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Both a NAS and a local drive in a HTPC have sharing capabilities, so what would be the benefit in using a NAS instead of a local drive? Wouldn't a NAS cause more issues when files are streamed over wifi? I currently have a DNS-323 NAS in another room which I use for other purposes but has a empty slot, I want to rip my DVD's and a few Bluray's for the HTPC, and saw some people mentioning the use of NAS but I'm not understanding the benefit of using one instead of a local HTPC drive. Would appreciate help on this, tnx.
Though I'm confused as to why you aren't aware of a NAS's benefits (redundancy being a big one) ... if you already have one - i'd go ahead and use it. Any well configured network with modern equipment should be able to handle streaming.
(2012-05-22, 05:17)james Wrote: [ -> ]Both a NAS and a local drive in a HTPC have sharing capabilities, so what would be the benefit in using a NAS instead of a local drive? Wouldn't a NAS cause more issues when files are streamed over wifi? I currently have a DNS-323 NAS in another room which I use for other purposes but has a empty slot, I want to rip my DVD's and a few Bluray's for the HTPC, and saw some people mentioning the use of NAS but I'm not understanding the benefit of using one instead of a local HTPC drive. Would appreciate help on this, tnx.

Here are a couple of reason why a local drive may not make sense:
Heat - The more drives you add in you HTPC, the more you have to be concerned with heat issues.
Space - Typically, HTPC's are build with as compact a case as possible. This doesn't leave much room for HDD. Even if their small SSDs.
Redundancy - Chances are, that you won't be able to run soem form of raid on a HTPC. At best perhaps Mirroring drives,..but then you lose one drive and also space. If you lose a local drive,..all of your data could potentially be lost. Not a happy thought for me,..or others that have TB of data.

Reason to use NAS or better yet, unRaid:
Heat - What heat? You're using a case designed to be roomy, and these typically have the fans to deal with heat issues.
Space - Depending on the case,...you can load up 8++ HDDs
Redundancy - Typically, NAS drives come prepared to run some form of redundancy (RAID). unRaid is, IN MY OPINION,..the best solution possible. In unRaid,.you can have multiple drives all forming a share that's a cumulation of all the drive's free space. If you lose a drive,..you take it out and replace it,..then unRaid rebuild the data to the new drive.

See here for my HTPC and unRaid build and pictures of the case, the mobo, and fan.



(2012-05-22, 05:17)james Wrote: [ -> ]Both a NAS and a local drive in a HTPC have sharing capabilities, so what would be the benefit in using a NAS instead of a local drive? Wouldn't a NAS cause more issues when files are streamed over wifi? I currently have a DNS-323 NAS in another room which I use for other purposes but has a empty slot, I want to rip my DVD's and a few Bluray's for the HTPC, and saw some people mentioning the use of NAS but I'm not understanding the benefit of using one instead of a local HTPC drive. Would appreciate help on this, tnx.

Since you also mentioned wireless. I am in the same boat. My wireless has been okay, but there are times where I might get a stutter when watching movies stored on my unRaid Server.

Since I don't want to run CAT cables through my walls,...a few coworkers Highly Recommended these and said he uses them flawlessly with his HTPC.
ZyXEL PLA401v3 HomePlug AV 200 Mbps Powerline Wall-plug Adapter (Starter Kit - 2 units)

These should arrive this Thursday for me.
(2012-05-22, 05:17)james Wrote: [ -> ]Both a NAS and a local drive in a HTPC have sharing capabilities, so what would be the benefit in using a NAS instead of a local drive? Wouldn't a NAS cause more issues when files are streamed over wifi? I currently have a DNS-323 NAS in another room which I use for other purposes but has a empty slot, I want to rip my DVD's and a few Bluray's for the HTPC, and saw some people mentioning the use of NAS but I'm not understanding the benefit of using one instead of a local HTPC drive. Would appreciate help on this, tnx.

I think most people that have a NAS have it wired in to the network. Most anything will have issues trying to stream over wifi.. The main reason most of us have NAS servers is we want a redundancy, wanting to run RAID so we don't lose all our media.

Why I like a NAS over using my XBMC box.. It uses less power, all my devices can access it easily and I can access it anywhere.

I think it really boils down to what you want..
(2012-05-22, 05:17)james Wrote: [ -> ]Both a NAS and a local drive in a HTPC have sharing capabilities, so what would be the benefit in using a NAS instead of a local drive? Wouldn't a NAS cause more issues when files are streamed over wifi? I currently have a DNS-323 NAS in another room which I use for other purposes but has a empty slot, I want to rip my DVD's and a few Bluray's for the HTPC, and saw some people mentioning the use of NAS but I'm not understanding the benefit of using one instead of a local HTPC drive. Would appreciate help on this, tnx.
for me i got mine ( should be here Friday?) is i didn't want to run my pc 24/7 just for media. i want to play games on it aswell and hate to have everything running on my main pc. also it would consume alot less power. and im using it to feed the whole house. if i were you i would use what James suggested. you will wish you had a long time ago. those are great!
What I'm going to say has already been covered, just re-iterating.
My primary reason for using a NAS is noise. My HTPC is perfectly silent (read "silent", not "quiet") since it has no moving parts. This decisions has the added benefits of:
1. reduced heat in htpc
2. reduced size of htpc
3. ability to turn off htpc when not watching TV. I used to have to leave it on so I could access the files stored on it's local disk.
4. some protection from hard drive failure (I use Unraid, so safe from a single drive fail)
5. simple upgrade path - just plug in a new hard drive!

If these are not concerns for you, and you are happy with a local drive in your htpc - then I wouldn't worry about it.
(2012-05-22, 14:15)GortWillSaveUs Wrote: [ -> ]Since I don't want to run CAT cables through my walls,...a few coworkers Highly Recommended these and said he uses them flawlessly with his HTPC.
ZyXEL PLA401v3 HomePlug AV 200 Mbps Powerline Wall-plug Adapter (Starter Kit - 2 units)

These should arrive this Thursday for me.
I don't want to stir thing up, but don't expect too much from a 200mbps powerline. I have the very well respected "Cisco-Linksys PLK300 PowerLine" in a single family home, and it still cannot stream blu-ray 1080P without stutter........but it can do internet streaming (Netflix, Vudu, etc) very well though......

For wireless option, you might have better luck with these-

-Netgear XAVB5001 Powerline

-Linksys Refurbished E4200-RM + Linksys Refurbished WET610N
I went against conventional wisdom and installed a 4-drive RAID 5 in my HTPC case. All my gear is racked, so noise isn't an issue, and I really appreciate the ease and speed of having it all in one place. That box serves as my HTPC, my Sick/SAB/Couch/Headphones downloader, my calibre (ebooks) server/library, and an occasional gaming PC.

I actually got rid of my unRAID server over stuttering frustration on large bluray rips, and never looked back. Something to be said for the simplicity of a single box.
(2012-05-22, 20:39)Valdysses Wrote: [ -> ]I actually got rid of my unRAID server over stuttering frustration on large bluray rips, and never looked back. Something to be said for the simplicity of a single box.

In some cases, true. But I have 4 xbmc installs in my house so a NAS solution makes much more sense for me.
(2012-05-22, 20:08)bluray Wrote: [ -> ]
(2012-05-22, 14:15)GortWillSaveUs Wrote: [ -> ]Since I don't want to run CAT cables through my walls,...a few coworkers Highly Recommended these and said he uses them flawlessly with his HTPC.
ZyXEL PLA401v3 HomePlug AV 200 Mbps Powerline Wall-plug Adapter (Starter Kit - 2 units)

These should arrive this Thursday for me.
I don't want to stir thing up, but don't expect too much from a 200mbps powerline. I have the very well respected "Cisco-Linksys PLK300 PowerLine" in a single family home, and it still cannot stream blu-ray 1080P without stutter........but it can do internet streaming (Netflix, Vudu, etc) very well though......

For wireless option, you might have better luck with these-

-Netgear XAVB5001 Powerline

-Linksys Refurbished E4200-RM + Linksys Refurbished WET610N

Don't worry, I appreciate other products.....guess I'm a junkie.
Well,...from what I've seen,..what works well for one person, might not work for another.
I do know that 2 of my coworkers use these with no stuttering issues. I made sure to ask them about that.
However! I get my powerline devices on Thursday (hopefully earlier) and then I can give my impressions.
(2012-05-22, 20:50)gabbott Wrote: [ -> ]
(2012-05-22, 20:39)Valdysses Wrote: [ -> ]I actually got rid of my unRAID server over stuttering frustration on large bluray rips, and never looked back. Something to be said for the simplicity of a single box.

In some cases, true. But I have 4 xbmc installs in my house so a NAS solution makes much more sense for me.

Totally fair. Whenever I get around to building another one of these, I'll have some thinking to do.
(2012-05-22, 20:52)GortWillSaveUs Wrote: [ -> ]However! I get my powerline devices on Thursday (hopefully earlier) and then I can give my impressions.
It might be fine with 720P video. In my system, it is not good for full blown blu-ray ISO in 1080P video and bitstreaming HD audio..........

If the 200mbps doesn't work out, I'm recommending to give this "Netgear XAVB5001" a try for $20 more.......you can be my guinea pig....Big Grin
If anyone want to stuff multiple hard drives in a neat little box, this case "LIAN LI PC-Q08B" is an excellent choice....you shouldn't not have problem with heat using these oversize fans- Scythe SCBSK-2100 120mm CPU cooler, SilenX EFX-12-15 120mm Case Fan, Noctua NF-P14 FLX 140mm Case Fan, etc......
Thanks for the informative replies. I don't really have that much media but I do see the point in having some sort of backup so I don't waste my time re-ripping all my discs again. I plan on having one 2TB drive in the HTPC which is more than enough for me so noise/heat isn't really an issue. For backup, I can put in a identical size drive in my NAS. What would be the best way to ensure both drives (one in the HTPC and one in the NAS) are synchronized? Would copying from one folder to another without overwriting be okay or is there a more appropriate way to handle this?
how about a nightly rsync cron job?

Code:
rsync -avz /xbmc/media YOUR_USER@YOUR_NAS_IP:/nas/media

gotta love linux
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