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Going from a USB HDD on the Network to a real NAS drive?

J

jcutner

Member
This is probably an easy one, but right now I have a 3TB WD External HDD plugged into my Apple Router as the equivalent of my NAS drive. However, transferring data to and from it from other hardwired computers in the network is slow (20mb) compared to a 100mb transfer from computer to computer.

I imagine this is due to the limitation of USB attached storage transfer speeds?

So, I'd like to get a NAS enclosure and put a HDD in there, in hopes that this will speed up the internal transfer rate for data to and from the NAS.

Is there a "cheap" or reasonable way to approach this for a simple home NAS setup that doesn't involve $500+ hardware such as a Drobo or Synology?
 
B

bionic77

Member
It's hard to make a good NAS cheaply.

As far as I know the cheap options are closed boxes from Western Digital and the like.
 
R

RuGalz

Member
Cheapest solution is probably if you have an old computer lying around, stick the hdds in it and put the computer on network assuming your just want file sharing.
 
B

boredandlazy

Member
I have an 8 Bay QNAP with 6 8TB drives in RAID 5 where I store all my movies, and 2 480GB SSDs in RAID 1 for running VMs and my Kodi Mysql DB as well.
So whilst I don't recommend going as far down that path as me just yet, if you decide to go for a NAS don't cheap out too much. Make sure you can get a model which allows you enough storage whilst running in a redundant RAID array.
NAS' are the bomb.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
RuGalz said:
Cheapest solution is probably if you have an old computer lying around, stick the hdds in it and put the computer on network.
Click to expand...

That's only cheap initially. The price jumps up once you realize that old computer is costing quite a bit to run in power.
 
C

Chesskid1

Banned
yeah, since i leave my PC on 24/7 i just used that since my router's HDD xfer speeds were so sloww, maybe new routers have really fast ones?

i tried to look into getting a NAS but it was expensive and i don't really "gain" anything
 
R

RuGalz

Member
KojiKnight said:
That's only cheap initially. The price jumps up once you realize that old computer is costing quite a bit to run in power.
Click to expand...

Ya well depends on how old and it could still take a while for the power saving to catch up to the initial cost difference (and if someone has solar etc). And if it's modern enough processor, limit its maximum frequency will help with idle power draw.
 
P

Purkake4

Banned
RuGalz said:
Ya well depends on how old and it could still take a while for the power saving to catch up to the initial cost difference (and if someone has solar etc). And if it's modern enough processor, limit its maximum frequency will help with idle power draw.
Click to expand...
It is probably bulky and noisy as well though.
 
R

RuGalz

Member
Purkake4 said:
It is probably bulky and noisy as well though.
Click to expand...

Reusing old parts sure. But it doesn't need to be bulkier or noisier and still cheaper than Synology etc if building from scratch. Synology and other solutions are great of course for ease of use and convenience for a price.

This is what I use for my build, it's just slightly thicker than a typical Synology.
ds380-34-0.jpg
Click to expand...
 
C

Carn82

Member
In the end, the storage itself is the most expensive part of your setup compared to the box that houses it. I'm a big synology fan because of their ease of use so I ended up with that. I'm more than able to build my own freeNAS based system but wanted something more convenient.
 
P

Purkake4

Banned
RuGalz said:
Reusing old parts sure. But it doesn't need to be bulkier or noisier and still cheaper than Synology etc if building from scratch. Synology and other solutions are great of course for ease of use and convenience for a price.

This is what I use for my build, it's just slightly thicker than a typical Synology.
Click to expand...
Oh, if you're willing to build it, there's a lot of options and it will probably be cheaper than a comparable pre-built NAS.

Carn82 said:
In the end, the storage itself is the most expensive part of your setup compared to the box that houses it. I'm a big synology fan because of their ease of use so I ended up with that. I'm more than able to build my own freeNAS based system but wanted something more convenient.
Click to expand...
True.
 
Xisiqomelir

Xisiqomelir

Member
bionic77 said:
It's hard to make a good NAS cheaply.
Click to expand...

Uhhh, no it isn't?

Any of the OS choices are free (beer-wise and speech-wise). The hardware specs you get by purchasing your own are a tremendous upgrade over buying a "network solution" marketed to people who cannot read basic technical documentation.
 
R

RuGalz

Member
jcutner said:
So it's more of the USB 3.0 Port on my Apple Airport Extreme that's slowing down the network transfer, rather than the USB 3.0 External HDD?
Click to expand...

Likely both from my experience. Taking my hdds out of enclosures and put them inside a computer def increased the throughput.
 
W

Wowfunhappy

Member
Why would an HDD attached to your router be any slower than an HDD inside of a computer that connects to your router? Are we talking USB 2.0 or something?

Edit: Read the last few posts above this one.

If it's USB 3.0, I don't think you'd be limiting speed very much on a spinning HDD. Am I mistaken?
 
J

jcutner

Member
Wowfunhappy said:
Why would an HDD attached to your router be any slower than an HDD inside of a computer that connects to your router? Are we talking USB 2.0 or something?

Edit: Read the last few posts above this one.

If it's USB 3.0, I don't think you'd be limiting speed very much on a spinning HDD. Am I mistaken?
Click to expand...

It is USB3, going into a USB3 port on my Airport Extreme. The only thing I could gather is the USB over the network on the Router causing it to be slower to transfer, rather than a direct NAS.
 
P

prophetvx

Member
Wowfunhappy said:
Why would an HDD attached to your router be any slower than an HDD inside of a computer that connects to your router? Are we talking USB 2.0 or something?

Edit: Read the last few posts above this one.

If it's USB 3.0, I don't think you'd be limiting speed very much on a spinning HDD. Am I mistaken?
Click to expand...

Because a router has a minuscule CPU in it, designed to run system operations mostly. If the HDD is formatted in something like NTFS, it requires a fair bit of grunt to read and deliver that information.

The USB bus speed is only part of the equation. If you're trying to deliver media, a hard drive plugged into your router should only be a temporary solution and last resort.

I have a WD EX4100 and the read / write speeds are phenomenal at a pretty good price point. You can run plenty of software on it as well, extracting files on the device is about the same performance you'd get out of a raspberry pi 2.
 
eddie4

eddie4

Genuinely Generous
The cheapest solution is to use an old PC with FreeNAS or Amahi and convert it into a NAS.
The more expensive way is to get a NAS enclosure that runs around $200-1000 and buy drives for it. Of course, you're paying for the compact size and all the features.
I have a two bay buffalo NAS enclosure with gigabit ethernet and it works great for my needs.
 
T

The_Inquisitor

Member
Another vote for Synology. Get an empty one then buy NAS grade drives for the warranty. It isn't much more expensive and you're going to be doing a lot more write operations.
 
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