Setup for Sharing Photos, Music etc on My Wi-Fi

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  scrimshaw on 29/11/2015 - 09:08

  For your needs you just need something basic. One way to go is a HP Microserver — which can be used as both a NAS or a basic server (and if you are really inclinded, for everyday computing tasks as it can run Windows). You can even mod the BIOS to enable drive hot-swapping, meaning you won't have to power down the system to add or remove drives. Hardware upgrades, such as RAM and NIC cards can also be added.

  The other option is to buy a basic NAS from one of the big brands — and there's a whole bunch of them that you can read about in this buyers guide. Dedicated NAS boxes tend to be a little more polished than just your basic HP Microserver, some tailored to completely novice users, some for advanced users and usually have their own proprietary software and operating system, whereas if you built your own NAS out of a microserver you get to choose between a variety of OS's (including, but not limited to Windows or FreeNas)

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    ash7503 on 29/11/2015 - 17:03

    A microserver — which can be used as both a NAS or a basic server - sounds good. Would it suit if I use windows 10 built-in backup to backup my laptop onto the microserver? Plus store/stream music, photos, and movies to my laptop, tablets and mobile phones? Will a cheap desktop equipped with several harddisks be an alterntive to the HP microserver? (BTW I'll check out the NAS buyers guide). Thanks

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      scrimshaw on 29/11/2015 - 21:41

      Ordinary desktops typically use more power, which takes a hit on energy efficiency and more expensive power bill.

      The Microserver is less powerful, but saves electricity.

      and yes, you can do network backups in Windows, and you can also use 3rd party software like Crashplan (free version), which runs in the background continually checking for files to back up, for almost real-time backups.

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  CyberMurning on 29/11/2015 - 09:08

  NAS ie synology or qnap, or cheaper options is like those HP but you need to install own operating system.
  cheapest would be just plug in those HDD into your adsl/routers (some routers able to shares contents from hdd connected to it)

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    scrimshaw on 29/11/2015 - 09:10

    cheapest would be just plug in those HDD into your adsl/routers (some routers able to shares contents from hdd connected to it)

    This is what I'm doing right now as I don't need a NAS, but depending on your router, the transfer speeds are anything but fast. Mine has USB3.0 and barely breaks the 20mbps-25mbps barrier.

    The biggest bottleneck, apart from the interface and connection type, is processor. CPU speed is a big deal when doing high speed file transfers, which is why most routers will suck big time for gigabit stuff.

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    ash7503 on 29/11/2015 - 16:56

    Thanks I never thought of that. I am using the DSL-2890AL dual band wireless AC1750 gigabit cloud ADSL2+ modem router. Although it has a usb 3.0 port, I read that it suffers from low speeds (usb 2.0 speeds). One problem is that I have data stored over a few harddisks and would like them all to be available at once. I am currently looking at the available options before I decide on any setup. Thanks.

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  pjetson on 29/11/2015 - 17:36

  I have data stored over a few harddisks

  How many hard disks, and what type? Some USB drives can only be connected via USB, so you may not get fast access to those.

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    ash7503 on 29/11/2015 - 18:34

    Seagate Barracuda 1TB, WD Black 1TB, Seagate 4TB, Seagate Expansion 5TB, etc. I can remove the others from the enclosure and use them internally using SATA.