Sharing Files Between 3 Computers

[ZeroStriker]

I have 3 computers in different rooms connected by a 1 gigabit ethernet cable

 

1. Mid tower PC - SSD + 4x1TB HDD

2. SFF gaming PC - SSD + 1TB HDD

3. Living room PC - SSD only

 

I am using the windows network file-sharing feature to get the files from my mid tower PC. Someone suggested I get a Synology NAS or build a DIY NAS. But someone else said that a NAS is "overkill" for this particular build.

Can anyone here suggest how to improve this setup? And what advantage can I get if I use a NAS instead of this current setup?

 

Note: I don't use RAID because I don't know how to but I have offsite backup of my important files

 

[mariushm]

If it works well for you right now, let it be. 

 

Synology is expensive for what you get, the pros for that is that you get a silent and power efficient machine to keep always connected on the network and have the content available to other computers. But you can do the same thing by building a computer with carefully picked components and it would cost you less than a Synology.

 

[Beskamir]

If you don't mind having to turn on your mid tower pc to get files then I guess your current setup is alright. Several years ago I was pretty much using the same setup but the always on requirement for copying files got annoying so I built myself a FreeNAS server. This server has other uses to just being for storing files though and since ZFS needs good hardware, it's recommended to get ECC compatible parts which might get a bit costly.

[Curufinwe_wins]

3 minutes ago, ElfFriend said:

If you don't mind having to turn on your mid tower pc to get files then I guess your current setup is alright. Several years ago I was pretty much using the same setup but the always on requirement for copying files got annoying so I built myself a FreeNAS server. This server has other uses to just being for storing files though and since ZFS needs good hardware, it's recommended to get ECC compatible parts which might get a bit costly.

My biggest reason for making a NAS was to get those stupid HDD's out of my case.