Cheapest 4-bay HDD enclosure or alternatives...

[Staxxx]

With the weakening of the rupee some of the choices I had earlier have become very expensive. I was thinking of buying the Synology 4-bay 413j NAS but this is now about Rs36,500, up from about Rs 30k.
Some forums mention cheap 4 bay HDD enclosures with USB 3.0 and possibly an eSATA port to connect. I don't what chip and OS they run on. But I am little worried about the durability and reliability of these enclosures. I will put WD Red caviar drives into them and I already have backed up the data in the external HDDs that I use currently.
Lastly, can someone tell me what is the disadvantage (especially looking at the current prices of these limited devices) of buying a cheap computer that has 4 or even possibly 6 HD enclosures. I am not worried about form factor and all I need this for is to store my music files - nothing else.
Would really appreciate a clear idea of which direction makes sense to go.
Thanks.

 

[mgdelhi]

Have a look at this:

RN10400

I bought this and I am more than happy with my decision.

Netgear RN104 External Hard Drive - Netgear: Flipkart.com

 

[psoonee]

Have a look at this:

RN10400

I bought this and I am more than happy with my decision.

Netgear RN104 External Hard Drive - Netgear: Flipkart.com

Have you tried running Logitech Media Server or do you know if it runs? A cursory google search didnt throw up anything.

 

[Staxxx]

Thank you!! The Netgear NAS you mention sounds just perfect. It is half the price of the Synology 4-bay NAS enclosure. I wonder why and whether I will have reliability problems if I buy cheap? Any feedback on this unit would be useful please.
Then I will have to find someone I can pay here in Bangalore to help me set it up too.

 

[GeorgeO]

I run Logitech's Media server on my ReadyNAS,I know it works well.

 

[GeorgeO]

You don't have to pay me to set it up-I'm cheap-a couple of glasses of beer will do the trick! Or if you feel more generous, maybe a dram of single malt..

 

[mgdelhi]

Thank you!! The Netgear NAS you mention sounds just perfect. It is half the price of the Synology 4-bay NAS enclosure. I wonder why and whether I will have reliability problems if I buy cheap? Any feedback on this unit would be useful please.
Then I will have to find someone I can pay here in Bangalore to help me set it up too.

This is actually perfect and more bang for your bucks. People say that the new Netgear software 6.0 had some issues which were solved with 6.1.1. I got my NAS with 6.1.1 with no problems. And I got a firmware update 6.1.2 couple of days ago.

One let down, for the time being, there is no HDD spin down (means more power consumption). Future firmware should take care of it.

It is a breeze to Start (W-O-L) or shut it down from your android device in case you don't want to use scheduled start-/shut down.

You don't have to pay me to set it up-I'm cheap-a couple of glasses of beer will do the trick! Or if you feel more generous, maybe a dram of single malt..

Good you found George to help you in setting it up. It looks quite a huge task to do it before you start doing. Once you are at it, it is so simple.

Have you tried running Logitech Media Server or do you know if it runs? A cursory google search didnt throw up anything.

I have not used LMS on it but you got your answer from George.

 

[mowgli80]

I have a 4 bay enclosure for sale. I am unable to locate my sale post on the sale forum . Let me know if you are interested. Don't go by the negative review on amazon. I have used it with three drives and it works very well.

 

[psoonee]

You don't have to pay me to set it up-I'm cheap-a couple of glasses of beer will do the trick! Or if you feel more generous, maybe a dram of single malt..

You, sir, leave me no choice. So all i have to do is buy one of these and bring it to Bangalore along with my hard discs.

But seriously, I hope the offer stands for all in need and I'll be there around the month end, so might impose on you!

Btw, has this started supporting JBOD and will it accept hard discs without restriping them? I wouldnt know where to back up my current NAS otherwise.

@mowgli... do you use the NAS to run LMS?

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Have a look at this:

RN10400

I bought this and I am more than happy with my decision.

Netgear RN104 External Hard Drive - Netgear: Flipkart.com

Is it a simple 4-bay enclosure or a NAS box.(Got the doubt,as its mentioned in many places as External Hard Drive) Can the files from this device be shared by simply connecting it to a network router without connecting it directly to a PC/Laptop?

 

[mgdelhi]

Is it a simple 4-bay enclosure or a NAS box.(Got the doubt,as its mentioned in many places as External Hard Drive) Can the files from this device be shared by simply connecting it to a network router without connecting it directly to a PC/Laptop?

It is a NAS box. Flipkart has listed it in wrong category.

 

[GeorgeO]

Psoonee

Give me a shout when you're in the neighbourhood. I am not free until after 27th, though.

 

[mowgli80]

The one I have listed is just an enclosure for 4 HDD with ESATA and USB 3.0 connections and hardware raid support which I planned to use with a Ubuntu based PC doing the job of NAS server and also act as an HTPC in my spare bedroom once in a while.

 

[Staxxx]

Thanks to all the help on this FM I have now bought a Netgear ReadyNAS 104 4 bay disk-less system. I have removed it from the box and tried to read the manual. It is all gobbeldy gook to me - I don't understand anything.

So does the unit connect to my Music Server (windows-based) only through the internet connection (wifi/cloud) and an Ethernet connection. Would it be possible (for simplicity's sake) to take a direct connection (particularly as I am using it mainly as a storage unit) to my music-server? How do I set up an ethernet connection for copying files from the NAS to the music server playlist (which is an internal SSD). I have a Beetle wireless model and router 450TC1. I assume I need to connect one internet cable from my music server to this router and one cable from my router to the NAS to access the folders? Am I looking at all this the wrong way please?

In addition, I do have a PC which I would also like to connect to this network. This will make access to the NAS properties and management much easier. I assume I need therefore to connect one more ethernet cable from the router to the PC also?

I would LOVE if there is some tech-savvy person in Bangalore who has installed a Netgear NAS before help me with this at home. I promise a good lunch and if it takes long a good drink. I am also very happy to pay any professional company for their services in setting up the system.
Thanks !!

 

[Staxxx]

Wow! Set it up all by myself with the help of excellent tech support from the Philippines.

Now have to read the manual and see how to use it to its full extent.

 

[dheerajjotwani]

Great going

tapped on Note II cdma

 

[GeorgeO]

So looks like I missed a drink, eh?

 

[Staxxx]

Haha! No not at all.....drop me a PM with your number and we will fix up a time.

By the way, another newbie question. So now I have a formatted empty drive sitting in the NAS. I would like to transfer my data from an HHD to that internal drive. Do I hook up the HHD directly via USB (3.0) to the NAS and then control the NAS from my PC? i.e. copy and paste via the PC...I expect this will be possible and faster than hooking the external drive to my PC and copy and pasting that way via the wifi/ethernet connection.
Sounds intutively correct but just want to be sure.

 

[mgdelhi]

Yes, that's possible. But somehow, the copying speed from USB 3.0 HDD connected to NAS was slower than copying from computer.

Didn't do much R&D though.

 

[dheerajjotwani]

@staxx

If ur on a gigabit lan connected with and to ethernet on pc and nas then u should get about 75-80Mb transfer speed. Usb to internal hdd copying, if done through internal shell or explorer on nas or from commandline should be faster.

tapped on Note II cdma