Harddrive Enclosure

[lupi]

I'm looking to get an external enclosure to use as a file server for my home network. Mostly for recorded tv and movie copies to be played in the house. Don't really need a NAS for this and I've never looked into getting any other type of drive enclosure so don't have much knowledge on non-NAS or what to look for, so let the advice come forth!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I'm looking to get an external enclosure to use as a file server for my home network. Mostly for recorded tv and movie copies to be played in the house. Don't really need a NAS for this and I've never looked into getting any other type of drive enclosure so don't have much knowledge on non-NAS or what to look for, so let the advice come forth!

An external enclosure with the brains to be a file server is a NAS.

 

[lupi]

Ok, then one without the brains?

 

[pcgeek11]

I have very good results with these:

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/linkstation-200-series

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Ok, then one without the brains?

Any DAS/RAID/JBOD enclosure will work. (Basically the same thing, most of the time.)

For example:

http://www.newegg.com/SANS-DIGITAL-RAID-Enclosure-Subsystems/BrandSubCat/ID-11118-509

I have very good results with these:

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/linkstation-200-series

Those are NAS units.

 

[pcgeek11]

I know.

 

[bbhaag]

How many drives does it have to hold? 1? 3? 7? This one doesn't look bad and its on sale. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816111455

 

[fleshconsumed]

I'm looking to get an external enclosure to use as a file server for my home network. Mostly for recorded tv and movie copies to be played in the house. Don't really need a NAS for this and I've never looked into getting any other type of drive enclosure so don't have much knowledge on non-NAS or what to look for, so let the advice come forth!

How about you tell us
- How much storage you need
- What level of redundancy do you need, i.e. can you afford to lose data on the NAS?
- What's your budget

Otherwise you won't get any useful advice.

 

[highland145]

cheap and works.
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/2-5-sata-enclosure-recommendations.2464383/#post-38036631

 

[lupi]

How about you tell us
- How much storage you need
- What level of redundancy do you need, i.e. can you afford to lose data on the NAS?
- What's your budget

Otherwise you won't get any useful advice.

Seems like some good stuff already posted, but...
would prefer at least 4 bays, no redundancy as I'm not looking for a NAS, and cheaper than just buying a NAS.

 

[Valantar]

Seems like some good stuff already posted, but...
would prefer at least 4 bays, no redundancy as I'm not looking for a NAS, and cheaper than just buying a NAS.

What do you mean when you say you're not looking for a NAS? Do you specifically not want network connectivity? If so, you want a DAS case. If it has a network connection and HDD bays, it's a NAS, whatever the functionality.

If you don't need more than every drive showing up (JBOD), any USB connected drive housing should do the job.

 

[lupi]

Not looking for a NAS as there is a pretty significant price step increase for even a basic diskless NAS. All I really need is an enclosure for holding the drives to increase my storage capability through my media PC. I've heard people talking about them but never owned, so looking for advice/pointers on what to get.

 

[Dave3000]

Does the enclosure have to be quiet? Do you want an enclosure that turns off automatically when you turn off your PC or you don't mind manually turning off the enclosure after you turn off your PC?