Page 1 of NAS Boxes & Apple`s "Time Capsule"

Whilst it doesn`t have mirrored drives - Apple`s latest gizmo appears to be an impressive little bit of kit:
www.apple.com/uk/timecapsule/specs.html

Only drawing 30W of power according to the tech specs, which is pretty impressive, plus being a 802.11n base station, which in theory means you could plug into a gigabit enabled ADSL router and get a fast/decent wireless signal around the house.

I spent about £300 (IIRC) on the Thecus N2100 solution (incl 2 x WD 500Gb drives) - but then mine are mirrored drives. Also no wireless, but could be added if required...so I don`t think Apple`s version is too bad in terms of cost.

Will be interesting to see performance reviews when it finally comes out in a few weeks time though.

did anyone get one of these ? & do you need to set it up with a Mac, or can it be used on any pc/mac "out of the box" :)

as per my other Hard drive thread, i`m in need of extra storage space, & am considering either this, or a nas arangement, the apple timecapsule is probably a winner due to it`s integrated "n" wifi, but it has to be able to work universaly accross my pc`s.

Chris...how much additional space are you looking for?
Because (having read a bit a few threads of yours before ;)) I reckon you`ll be needing a fair bit.

Therefore, perhaps a 3 or 4 drive (up to 3TB/4TB) NAS box might be more appropriate?
www.store2go.net/shop/thecus/p/category/0803243083-Thecus+N3200/

However, NAS is never a really cheap option (compared to either an internal or external hard drive anyway)

The integrated 802.11n on the Apple one is a bonus, but think about where the box would be placed...could it not be plugged directly into a wireless router?

Miles

"Build a man a fire, and he`ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he`ll be warm for the rest of his life."
-Terry Pratchett.

How about the 1TB Maxtor Storage 2 NAS box with gigabit lan ports for £180? I think it is 2x500GB drives. I would get one except it doesnt currently stream divx to the PS3 according to posts on the support forum.


http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3337543/Maxtor-Shared-Storage-II-1TB-Network-Hard-Drive/Product.html

This item was edited on Saturday, 5th July 2008, 20:32

I think to be honest Sash, most of them aren`t able to stream stuff to the PS3. I`ve tried all sorts of combos with my Thecus N2100 box, but was never satisfied with it.
The files are visible on the PS3 when looking at the UPNP servers, but when trying to play they come up as "corrupt".

Just gave up and ended up copying stuff to a USB drive when I wanted to watch it :D

"Build a man a fire, and he`ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he`ll be warm for the rest of his life."
-Terry Pratchett.

I use Mediatomb on Linux for streaming. You can put Twonky on the NAS box but you have to pay for it. Apparently it used to work but the latest firmware broke it so a few p***ed off people.

well, heres the problems, firstly i don`t want to keep leaving my "main" pc on all the time, purely on a cost issue it`s a monster, my mac mini is Amazing (as i have said many Many times :p ) but there is very little option for expansion, although i will be fitting a 250gb drive in it fairly soon, & caddies are not an option as i want them switched on 24/7 & caddies tend to burn drives out running all the time, i am also going to be adding 2 more systems into my network, 1 of which will have to be wireless (hence the need for "n" wifi) so heres the home setup.

Main pc, heavy duty gaming pc, very high running costs.
Mac mini, in the bedroom, & is used the most, streams hi def content to LCD tv.
Connors pc, currently just for games & browsing, but he`s at the age where he`s gonna want access to the movies & music on the network soon.
Front room.. i`m saving up for an LCD for here, & will need a pc to do the same job as the Mini (& it will probs be another Mac Mini i get for this)
Outhouse.. at the bottom of my garden i`m saving for a large outhouse to put a cross trainer/weights bench & i`ll build a bare bones pc to use as a media server, here is where i need the "n" capable wifi, as hi def content is to big to stream over "g" networks.

so, i`m moving away from a main server, which is what my main pc is doing at the moment, & moving towards a single seperate "hub" for all my media, but i`ve not decided how i`ll do it, it`s got to be either a Nas arrangement (or time capsule) or do i build a low power pc to act as a server, a very basic intel mobile job, with a 250w psu running an array of hard drives.

the obvious advantage of the apple time capsule is it`s very neat & tidy, with bery very low operating costs, but little or no expantion options, whilst the server route would be quite messy, in fact i`d probably build & fix it into the loftspace, leaving it running 24/7 out of sight out of mind.....

building a server is the easiest option for me & probably the cheapest @ startup) but i`m not convinced it`s the best way to go.. either way i do it, i`ll need to invest in an "n" type router & some compatable cards...


sorry, i just realised, this whole post is just me thinking aloud lols....

This item was edited on Saturday, 5th July 2008, 20:51

Quote:
sorry, i just realised, this whole post is just me thinking aloud lols....

Don`t worry, we all need to do that sometimes to just bounce ideas around (or see them written down) :D

On a happy note, I`ve just discovered an updated firmware & UPNP module for my NAS box which apparently works with the PS3 (firmware v2.1+) - so going to try that :D

"Build a man a fire, and he`ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he`ll be warm for the rest of his life."
-Terry Pratchett.

on a side note, i see "n" series routers have now come down in price :) average price for a TP-Link router is £40 + £20 for compatable dongles.... this is stuff i can gradually get bit by bit ready for when i take the plunge... (dictated by how fast i can pay my credit card of....sigh.... :) )

Yeah, still waiting for a Netgear 802.11n ADSL Gigabit router though :(
They`ve made one, but can`t seem to buy it in this country yet.

Just upgraded the firmware & UPNP module on my NAS box and very happy with the results :D
Music, photos & video all streaming nicely now...so thanks for prompting me through this thread Chris! ;)

"Build a man a fire, and he`ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he`ll be warm for the rest of his life."
-Terry Pratchett.