I recently wanted to have home wireless network where all my media (file, music, video, pictures) could be centrally located and I could access them on my home network, TV, music system or over the network wirelessly. I spent around 10 hours in the study and thought of sharing this in my blog.
To achieve my goal, I needed to buy some central storage which could be put on the network. Then some kind of uPNP server could stream the media from the network. So I could either have a constantly running USB drive (aroound 80 bucks for 200 GB) attached to a constantly running PC which would run the server to stream the media from USB. But I was looking for somethig more elegant and only for this purpose. (Moreover I did not want to buy a PC to keep wired and running just for this purpose). Other solution is to have a box with the capability of network storage and media streaming.
I did study on some of network attached storage (NAS) available to buy for my home.
I had following requirements in my mind for the NAS.
- It should be fast and support the 10/100/1000 network
- It should be extendable (means I should be able to add more hard disk on it)
- It should have in-built ftp / http server for accessing files (so I could get important file on internet)
- It should have support for any USB drives / USB printer to put on the network (means any USB drive / printer when put on it should show up on my network for access)
- The most exiciting requirement is uPNP server for Audio Video streaming
- It should not be another computer box (i.e. low cost and low power consumption)
- It should be able to run 24 * 7 at low power consumption and auto switch off while not being used
| Product | Price | Speed and performace | Wireless | DLNA / uPnp performace | FTP | Print Server | Additional Storage Option | In built storage | Comments |
| Linksys WRT350N wireless-N gigabit Router with storage link | 170 | (wireless N) with gigabit but not reliable as per reviews | Yes, but bad connectivity comments | uPNP | None | In built router, uPNP media server, storage link | |||
| Buffalo Link Station Live | 180 / 200 | slower than media vault etc | NO | DLNA/ uPNP | yes | yes | Yes, storage link | Yes, 250 GB / 320 gb | WMV works, but other formats do not (avi, mp4 do not work). Http enabled |
| Dlink DNS-323 | 200 | good | NO | uPNP | yes | yes | no, but 2 sata drives could be added | None | Refresh the media server after you add files on the server. iTune server. |
| Dlink DNS-G600 | cheaper | moderate | Yes | included, but not great | No | No | Noisy Fan, no back up utility, but also works as access point | ||
| HP Media Vault MV2010 | 275 | good | NO | uPnP. | yes | yes | Yes, storage link | 300 GB | "uPnP with linux operating system, ftp, print, web sharing, good performance, inbuilt hard drive, HP brand. Video .mpg, .wmv, .mp4, .avi, .asf, .mov, .vob, .mpe, .ts, .dvr-ms, .m2v, .mpeg, .m2p, .divx, .xvid, .dat, .m1v, .m4v Music .mp3, .ogg, .wav, .lpcm, .pcm, .wma, .mp2, .ac3, .m4a, .aac, .mpa, .mp1, .aif Photograph .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff, .bmp, .gif" |
| Synology DS-207 | 300 | good | NO | no DLNA (but uPnP) | yes | yes | Yes, storage link | None | Web server (with php only support), uPnp service, my sql database, photo application, ftp, http, torrent download service, drive spin down. There does seem to be any feature missing + it has lot more than any other (suspicious. Just check how good is the uPnP / DLNA working), Costly |
| Thecus N2100 | good | NO | DLNA/ uPNP | Yes | yes | Yes, storage link | None | Intel Processor, power saving, iTune Server, Photo web server, ftp server, http server, (meant for always on). Limited US Availability | |
| Synology DS-106e | 220 - 250 | good | NO | no DLNA (but uPnP) | yes | yes | Yes, storage link | None | Web server (with php only support), uPnp service, my sql database, photo application, ftp, http, torrent download service, drive spin down. There does seem to be any feature missing + it has lot more than any other (suspicious. Just check how good is the uPnP / DLNA working) |
| Maxtor Shared Storage II | 250 | Good | NO | uPNP | NO | yes | Yes, storage link | Yes, 320 GB | Looks ok for a good performance server |
| Qnap NAS | NO | DLNA/ uPNP | yes | yes | Yes, storage link | None | Nice with media bolic preinstalled , but no fan so disks could get hot. |
I read lots of NAS reviews at http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/85/93
I individually went to the product sites as well to see the specifications for comparision.
After doing all the analysis I finally chose to purchase HP media Vault because of all the features that It was giving me while being not very costly (I got inbuilt stored of 350 GB with all my required features and more in below 300 USD).
I am not tested all teh features of the media vault, I could easily configure the media vault for the following.
- Windows sharing based network which I could easily access on my wireless network
- restricted http, ftp access of my files on internet (away from my home)
- uPnP streaming of music to my music box
- Accessing additional USB storages through media vault on my network
