How to build an itunes to Hard Drive storage system

[jkbmusic]

I am thinking of buying one of These from Amazon :roll: . Some of you might be aware of the considerable problems I have had with hard drives dying, and the subsequent quest to find a replacement. I went for an internal hard drive rather than the previous external one which died. Unfortunately because I have ripped in Apple Lossless, the size of the files are considerably bigger than what I was recording previously. I am ½ way through my CDs, unfortunately, this has resulted in my 1tb Hard Drive (and 1tb back up) being almost full. I have not even started my vast vinyl collection, but know I am going to come across problems of limited storage space :doh: .

So I was thinking the most logical way to go is an external NAS drive with two 2tb hard drives = 4tb. I have done some research, but tend to get more confused, than clearer with what to do. If I decide to go down this route, I will make this a "How to build an itunes to Hard Drive storage system" thread, so that others can benefit from the experience of the Wam, and not ask the same old questions, which I am guilty of myself . Any comments and suggestions are appreciated.

1. Research the Wam for previous posts on the subject.

Here & Here & Here & Here And especially Here

Synology Link Here

 

[dudywoxer]

Are you intending to use the nas to stream from, if so get a proper nas, say a synology, put 2 3tb drives in it, something designed for nas use, and a big usb drive to back up to. It will cost more. Hopefully once, and as you are painfully aware, if you have not got it at least twice, at some point you will not have it.

 

[jkbmusic]

Are you intending to use the nas to stream from, if so get a proper nas, say a synology, put 2 3tb drives in it, something designed for nas use, and a big usb drive to back up to. It will cost more. Hopefully once, and as you are painfully aware, if you have not got it at least twice, at some point you will not have it.

Hi Colin, I nearly bought a 2x 2tb nas drive from Maplins yesterday on impulse. It was only when I began to search for info in it, that the Amazon one came up, and seemed better value. However, I would prefer to get it local, and looking further into the Maplin options Here, I'm more confused than I was before I started looking yesterday :roll: . Any pointers in the right direction are appreciated. I know the bigger the hard drive the better for storage, but there has to be an economical cut-off point. I remember when upgrading my PC in the past, there was always more faster processors, but the top two were always at a premium.

 

[dudywoxer]

I would go with a synology, local or mail order. They can be bought with drives, or without. Buy and fit your own. Having had a play with them they have a good, easy to use os and interface, and appear to be robust in use. Once you have one you will probably wa t to use it for storing music, images, and as a local file store. You need to think about what your total storage requirements will or could be, and add at least 25% to it.

I do not use synology myself, I have a different set of requirements and use a windows home server, but plenty of others on here do.

Sit on hour wallet for a few days, have a read through some of threads, and see where you think you may want to go.

 

[vacdac]

Don't make this an impulse buy Jeff. Not buying from Maplins would be my next piece of advice, most of the IT hardware they stock is not particularly well priced nor is theIr choice great in terms of properly competitive decently performing kit.

Getting a decent NAS should be a considered purchase that you buy once & buy well. Synology DS series NAS enclosures are prolly the best in terms of ease of use & setup + they are feature rich in terms of S/W add ons etc. A DS213/213+/214 two bay NAS would be ideal populated with 2× 3 or 4 TB WD Red drives. Synology NAS's can also be used as a streamer/internet radio player in their own right & will output Bit Perfect digital audio via one of the rear USB sockets.

 

[vacdac]

Here's a recent thread .http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?88255-Upgrading-to-a-better-Nas-with-more-storage.

There's loads more if you run some searches. I use mine as a streamer too, in my second system & it sounds brilliant thru my Audio-gd NFB 12.1 DAC/Pre into Adam F5 active monitors.

 

[jkbmusic]

Thanks for the link Chris, and the second recommendation for the Synology NAS. I'll do some searches, and extra reading tomorrow. Busy enjoying The Last Leg on TV at the moment.

 

[Chumpy]

If one has a problem with dying-items, (or not), I re-iterate my advice to buy suitably locally.

All of the best with your suitable pleasures.

Better-value alternatives exist.

 

[jkbmusic]

Because of the implications of starting with a new NAS Drive, I.e. Cost, sourcing various parts, fitting, starting up, tweaking, operating systems, etc. etc., I'm having second thoughts.

Apart from the limited current space on my two current iTunes 1tb hard drives, I am now thinking it would be easier and more cost effective, to just replace one Hard drive with a Western Digital Red 3 or 4 tb hard drive. Then when that one is up and running with the music transferred. I could then replace the other one, and do the same. This would give me a 3 or 4 tb hard drive for my iTunes, and a similar back up.

Alternatively, I could go down the old route of external hard drives, though I think this might have been a contributing factor in the failure of the last one.

 

[jkbmusic]

Would This WD 3TB Desktop SATA Hard Drive for NAS - Red hard drive be suitable for a PC, to replace my current 1tb drive?. If so, would I then be able to transfer it to a NAS drive at a later date? :? .

 

[dudywoxer]

It would, but when you install it into your desktop, you will have to format the drive so windows can use it. That will format it in ntfs. When you transfer it into the nas, the nas may well need to reformat the drive into its native format to be able to use it. At that point all the information the drive contains is erased.

 

[jkbmusic]

Thanks Colin, I should have asked the expert in the first place. If I ever get round to buying a NAS, I will have already bought a second 3tb drive for the computer. Therefore I should have 3tb both hard drives full of iTunes. I could then transfer one to the NAS, when that is up and running, and I can conform all the music is there, I could then transfer the other.

Alternatively, I could just buy the NAS and two hard drives, and just bite the bullet, so to speak. :?

 

[dudywoxer]

It is always a bit of a minefield when you swap drives between OS's. The majority of NAS units run on one flavour of Linux or another. the chances are they will zap any info that is on the drive, wherever you install it from. It hurts, but once. I would think the best way to do it is to bite the bullet, and a buy a nas, with or without drives, and buy the drives separately. Get the nas onto the network, and set up how you want it, with suitable back in place. Then transfer your music over to the NAS. I find it easier to rip to my computer hard drive, do any tag editing that I wish to do, then transfer the files over to the server, (NAS), but we all have our own ways. try ebuyer for price comparison, but their are plenty more good mail order places.

 

[jkbmusic]

Latest update, with special thanks to Chris (Vacdac) and Colin (dudywoxer).

...you can generally save a fairly substantial bundle of WONGA by sourcing the NAS enclosure & drives separately :^

See Here >>> .http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...=1&s=computers.

.http://www.amazon.co.uk/3TB-Desktop-...rds=WD+Red+3TB.

I make that around £350 for the same enclosure/drives which is quite a saving :^ Installing them yourself is a cinch with the NAS basically doing everything itself in the background* (*formatting the drives/populating the User/Share volumes etc)

Ordered from Amazon as Chris suggested, and saved £40 .

 

[dudywoxer]

well, congratulations on sorting it out. I am sure myself and Chris wish you all the best with it.

Chris :run:

 

[jkbmusic]

well, congratulations on sorting it out. I am sure myself and Chris wish you all the best with it. Chris :run:

That's why I started this thread, so others can learn from my mistakes

.

 

[potemkin]

I had had two Western Digital drives go belly up on me. I would not touch another one with a barge pole personally

 

[Chumpy]

... The good old days of playing superior cheaper analogue disks and tapes ...

HDD currently are very cheap/great ... do not use them just to hassle yourself, but for archiving rare e.g. analogue ...

And as for iTunes from whom I received a congratulatory email this morning for having bought 38 songs from them otherwise not legally available ...

Though I did enjoy downloading from them FREE U2 'Invisible' (Red) 5 days ago ...

 

[huwge]

I had had two Western Digital drives go belly up on me. I would not touch another one with a barge pole personally

I've had 2 go too, replaced under warranty but worrying

Synology Nas 411 with hot spare coped as enough of a gap between fails but I have decided not to ditch usb back up drives (clone iTunes monthly to one and photo library to the other)

I have it Etherneted to an oppo and onwards to dac in main system and to airport express/dac in subsidiary