Wireless or NAS?

[v0id]

I have a 4TB external from Seagate that houses all my media and game images. It's a traditional mechanical drive that connects to my main PC via USB. It's been fine but I'm looking to expand it. I know very little about drives that aren't mechanical or solid state, but I know other options exist. My main concerns stand thus:

 

• Access the drive on any device while on my home network
• Stream my movies on any device (for example, laying in bed on my phone and I feel like getting my jam on with Frozen)

Is there a device that can do those things? I've heard of wireless hard drives and NAS, but I'm unclear about the differences (if any exist) or which one is superior based on my needs. I did some Googling but got more confused. Can someone barney it down for me?

[Benergy]

I have a 4TB external from Seagate that houses all my media and game images. It's a traditional mechanical drive that connects to my main PC via USB. It's been fine but I'm looking to expand it. I know very little about drives that aren't mechanical or solid state, but I know other options exist. My main concerns stand thus:

 

• Access the drive on any device while on my home network
• Stream my movies on any device (for example, laying in bed on my phone and I feel like getting my jam on with Frozen)

Is there a device that can do those things? I've heard of wireless hard drives and NAS, but I'm unclear about the differences (if any exist) or which one is superior based on my needs. I did some Googling but got more confused. Can someone barney it down for me?

You could just set up a shared directory in Windows, and access it over the network. Thus your drive could remain plugged into your PC as it is.

 

A wireless HDD would connect to one (possibly more?) clients at a time, and function the same as if it was plugged into the computer. I'm unsure how compatible this would be with mobile devices.

 

A NAS is basically a network connected box of HDDs, with an IP address. This would be accessible in a similar way to the 'shared' folder mentioned above, but is probably the most costly option (you buy the box and HDDs seperately). 

[Firestorm]

If your router/access point has a USB port on the back, you can plug the external drive in to there for it to function exactly like a NAS does, and means that your PC won't have to be on for you to access the files.

 

EDIT: not sure about how it would work with mobile though

[v0id]

You could just set up a shared directory in Windows, and access it over the network. Thus your drive could remain plugged into your PC as it is.

 

A wireless HDD would connect to one (possibly more?) clients at a time, and function the same as if it was plugged into the computer. I'm unsure how compatible this would be with mobile devices.

 

A NAS is basically a network connected box of HDDs, with an IP address. This would be accessible in a similar way to the 'shared' folder mentioned above, but is probably the most costly option (you buy the box and HDDs seperately). 

 

Didn't even think of a shared directory. Would that still be accessible to my mobile devices on my network?

 

 

If your router/access point has a USB port on the back, you can plug the external drive in to there for it to function exactly like a NAS does, and means that your PC won't have to be on for you to access the files.

 

EDIT: not sure about how it would work with mobile though

 

It does have a USB but it specifically says it's for a printer. The mobile thing is my main concern, even if I do gotta spend a few extra bucks to get a separate device I'd like to stream my stuff anywhere on my network. 

[Altecice]

Didn't even think of a shared directory. Would that still be accessible to my mobile devices on my network?

 

Yes. Also might I point out that you may want to get rid of your single point of failure (the 1 drive) if it breaks then you have lost all your data.

[v0id]

Yes. Also might I point out that you may want to get rid of your single point of failure (the 1 drive) if it breaks then you have lost all your data.

 

I would like to be redundant in the future by getting my own personal 'cloud' device, but for now if it were to fail all I'd really lose is some movies. My only real concern at this moment in time is accessibility by different devices within my home network. And streaming to those devices.

[Firestorm]

I personally have a WD my book live which functions as a backup device as well as a personal cloud, so you can access your files from anywhere in the world, free of charge. I think this has been discontinued, but there is now a My Cloud, which I think does the same thing. You simply plug it into power and an ethernet port and then set it up from a PC. There is an app for both ios and android that can be used to access the files.

[v0id]

I personally have a WD my book live which functions as a backup device as well as a personal cloud, so you can access your files from anywhere in the world, free of charge. I think this has been discontinued, but there is now a My Cloud, which I think does the same thing. You simply plug it into power and an ethernet port and then set it up from a PC. There is an app for both ios and android that can be used to access the files.

 

That's what I was looking into, the My Cloud is replacing the My Book Live but it seems to tick all the boxes I was looking for. I just wanted other opinions because my knowledge in this area is quite limited.

[Captain_WD]

On 19.01.2016 г. at 6:55 PM, v0id said:

~snip~

 

Hey there v0id,

 

Having a NAS is indeed quite useful and easy to manage. WD My Book is the newer NAS device that we offer and I can give you further info if you need any. 

As @Firestorm pointed out, you can simply use the USB port of your router and share your external drive across your network.
Even if it doesn't support any specific application you should be able to use third-party tools an configure the USB drive as a FTP folder and be visible from other applications on devices in the network (with the proper settings you might be able to see it even from outside the network over the Internet).

Post back if you need any info or help! 

 

Captain_WD.