Best Home Storage Server Solution?

[kmo_9000]

Currently I have two HTPC's with large drives in them to store everything. The cases are full size ATX cases so they are rather large for an HTPC, though the form factor allows me to put a lot in.

 

I know a guy who owns a business and has had an enclosure like this for years that backs up all his emails and business files.

I basically know nothing about these things. Would a network HDD enclosure work if I want a simple solution to store media to stream to an HPTC? Are there brands or units I should avoid? Which ones are known to be reliable?

[kmo_9000]

Just now, zhnu said:

Synology and QNAP, are the 2 major vendors with easy interfaces to use and good reliability. They both have good options kinda depends on budget and storage size requirements.

Thanks, I was leaning towards a Synology one after reading some reviews. But I'll keep QNAP in mind as an alternative.

[Senzelian]

If you want to safe a whole lot of money, buy a used NAS without harddrives.

As previously mentioned, both Synology and QNAP are really nice, but personally I'm also more a fan of Synology NAS systems.

 

I bought the two Synology devices I have on eBay. One being a DS212j, the other a RS815. The last two digits in their name always stand for the year they came out. But even the 2012 released low end 212j did a wonderful job. Often you don't need the latest product and they still get the newest software updates.

 

Which specific enclosure you get depends on the amount of drives and what exactly it is you want to do with it.