Thread: NAS + Mediacenter.

Hello.
Im gonna buy my first mediacenter and NAS.
ATM my plan is to get a Boxee, and this NAS: Synology Disk Station DS211+... (i'm open for better suggestions)
But since im all new to this im not sure it will work to my plan.

My plan is to use the NAS to download/upload, and stream to Boxee, so i can see movies on my TV. Meanwhile i would like to use it as a backup for my MAC using "timemachine"..

< Will this work and is Synology Disk Station DS211+ compared to the price?



(sry for my bad english)

Synology are IMO the best consumer NAS products on the market, and I'd think many people would agree. For comparison, check out Buffalo Technology Tera-/Linkstations, but you're pretty good sticking with Synology. Get whatever's in your price range; I've never used a DS211+ but reviews seem positive.

Boxee boxes are fine -- some pros and cons, but there's nothing perfect out there right now.

Can't speak to Time Machine, but I've seen a few people reporting they use and like pairing Time Machine with off-market NAS.

Thats sounds good.
Do i have to be careful if it gets to cheap? fx. it wouldn't be able to stream HD to Boxee?

You will get more for your money and get a better system tailored to your needs if you build your own media centre and nas.

If this is something that interests you try googling the following:-

mini-itx, freenas, diy nas box, freenas forum, mini itx raid 5

Originally Posted by Kitkatra

You will get more for your money and get a better system tailored to your needs if you build your own media centre and nas.

If this is something that interests you try googling the following:-

mini-itx, freenas, diy nas box, freenas forum, mini itx raid 5

I think these prebuilt NAS's are actually at least as good for your money alot of these you can get access to the shell and install whatever packages you want, and therefore modify it however you need. Plus these typically come with a simpler quicker config for common tasks. Finally there's a 2 year warranty for the whole package.

Just a personal opinion, there are cases where the DIY would be better, but i think in this case the Synology is a better choice.

Whatever you chose, just be aware of pairing UPnP applications (XMMB, MediaTomb, Boxee, PS3 MediaServer, etc) with cheap gigabit switches in your home network.
I know this advice sounds off placed, but all the demons in hell had a laugh off me when I spent three harrowing days trying to have my PS3 to find and play videos off my linux box, just to find out the cheap no brand gigabit switch in the way had neither multicast nor IGPM Snooping implemented, therefore killing any possibility to have a DLNA or UPnP application working in that network.

More info on: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/900164

Get this instead of a ready made boxee:
Newegg.com - Zotac ZBOX-AD02-U AMD E-350 APU AMD Hudson M1 2 x 204Pin AMD Radeon HD 6310 Black Mini &#47; Booksize Barebone System

And I would get this for a NAS:
Newegg.com - Netgear ReadyNas NV&#43; 4-bay NAS Drive Enclosure w&#47; Gigabit &#38; speeds up to 25MBps &#40;Diskless&#41;