Need Advice on setting up a network

[ssyed]

hey everyone

I am a total beginner when it comes to networks all i know is how to setup a wifi router ( basic internet settings and passwords) and a printer onto that network

heres what my needs are 

my pc has 2 TB of storage i want to expand it but instead of adding more HDDs i would like to add a central data storage point which has to serve two purposes download U torrents, and make the data accessable over the network

i want the videos on this storage device to be available on all my mobile devices (laptops tablets phones ) and a Smart Tv.

I also want to connect a 3d printer to this (using octopi )

 

i want to know what components do i need. what is the best hard disk for this purpose. do i need to change my current router and buy a new one( if yes then which one?)

 

FYI i do have a raspberry pI (Rpi3 model B)

 

i know the information i have provided is kind of vague and BLAH ! but please give it a read and try to decipher my post

 

thank you for your attention

any and all advice will be hugely Apreciated

 

 

 

[JackDoyne]

1 minute ago, ssyed said:

hey everyone

I am a total beginner when it comes to networks all i know is how to setup a wifi router ( basic internet settings and passwords) and a printer onto that network

heres what my needs are 

my pc has 2 TB of storage i want to expand it but instead of adding more HDDs i would like to add a central data storage point which has to serve two purposes download U torrents, and make the data accessable over the network

i want the videos on this storage device to be available on all my mobile devices (laptops tablets phones ) and a Smart Tv.

I also want to connect a 3d printer to this (using octopi )

 

i want to know what components do i need. what is the best hard disk for this purpose. do i need to change my current router and buy a new one( if yes then which one?)

 

FYI i do have a raspberry pI (Rpi3 model B)

 

i know the information i have provided is kind of vague and BLAH ! but please give it a read and try to decipher my post

 

thank you for your attention

any and all advice will be hugely Apreciated

 

 

 

I'll have a look through this for you and i'll get back to you 

[ssyed]

heres a small graphic representation of what i am looking for 

[TapfererToaster]

I guess you got a router/switch combo, ie. the router has like 4 network ports in which you can plug devices to get internet? And wireless is also handled by it?

If so, if you got enough of those ports, and your WiFi speed is fast enough, you do not need a new router. 

If you do not have enough ports to plug cables in, you could buy a 20$ 4/8-Port switch from TP-Link or something.

If you think your WiFi is too slow, you could buy a separate Access point in the speed and price range you are looking for. there are several different types around.

 

The thing you need to think about, is what kind of device you are going to use to serve your data over the network. You could buy a external USB-HDD, connect it to your raspberry and use it as fileserver. The Problem would be, that the PI only got USB2 and 100Mbit/s LAN -> slow speed.

 

The next solution might be to connect a HDD directly to your router. Some higher-end models got a NAS funktion build in already. Best check your manual/product info if that is the case.

 

If nothing above is the case, you have to buy/build a NAS to function as your fileserver. There are a ton of consumer NAS around to buy in different categories like how many HDD-Bays, price, Ports etc. All a question of how much money you want to spend.

 

No idea what octopi is, but i guess its just a driver software? so only the amounts of ports matter in connecting the printer.

 

So assuming that you got a normal WiFi-Router-Switch combo, with 4 RJ45 Ports, you would need to expand those ports somehow. my suggestion would be to buy a cheap 8 Port TP-Link (or similar) Switch, connect it to your router and connect all wired devices with the switch.

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, ssyed said:

hey everyone

I am a total beginner when it comes to networks all i know is how to setup a wifi router ( basic internet settings and passwords) and a printer onto that network

heres what my needs are 

my pc has 2 TB of storage i want to expand it but instead of adding more HDDs i would like to add a central data storage point which has to serve two purposes download U torrents, and make the data accessable over the network

i want the videos on this storage device to be available on all my mobile devices (laptops tablets phones ) and a Smart Tv.

I also want to connect a 3d printer to this (using octopi )

 

i want to know what components do i need. what is the best hard disk for this purpose. do i need to change my current router and buy a new one( if yes then which one?)

 

FYI i do have a raspberry pI (Rpi3 model B)

 

i know the information i have provided is kind of vague and BLAH ! but please give it a read and try to decipher my post

 

thank you for your attention

any and all advice will be hugely Apreciated

 

 

 

As far as Videos are concerned PLEX might be a good option. There are NAS's that Support you running a Plex server. From their you need to install plex on your devices. For example I have the Plex app on my Fire stick and the Plex server on my gaming rig. It shares the videos I have selected across my network. There is a Plex app for phones as well. I know Synology has NAS's that have Plex support. Im sure there are others as well. 

 

WD has their red serries HDD that are designed for NAS use, Im sure Seagate also has a type of drive as well. As far as U Torrent, Im not sure, I dont torrent because A) Bandwidth caps, and B) Comcast throttles Bit Torrent traffic anyway. 

[seagate_surfer]

On 8/14/2017 at 0:15 PM, Donut417 said:

As far as Videos are concerned PLEX might be a good option. There are NAS's that Support you running a Plex server. From their you need to install plex on your devices. For example I have the Plex app on my Fire stick and the Plex server on my gaming rig. It shares the videos I have selected across my network. There is a Plex app for phones as well. I know Synology has NAS's that have Plex support. Im sure there are others as well. 

 

WD has their red serries HDD that are designed for NAS use, Im sure Seagate also has a type of drive as well. As far as U Torrent, Im not sure, I dont torrent because A) Bandwidth caps, and B) Comcast throttles Bit Torrent traffic anyway. 

Yep, as far as NAS storage goes, we have our IronWolf and IronWolf Pro series drives.

They're robust drives designed for multiuser, 24x7 uptime NAS use, firmware designed to detect and mitigate issues with the vibrations that are common in NAS/server enclosures, and pushing more data than a standard desktop drive. Most desktop drives are rated for 8 hours a day x 5 days a week use pushing up to 55TB of data per year, whereas the IronWolf drives is rated for 24x7 use and can push up to 180TB per year, with the IronWolf Pro able to push up to 300TB. The standard IronWolf also has a 3 year warranty and the IronWolf Pro a 5 year warranty, whereas desktop drives typically have only a 2 year warranty. There is even an exclusive IronWolf firmware known as IronWolf Health Management (IHM) specific to certain IHM-enabled Synology units and ASUSTOR units which takes drive health monitoring above and beyond standard S.M.A.R.T monitoring.

Thank you for considering Seagate, regardless of which drive(s) you choose in the end!