Tell me about NAS and media sharing.

[de8212]

I just purchased one of these Western Digital WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Players . Haven't even taken it out of the box yet but already have my wheels turning on the possibilities of things.

I know i can stream movies/mp3's/pics from my PC to this device as it is. That was my original plan and will be what i will do at least temporarily.

But then today I received a nice new 750GB 32MB Cache SATA hard drive. So that got me thinking of putting the new hard drive in an enclosure and attaching it to the WD TV Live. Just not sure how I would send files to the enclosure. I do have a router where the WD TV Live will be placed. So I already will have it hard wired into my network.

I have heard of NAS devices and that sounds promising but I'm just not sure how to incorporate it to the WD Live.

Any thoughts or advice?

 

[vshah]

you could find an enclosure for your hard drive that has network + usb. just make sure it can do both at the same time...


but if you're going to be streaming anyway, there's not much point to having a hard drive attached as well. unless you're going to put the modified firmware on there (ModelWorks knows a lot about this). then you could use the wd live to DL stuff directly to the hard drive from torrents/usenet etc.

 

[JackMDS]

The Western Digital WD TV Live is a Network Device.

If you put your new HD into (or plug it to) a real stand alone NAS, you would have through the Network all the working capabilities.

If you have an old computer that can work with Windows Home Server OS, stick the new drive in, and you can build even a better independent NAS.

Network does need s switch, or a Router if Internet connection is involved.

 

[de8212]

Thanks guys.

I know the device streams out of the box. I can use it this way but since I have this 750GB drive I figured another approach might be to copy the movies over to another device (NAS?) and have that directly connected to the WD Live. Then it would be playing

No old pc lying around. Really don't want to go that route. Looking for something more simple.



Edit - I didn't know downloading to the NAS was possible. Thats' the type of info I am looking for. How others have theirs set up would help me determine the best way to connect mine.

 

[0roo0roo]

filling a nas is time better spent just shoving the disc into the bluray/dvd player.

 

[Muse]

filling a nas is time better spent just shoving the disc into the bluray/dvd player.

There is a point to that. It's so easy that way, so much more trouble getitng a network media streaming system up and running plus maintenance.
- - - -
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean

 

[de8212]

There is a point to that. It's so easy that way, so much more trouble getitng a network media streaming system up and running plus maintenance.

You guys do have a point. One of the reasons I want to do this is because when I burn files to a dvd the kids end up with their hands on them and they get scratched. I already have the WD Live to do the streaming so I know I am good there. I just wanted an alternate storage method that was plugged into the WD Live so that I could copy the files across the network.

 

[ShawnD1]

No old pc lying around. Really don't want to go that route. Looking for something more simple.

There's a cost to everything. Stuff that is sold as "NAS" is incredibly expensive. The bay itself is $100 before you even put a hard drive in it! My server is just a regular computer and it's sharing 7 drives. You could easily build a server for $300.

I just wanted an alternate storage method that was plugged into the WD Live so that I could copy the files across the network.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Enable-file-and-printer-sharing

 

[de8212]

There's a cost to everything. Stuff that is sold as "NAS" is incredibly expensive. The bay itself is $100 before you even put a hard drive in it! My server is just a regular computer and it's sharing 7 drives. You could easily build a server for $300.


http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Enable-file-and-printer-sharing

But I have a new hard drive that I could use. It's 750GB which is plenty to get me started. And since it's going into my Home Theater rack, i really don't want a "computer" there. Yes, i know there are some HTPC type cases that look just like regular A/V equipment. I just want a more simple solution using this hard drive if possible.

What is a decent NAS enclosure? No more than a 2 bay one would be needed. I just want it to be relatively feature packed. I really don't want to put more than $100 in it unless I have to.

And yes, i know I can use windows to set up the share. that's what I am going to do in the mean time. If I can put something together that I can set up in the HT rack then that is what I'd like to look into.

 

[ShawnD1]

What is a decent NAS enclosure? No more than a 2 bay one would be needed. I just want it to be relatively feature packed. I really don't want to put more than $100 in it unless I have to.

Newegg has 162 network attached storage (NAS) devices. The cheapest one is $80 and only two of them are under $100.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ue&Order=PRICE

Also keep in mind that NAS is just a storage device. It doesn't play video or download porn. It's just a hard drive that is connected through ethernet.

The easiest thing you could possibly do is to add that drive to the computer you're using right now and share the entire thing on your network. I've been doing this for years and it's still the best solution I know of. If there was some reason to get a NAS, I would have done it by now.