahi on it, and I liked that too,but it required lots of time to setup.

spcano01 · 2015-06-07, 19:48

Shoot,I have a rack setup with 6 2tb drives sitting there. Norco 24 drive case with upgraded 120mm fans. I'll sell it to right person,doing nothing now.

Miguix · 2015-06-07, 21:55

(2015-05-14, 18:23)maverick2076 Wrote: I've been running XBMC/Kodi for about 5 years, with all my media on external HDD's attached to my HTPC. I'm going to be upgrading my HTPC to an HP Stream Mini in the very near future and probably adding a second one to my bedroom shortly after that. As such, I'd like to move my media to a NAS so both boxes can access it from one point. Trouble is that I am not the most hardware savvy guy in the world and I know very little about NAS's. So, help me pick an easy to use, efficient and affordable NAS solution that meets the following criteria:

1. Works with Windows (both my Kodi boxes will be Windows builds, and I would like our other computers to be able to utilize it.)
2. 6-8TB storage
3. Easy to install and use
4. As affordable as possible. It doesn't need to be the cheapest available solution, but I don't want a $3K server build either.

I stream off a Synology DS213j. Has 2 bays, currently i have only 1x 4TB drive mounted, but as said it takes two and could go to 8TB. It seamlessly connects to my 2 Kodi boxes, and i have mounted several drives to my pc and laptops.

I would buy a newer model if i were you of course, DS215j or 214play. Check out their site.

My NAS cpu incl 4tb cost me about €400, so very affordable.

There is some basic networking to be configured (you would want your NAS to ALWAYS get the same ip addy in your LAN otrwise your kodi boxes may not find it.

Let us know how you decide to proceed. Good luck!

myst4ry · (This post was last modified: 2015-06-08, 15:28 by myst4ry.)

Same situation as you. I just got a 16TB NAS with RAID5. EX4 my cloud, zero setup required and easy to use.

The only downside is it takes like 10-15 seconds to wake up the drives after selecting a movie in Kodi, so I have my NAS drives spinning 24/7 so that it's instantaneous after clicking play.
I had a 'buffering' for a second the other day in the middle of a movie, but maybe it was because I was still transferring things over and CPU usage was high.

Miguix · 2015-06-09, 07:31

(2015-06-08, 15:27)myst4ry Wrote: ...

The only downside is it takes like 10-15 seconds to wake up the drives after selecting a movie in Kodi, so I have my NAS drives spinning 24/7 so that it's instantaneous after clicking play.
I had a 'buffering' for a second the other day in the middle of a movie, but maybe it was because I was still transferring things over and CPU usage was high.

That wake up thing was smart. Inhave my NAS spinning always as well. Largely coz im not the patient type ;-)

The buffering may be due to wifi bandwidth, not cpu. Why: i sometimes have both my kodi boxes updating the (local) lib, while streaming a movie on one of them AND downloading on my NAS. The ds213 does this without any issue. However, my whole lan is gigabit (up to cat6 wiring), and my main kodi box is wired. That never needs to buffer. My otr kodi box in bedroom is on wifi, and that box takes more time for first movie start and then sometimes buffers during d streaming.

So - see if u can get ur kodi box wired to ur lan?

Good luck