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Help please,

My last adventure into music storage was on a now extinct Netgear 4 bay unit, unfortunately for some unknown reason it failed

terminally taking out all the hdd's.

I am now again thinking of storing my music again on a nas drive, which one i haven't got a clue.

Currently what i have as a system for my music enjoyment is as follows,

Auralic Aries (one with the external psu)

Auralic Vega Dac,

Auralic Taurus 2 headphone amp,

Sennheiser HD 650 via balanced cable.

Currently i use a Sandisk 500gb ssd plugged into the Aries, using there app on an IPad 2.

I have over 3500 cd's, not all will be copied as before, i will be storing the nas in a different room to my lounge where i listen, this in intend to run via Ethernet hard wired, no mains plugs adaptors.

I do have available 4x western digital red nas 1tb hdd's and 2x 2tb green hdd's( the latter for photo storage)

So what can you recommend,a nas purely for music, and another for photo's + movies, or on big nas with a combination of drives for the different tasks. How would achieve this, what software, hard ware ect ect.

Thank you for spending your time reading this, and i hope some of you have ideas to set me straight.

Thanks for looking.

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Get one NAS for both purposes. The newer Netgear uses modern file systems either BTRFS or ZFS so I can recommend that. At least some Synology systems have similar. A NAS is simply a sever configured with storage software.

 

If you use a new unit running BTRFS or ZFS as the underlying file system and the unit fails you can simply load the discs into a new machine and recover the files. That is a very important advantage.

Custom room treatments for headphone users.

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Help please,

My last adventure into music storage was on a now extinct Netgear 4 bay unit, unfortunately for some unknown reason it failed

terminally taking out all the hdd's.

I am now again thinking of storing my music again on a nas drive, which one i haven't got a clue.

 

snip.....

 

Thanks for looking.

 

The only reason I can think of to have an NAS is if you want to be able to play music from multiple locations. It sounds like you have a single external drive that you've been using with a 500 GB SSD. If that is the case there's really no need for an NAS, you can run with a basic external drive in a docking bay.

 

I use an external SATA drive, only because my laptop has a plug for that connection. Prior to that I used a USB drive without any issues. In both cases, I use a basic single docking bay that can accomodate SATA drives. They're now up to (and maybe greater than) 4 TB capacity.

 

I find that to be a simple, inexpensive and reliable solution. If you install a double docking bay you can install drives for both your music and photo's. Obviously, you will want to make copies and keep them off site. I keep copies of all music files at work with another dual docking bay. That allows me to keep copies of the music and to backup my work computer using an automated schedule.

 

At home I have a single 2 TB WD red drive. At work I have two 2 TB WD red drives.

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"So what can you recommend,a nas purely for music, and another for photo's + movies, or on big nas with a combination of drives for the different tasks. How would achieve this, what software, hard ware ect ect."

 

I'd agree with jabber - get a NAS for both purposes. I chose a NAS not because I wanted to play music from multiple locations but to simplify my means of access to my music. I bought a Synology DS 412+ with 4 x 4TB WD red drives as I have 80k+ music tracks and I also store home video. The '+' models in the Synology range have more powerful processors that can run server software with no sweat. I strongly recommend MinimServer software which can be installed on Synology and some other NAS. I use the BubbleUPnP app, running on a Nexus tablet, to control playback. As a result I have a minimal playback route (NAS>ethernet>renderer>DAC) and only need to use my general-purpose computer for ripping and curating the music files. I'm not familiar with the details of the remainder of your system but I'm sure the Aries would work well as the renderer (ethernet-to-SPDIF converter) in this setup.

 

To keep the hifi (DAC etc) completely isolated from any computers, routers, switches etc etc I'd recommend using optical isolation in the final ethernet link to your renderer - a pair of back-to-back ethernet wire-to-fibre converters linked by a couple of metres of fibre is inexpensive compared with other system components.

 

If you do use a NAS you must setup a robust backup system - you can't rely on RAID in the NAS. Most NAS have onboard backup software and a port for connecting external storage with a fast link (e.g. USB 3) which can provide the primary backup, but you also need a secondary backup which, preferably, you can remove and store off-site. I do this with a USB disc connected to my general-purpose computer and use ChronoSync software to backup the NAS across the network.

 

I've been using this setup for a couple of years and it has needed little attention. A final point if you do get a NAS, when you estimate the storage capacity you will need take this estimate and treble it before you buy!

 

I hope this information helps.

ALAC iTunes library on Synology DS412+ running MinimServer with Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet running BubbleUPnP for control >

Hi-Fi 1: Airport Extreme bridge > Netgear switch > TP-Link optical isolation > dCS Network Bridge AND PS Audio PerfectWave Transport > PS Audio DirectStream DAC with Bridge Mk.II > Primare A60 > Harbeth SHL5plus Anniversary Edition .

Hi-Fi 2: Sonore Rendu > Chord Hugo DAC/preamp > LFD integrated > Harbeth P3ESRs and > Sennheiser HD800

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Get one NAS for both purposes. The newer Netgear uses modern file systems either BTRFS or ZFS so I can recommend that. At least some Synology systems have similar. A NAS is simply a sever configured with storage software.

 

If you use a new unit running BTRFS or ZFS as the underlying file system and the unit fails you can simply load the discs into a new machine and recover the files. That is a very important advantage.

 

Wait a minute. My understanding is that ZFS can only be properly supported by a Unix operating system or one of the many variations. If that is true, are you suggesting that Unix is equally able to host a bit perfect music player and supporting software for tag management, cover art and accessing this forum?

 

Meaning, is it possible to have a ZFS server but still have a, say Win 10 OS that can communicate with that server?

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Wait a minute. My understanding is that ZFS can only be properly supported by a Unix operating system or one of the many variations. If that is true, are you suggesting that Unix is equally able to host a bit perfect music player and supporting software for tag management, cover art and accessing this forum?

 

Two different issues. The answer is yes, but there is no specific need for the NAS to host the music playing software, nor browser, nor tag management software. A NAS at its most basic is a file server. In many cases people may want to run, say, a DLNA server on the NAS but that is not necessary. A NAS could function as a network drive under Windows and nothing else.

 

Meaning, is it possible to have a ZFS server but still have a, say Win 10 OS that can communicate with that server?

 

Yes, certainly. The NAS serves the SMB protocol which is the Windows remote file sharing protocol.

Custom room treatments for headphone users.

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Two different issues. The answer is yes, but there is no specific need for the NAS to host the music playing software, nor browser, nor tag management software. A NAS at its most basic is a file server. In many cases people may want to run, say, a DLNA server on the NAS but that is not necessary. A NAS could function as a network drive under Windows and nothing else.

 

 

 

Yes, certainly. The NAS serves the SMB protocol which is the Windows remote file sharing protocol.

 

Thanks for a detailed answer but at the risk of sounding a bit thick this doesn't sound like something easily done - at least not for your average bear.

 

I guess I'm not sure who has the skill set to be able to set up and maintain this type of system. I can't speak for the OP, but from my side I think I'll have to rely on multiple backup copies with a bunch of different drives.

 

I like the idea of ZFS, I just don't see it being an easy fit.

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Thanks for a detailed answer but at the risk of sounding a bit thick this doesn't sound like something easily done - at least not for your average bear.

 

I guess I'm not sure who has the skill set to be able to set up and maintain this type of system. I can't speak for the OP, but from my side I think I'll have to rely on multiple backup copies with a bunch of different drives.

 

I like the idea of ZFS, I just don't see it being an easy fit.

 

If you get one of the newer NAS, ZFS or BTRFS will be hidden behind the NAS' GUI. You probably don't need to know what OS it is running behind the scenes.

 

I am saying that some of the problems that the OP previously experienced are improved in the latest versions of the NAS.

 

I have certainly used every known form of external drive and have come to the impression that the work and skill needed to do proper manual backups in the absence of data redundancy is very much outweighed by the skill needed to plug a NAS into the network. Much of this depends on the quantity of data you have. My digital photo collection alone is over a terabyte.

 

I think for people who don't want to be concerned with maintaining computer equipment, streaming services should be very attractive.

Custom room treatments for headphone users.

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If you get one of the newer NAS, ZFS or BTRFS will be hidden behind the NAS' GUI. You probably don't need to know what OS it is running behind the scenes.

 

I am saying that some of the problems that the OP previously experienced are improved in the latest versions of the NAS.

 

I have certainly used every known form of external drive and have come to the impression that the work and skill needed to do proper manual backups in the absence of data redundancy is very much outweighed by the skill needed to plug a NAS into the network. Much of this depends on the quantity of data you have. My digital photo collection alone is over a terabyte.

 

I think for people who don't want to be concerned with maintaining computer equipment, streaming services should be very attractive.

 

I'm glad I hang out here and appreciate your patience. I have around 2.5TB of DFF recorded files and another 1.5TB or so of mastered files.

 

All this time I thought an NAS was just another disk array, not realizing the later versions may have an advanced file system to promote redundancy. I may have to look into that.

 

Thank you.

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