Should i get a NAS to expand my storage?

[JBalls335]

Hello all,

Basically, I'm running out of storage space on my laptop, and expanding storage locally is not an option, so i'm looking at essentially two options:

1: Add a USB drive to a USB share port on a new wireless router*

2: Get a NAS storage system and add that to my existing wireless router

Whichever route i end up taking, i want the drive to be quickly accessible through Windows Explorer and/or My Computer, functioning like a normal local drive or networked drive, with full access rights.

*My current router is an older model Apple Airport Extreme. I want to use NTFS on my external storage drive, but it does not support it, thus the need to buy a new router. I have actually infact tried a USB port on a new router (ASUS RT-AC68u) and i've found the experience to be a bit lacking. File copy and delete lag being the biggest problem.

I'm thinking adding a NAS system to my existing router may be the simplest solution. But i'd like some feedback from people who have tried this or currently use their NAS storage in the matter that i want to (ie. accessing the drive through normal Windows menus, not a third party UI). NAS or USB shared drive?


Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[Doomer]

Never got a USB drive to play nice with a router. A NAS will work nicely but you have to know a little about windows networking to get it to work seamlessly. A NAS will come with other nice features like being able to access your stuff from anywhere in the world. These days my external HDs lay gutted because the drives are pulling duty in NAS's. IMHO, Synology is the best, but it's not the cheapest. If price is a factor, Zyxels work OK and are dirt cheap. I have 2 NSA 310s and they're rock solid. One is serving as a DVR for my ip cameras. It's been rock solid for over a year now and has never missed a beat.

I also have one of the Newer Thecus, The N2520. It has HDMI and SPDIF out. It can run XMBC so it will be good as a stand alone Media server that hooks directly to your display device. In practice, crappy Intel drivers render it all but useless for this purpose. I'm hoping that this will get sorted out in the near future.

 

[JBalls335]

Never got a USB drive to play nice with a router. A NAS will work nicely but you have to know a little about windows networking to get it to work seamlessly. A NAS will come with other nice features like being able to access your stuff from anywhere in the world. These days my external HDs lay gutted because the drives are pulling duty in NAS's. IMHO, Synology is the best, but it's not the cheapest. If price is a factor, Zyxels work OK and are dirt cheap. I have 2 NSA 310s and they're rock solid. One is serving as a DVR for my ip cameras. It's been rock solid for over a year now and has never missed a beat.

I also have one of the Newer Thecus, The N2520. It has HDMI and SPDIF out. It can run XMBC so it will be good as a stand alone Media server that hooks directly to your display device. In practice, crappy Intel drivers render it all but useless for this purpose. I'm hoping that this will get sorted out in the near future.

Thanks for your input!

When you mention needing knowledge about Windows networking, are you referring to port forwarding and things like that?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Thanks for your input!

When you mention needing knowledge about Windows networking, are you referring to port forwarding and things like that?

He is probably referring to iSCSI knowledge. It isn't hard but can seem confusing if you've never used it before. I've got a Synology DS413j that I use primarily for backups, but it supports iSCSI (and a ton of other things) and that allows you to map a drive on the NAS as a local drive via the iSCSI Initiator in Windows. I have the entire NAS volume mapped as a drive on my main server and backups are dumped there on a nightly basis.