Bulk storage: USB 2, FW800 or NAS

SidewinderINC · 16-01-2013, 18:27

Hi All,

Asked this over at the blue place and got no responses, don't know why I didn't ask here first

Running my old laptop as an HTPC/Media server combo and am looking to add some additional storage.

I have a selection of drives, and will be upgrading those over time to larger capacity but until I do I'd like to use what I have.

There are a few IcyBox units that take 4 drives which would be ideal and they're relatively cheap.

So the decisions come down to connectivity and some other features.

I know that as far as raw transfer speeds FW800 will be the fastest, and the NAS will be the slowest with my current network (100Mbps) however I don't know enough about data transfer technology to to say which would work best for the job at hand.

Reading from the drives for direct play from the attached computer mainly and potentially being read from up to 3 devices over the network via the server.

I don't really need direct access to the drives over the network so not too bothered about NAS unless there are other benefits from that?

Would this benefit from Firewire, or would it be a wasted extravagance?

And the units are also USB3.0 so if/when I upgrade to something that has USB3 ports that's an option but that's not likely to happen for quite a while.

Ta muchly

SINC.

16-01-2013, 18:27	#1
SidewinderINC Joey Tempest Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Gravesend. Posts: 2,751	Bulk storage: USB 2, FW800 or NAS Hi All, Asked this over at the blue place and got no responses, don't know why I didn't ask here first Running my old laptop as an HTPC/Media server combo and am looking to add some additional storage. I have a selection of drives, and will be upgrading those over time to larger capacity but until I do I'd like to use what I have. There are a few IcyBox units that take 4 drives which would be ideal and they're relatively cheap. So the decisions come down to connectivity and some other features. I know that as far as raw transfer speeds FW800 will be the fastest, and the NAS will be the slowest with my current network (100Mbps) however I don't know enough about data transfer technology to to say which would work best for the job at hand. Reading from the drives for direct play from the attached computer mainly and potentially being read from up to 3 devices over the network via the server. I don't really need direct access to the drives over the network so not too bothered about NAS unless there are other benefits from that? Would this benefit from Firewire, or would it be a wasted extravagance? And the units are also USB3.0 so if/when I upgrade to something that has USB3 ports that's an option but that's not likely to happen for quite a while. Ta muchly SINC. __________________ No Sig.