jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

There are lots of videos on YouTube about using a NAS as a server for movies, or whatever. The idea is that you would load whatever you want onto the NAS, and you could access movies, or whatever, from any device, anywhere.

This seems like a clever idea, but is it practical? Have any of you used a NAS for anything but backup?

docerz

Works great for PLEX. Can hold 1000's of movies,TV shows, and songs...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Plex is a free streaming service, right? Do you record from Plex to a NAS?

jaredjacobson

Plex also allows you to stream your own music or video collection. First your load your media onto the storage device, Point Plex to the collection, and after it indexes you can stream to any device on your network that supports a Plex client.

I believe it will also support uPNP.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

You can stream from a NAS or from a Windows machine used as a media server. I used to use Twonky Server to stream content or images from my Windows machine to other devices on my network, including “smart” TVs that are attached to the network, but now I just use Windows Media Player. https://youtu.be/X8044PxqOKw

Walkabout08

Jerry I have a 4tb NAS that I purchased to keep music files, photo backups and other backups. I was tired of all the Apple Music costs and other storage charges. Works great with my Sonos system. It’s Raid 1. If you’re ambiguous you can setup remote file access as well. Serves me well.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Decisions, decisions. I have a two-drive Synology that I use for backup. I was thinking about getting another one just for media. I have some HDDs that I could put into another one. Like everything else in my life, I have too much data. 😄

kvanhook Loc: Oriental, NC

I wish I knew what "NAS" means.

alexol

Same setup here - 4TB Synology with Sonos, used for music only. Separate 15TB Synology for data, local backups etc.

neillaubenthal

While there's technically nothing wrong with having a NAS on your network…if you've got a computer that is always on for whatever reason then just hanging a drive or RAID off of that computer and creating shares to access from other computers in the house provides the same benefits as a NAS but without having to worry about administering and maintaining another computer which is essentially what a NAS is. The NAS has some drives, a CPU and RAM, and runs usually some variant of Linux or other OS that creates shares and makes them available on the network. NAS software typically also has some backup capabilities and runs things like Plex servers and other services…but all of those can also be easily provided by that other computer you already have on all the time. Some NAS software also makes the content available via VPN via the NAS vendor's website…but again this is something you can do on that other always running computer as well.

I've got a Mac Studio that is always on…with a TB RAID hanging off of it and for all intents and purposes it is a NAS in addition to being my LR desktop, home print server, home file server, and scanner host.

Long story short…yeah a NAS works but whether it provides any actual benefit over a shared drive on an already existing computer is debatable. Nothing against them personally…but there is the benefit of not having to manage and maintain another computer.

neillaubenthal

Network attached storage. Essentially it's a box of drives with a CPU and some software that creates shares and makes them available on your local network.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Definitely agree with both your comments.

alexol

While I usually agree with TriX and have taken his advice periodically, in this case I have a different viewpoint.

A simple NAS for music is reasonably easy to setup and thereafter can be used fully independently of your computer.

My wife has a great many virtues, but computer literacy isn't one of them. She can easily access music via our Sonos or Bluenode devices and doesn't have to ever consider whether the computer is on or off.

When people come to stay, they can access music without needing to be connected to any of the household's computers, at least one of which is usually running but not always.

A NAS usually consumes a lot less energy than a computer.

If a drive in your (properly set up) NAS dies, just plug in another one. That's far less complicated (in many respects) than a drive in a computer

If you have a separate alway-on computer, it can be a different story.

Of course, YMMV considerably.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

NAS boxes are fine - didn’t mean to give the impression that using a Windows box as a server is preferable, just an alternative. I worked for Network Appliance (NetApp) who popularized NAS to the world and had a NetApp NAS that we took on trade as my central storage for a dozen years living in my basement. And yes, it could use less power since it can often use a lower performance CPU (since it’s running a single dedicated function) and no graphics.

Cheers