Right kit for easy home NAS with 'private cloud'?

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nickb99

128 posts

Master Geek

#113825 29-Jan-2013 12:28

Hope this is not too low-level a question for the forum.

After the limitations of my Orcon Genius were discovered I gave up on the idea of using it with my USB HDD as a simple home NAS for media sharing at home. But that led me to some reading - I would really like to both share files at home and also via the web. It would be very handy to be able to log in from outside and grab a movie or suchlike. So I investigated add on routers with USB and easy to use internet-access options.

I have read all about mydlink, Netgear's ReadyShare, and even the fiasco with the Cisco Connect Cloud. I checked out some super simple devices too like the TonidoPlug and Pogoplug. In my search for something simple to use & configure the best option *seems* a Western Digital My Net N900 Central router. Trusted brand, easy to get going. But it has built in storage which I neither need or want. Its cheaper non-storage version lacks the easy internet-sharing feature. So I am a little stuck. Any advice?

The ideal solution would;

- use the Orcon Genius as the modem
- use my USB 3.0 HDD as storage
- enable me to share files on the HDD at home and via the web easily

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#752595 29-Jan-2013 12:48

Synology DS212j is what I have and will do all that. It only has USB 2.0 in the back of it, but it is a proper NAS.

There is a single HDD version, a DS112j which you could install your HDD in and get rid of your current USB enclosure. They also do a USB Station, but is based on an older version of their software.

billgates

4705 posts

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#752597 29-Jan-2013 12:49

Use a Synology DS212j NAS at home with 2 x 2TB Western Digital Green HDD setup in hybrid RAID1 mode. Bought it from Amazon. NZ$260 incl shipping.

Do whatever you want to do man.

nickb99

128 posts

Master Geek

#752601 29-Jan-2013 12:57

Thanks for the suggestion. I have used a Synology NAS before and while it was excellent I think it might be a bit heavy duty for my home use. Also, I don't think it has a ready-made linked cloud service, where I log into a central point, rather I would have to log into the box directly. That means having to know where it is (doing the fixed IP stuff) or otherwise the work arounds for dynamic IP. So might not be easy solution I am looking for.

sonyxperiageek

2959 posts

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#752603 29-Jan-2013 13:00

billgates: Use a Synology DS212j NAS at home with 2 x 2TB Western Digital Green HDD setup in hybrid RAID1 mode. Bought it from Amazon. NZ$260 incl shipping.

Did that price come with the HDDs?

Sony

Zeon

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#752606 29-Jan-2013 13:01

If you are on ADSL its not going to be very fast to download big files.

Speedtest 2019-10-14

lxsw20

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#752608 29-Jan-2013 13:03

It does DDNS pretty well, they have their own domain you can tack onto as well for it. They also have Android and iOS apps. Kinda cool being able to remotly start a linux distro torrent from my phone.

nickb99

128 posts

Master Geek

#752610 29-Jan-2013 13:05

Yeah, I understand speed might be an issue but figured I might as well get the internet-share capability now while I am setting up the NAS side. If speed is an issue initially at least will be useful for grabbing documents, photos etc.

Wise

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).

billgates

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#752632 29-Jan-2013 13:31

sonyxperiageek:
billgates: Use a Synology DS212j NAS at home with 2 x 2TB Western Digital Green HDD setup in hybrid RAID1 mode. Bought it from Amazon. NZ$260 incl shipping.

Did that price come with the HDDs?

No. That would be great buy then. Bought the hard drives from warehouse stationary.

Do whatever you want to do man.

sonyxperiageek

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#752641 29-Jan-2013 13:47

billgates:
sonyxperiageek:
billgates: Use a Synology DS212j NAS at home with 2 x 2TB Western Digital Green HDD setup in hybrid RAID1 mode. Bought it from Amazon. NZ$260 incl shipping.

Did that price come with the HDDs?

No. That would be great buy then. Bought the hard drives from warehouse stationary.

I was gonna say! :)

Sony

nickb99

128 posts

Master Geek

#752850 29-Jan-2013 18:53

Any advance on a Synology USB Station 2? Does not review well, plus it involves a bit more setup than I would like. Seems to make sense to get something like it, that plugs in my existing USB HDD, as then the storage can be easily removed/changed if need be. The Western Digital router with built in storage is not as flexible.

nickb99

128 posts

Master Geek

#753194 30-Jan-2013 11:55

Have narrowed choice to either a Synology ds112j, or a WS My Book Live, or a Synology USB Station 2.

The first two have built in disks, which I don't really want, but the setup looks much easier.

The USB Station 2 does not have the latest easy setup firmware as was said before.

The WD product does not have a USB port [sigh] but their cloud solution looks really easy. No obvious winner here unfortunately.

chevrolux

4962 posts

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#753202 30-Jan-2013 12:13

Are you really set on having an easy cloud system?

Dynamic DNS negates the need for a static. And then just set up a simple open vpn connection. Then where ever you are in the world just vpn in to your network and your network drives will reconnect. Very little set up to do in reality.

nickb99

128 posts

Master Geek

#753204 30-Jan-2013 12:19

>> just set up a simple open vpn connection

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have great network skills, so something with easy set up is very attractive. I suspect Synology will get my money, I trust them to deliver if they say their product can be set up to deliver online access within minutes. Past experiences with their support were impressive.

Plus, sadly, it seems NTFS drives are much slower when accessed via a NAS. For that reason it may be better to have a NAS with its own drive formatted for speed (EXT4 or the like) and then just use my USB HDD for easy transfer of files in bulk.

allan

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#753256 30-Jan-2013 13:41

If you want to build something yourself, Windows Home Server 2011 as an OS is still available for around the $110 mark. You can log into it from the interweb by virtue of you having a mysubdomain.homeserver.com address always pointing to it, irrespective of of dynamic IP addressing.

All your files are available externally via a web page, you can RDP into any Windows Desktop (theoretically only Pro versions, but there are "ways" to work around this) and your media files are also available.

nickb99

128 posts

Master Geek

#753258 30-Jan-2013 13:43

Thanks for the idea, unfortunately I don't have the time or skill to manage this kind of solution. The more plug and play the better :)

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