Centralize Family Storage

[fieldsy]

So for a while now, my family have been just buying 1TB exterbnal drives, and the videoes get scattered across different drives, there are usually duplicates, and nothings really organised.

 

I want to bring all of the media together in one place, so my first thought was a 2 or 4 bay NAS, throw a few 4TB drives in it, and we should be good for quite a while, but looking further into it I found I might be able to use a Raspberry Pi for them, which is similar to my own setup (Raspberry Pi directly connected to an 8-Bay USB HDD container), but this would be difficult for them to learn, and create more workl for me. Also, the NAS would need to communicate wirelessly, as there is a doorway between the TV and the router, so I cant setup a direct connection to the network

 

Is there another option that would be suitable to their needs? Thanks

[manikyath]

that pi is a good idea.

 

just set it up as samba storage, and add desktop shortcuts (or a network location in this computer) on each computer.

[fieldsy]

that pi is a good idea.

 

just set it up as samba storage, and add desktop shortcuts (or a network location in this computer) on each computer.

I've tried once before to use my 8 bay enclosure on the pi over the network, but couldn't get it working. Would I have a bettr chance using just a single big drive? Also, how do I set up a samba share from the Pi to Windows? ​

[manikyath]

I've tried once before to use my 8 bay enclosure on the pi over the network, but couldn't get it working. Would I have a bettr chance using just a single big drive? Also, how do I set up a samba share from the Pi to Windows? ​

if i'm not mistaken samba is preinstalled on raspbian, its just a matter of adding the right folders to the config file, along with some parameters.

[You_are_a_cunt]

I'll be that guy and say that you shouldn't use a Pi as a NAS. I've tried that and it went poof in about 4 months. Lil' guy couldn't handle what I was throwing at him

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey there fieldsy,

 

I could suggest that you check out WD's NAS solutions and see if any of them work for you. It really depends on how much storage space are you looking at and what level of redundancy or RAID type you'd prefer. 

WD My Cloud Mirror is a great NAS device for home usage that you can check out: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=DSuTlt

If you are looking for a four-bay NAS, WD My Cloud EX4 should be a great solution with many useful features: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=W8wID0

 

Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions

 

Captain_WD.

[fieldsy]

Do you know what fried the pi? Did you use it 24/7? Because I've been using a B+ as mine with no issues for 18 or so months now

I wasn't really think about redundancy, but a 4 Bay RAID array, using 2 as a backup, would be what I'd do. Capacity wise, I was looking at at least a 2 Bay device, but 4 would be better in case they need the space. Probably using a few 3TB drives. Has anyone heard anything about the Seagate 8TB archive drive?

[fieldsy]

What about connecting a NAS to the router, connecting a pi to the TV, and link them over powerline?

[Captain_WD]

What about connecting a NAS to the router, connecting a pi to the TV, and link them over powerline?

 

Connecting the NAS to the router is what you would normally do. This way you should have access to it from every device that has access to your network. For connecting them through the powerline it would depend on the type of connection and the NAS and Pi themselves. I would talk to the live support of both the Pi and the NAS manufacturer with this question and see what the guys there would say. If you are going to use a WD NAS, here's a link to our live support: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=ctEGsR

 

Captain_WD.