Can My Gaming Build Double as a NAS?

[Awakening]

Is it possible to use my gaming build (6700k, 1080 SLI, Asus Z170 Premium, 16 GB 2400 Mhz RAM) to also double as a NAS? My storage setup would consist of a small SSD boot drive for my OS, a 4 TB WD Red for NAS operation and a 4 TB WD Blue for compressed backup of both the SSD and NAS drive.

 

1) Can I even use my main OS to set up a media-streaming NAS like most dedicated NAS systems are capable of? Can I dedicate 4 GB of my RAM to its operation?

2) Can it be done though eithernet to the router or would I need a Wi-Fi adapter?

 

As a recap, my goal is to use my current gaming build as a NAS without a separate OS. I'd like to be able to transfer files to the NAS drive from the desktop at HDD speeds instead of internet speeds if possible. I'd like to stream from my desktop NAS from a laptop and possibly even a console or two. Being able to set up shared folders and local access only folders would also be preferable (partition maybe?).

 

I could really use some help and I'd appreciate any you can give. I'd rather not have to spend any more money on hardware.

[Rodniz]

You thought about installing plex?

[derick90]

All you have to do is use a media streaming service such as PLEX

[Windows7ge]

You could setup a network share folder consisting of an entire drive and share it with the network. Then you can read and write information to the drive so long as the computer remains on.

 

Yes. Ethernet would be recommended rather than WiFi if you plan to transmit/stream HD media over the network. 

[Awakening]

3 minutes ago, Rodniz said:

You thought about installing plex?

 

3 minutes ago, derick90 said:

All you have to do is use a media streaming service such as PLEX

Isn't that basically a NAS OS? I don't understand how that would work on a system that's already running Windows.

[spartaman64]

6 minutes ago, Awakening said:

 

Isn't that basically a NAS OS? I don't understand how that would work on a system that's already running Windows.

you can probably use an application not an OS 

[Awakening]

5 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

you can probably use an application not an OS 

Oh. I guess I didn't look in to it enough. It looks like that's basically everything I wanted to do.

[LordLeewee]

Kodi on your laptop, set file sharing settings on desktop to share and add a file location in kodi, super easy

[forthe48]

50 minutes ago, Awakening said:

Oh. I guess I didn't look in to it enough. It looks like that's basically everything I wanted to do.

Yeah, Plex should do everything you want it to do. It's just an application that runs on your PC, not a whole OS. It installs the Plex 'Server' application, you tell Plex where to find your media, and then it adds it to your library for you. Super cool and really convenient.

[derick90]

6 minutes ago, forthe48 said:

Yeah, Plex should do everything you want it to do. It's just an application that runs on your PC, not a whole OS. It installs the Plex 'Server' application, you tell Plex where to find your media, and then it adds it to your library for you. Super cool and really convenient.

I've been using it for about 7 months now, i love it. Have a dedicated hard drive for just the movies. Best thing is it downloads metadata for you, even adds thinks like (some) bonus features and trailers. 

[forthe48]

2 minutes ago, derick90 said:

I've been using it for about 7 months now, i love it. Have a dedicated hard drive for just the movies. Best thing is it downloads metadata for you, even adds thinks like (some) bonus features and trailers. 

 

I've never had it add any bonus features, but I agree that it grabbing metadata for you is awesome. It can be really frustrating when it downloads the wrong data for your episodes, and I did spend a while fighting to get it to display Dragon Ball & DBZ correctly, with the correct descriptions matched to the correct episodes, etc. But now that everything is there, it's awesome.

[derick90]

It happens on occasion, but at least its easy(enough) once you figure it out to get it to match to the correct one, granted they don't make it obvious how lol. 

 

Also with the bonus features i was talking about, a lot of my movies had like, interviews with the cast. 

They're only ~2 minutes each however. 

[Jredmond]

I love Plex. Its one of the best softwares and its so easy to use. It will work great  on that rig. 

[RickL]

My setup.... My gaming rig has retired to the loft due to space restraints.

 

Running some AMD processor, GTX 760, SSD, RAM etc, standard "gaming" build...

 

Purchased a really good WiFi card, purchased a decent router, link speed is a good high quality 1 GBPS.

Fresh install of windows 10.

Setup internal network file sharing so my laptop etc just connects to it directly as if it were on its on computer.

Router also allows VPN so I can again access the network drive as if it were on my laptop anyway.

Plex Media Server installed for the Smart TV / Laptop / Phone etc. Works a treat.

FTP Server Filezilla installed to share certain folders for when accessing outside the house from phone or work computer.

Teamspeak server setup for a few friends.

Some other servers such as minecraft for a younger brother a couple of cities over.

Bit Torrent installed and log in once a week to update things then set it to auto close program when finished.

Access it via team viewer from laptop / phone / work when required.

 

Works a treat!