Which NAS enclosure for dual function

[cgott42]

I'd like to have a network connected drive which can transfer a file to the hard drive at the same time as it's a file is being read from it via a USB 2.0 port.

Specfically, I have a PS3 and want to play high def videos stored on an external drive (connected via USB) while at the same time downloading other files (videos) to the same hard drive via the computer.

to keep costs down (< $50 if possible) I'd use an IDE drive that I have laying around.

I've done a lot of research and either find them VERY expensive, or can't do both (network/USB) at the same time, or just see reviews of being too erratic.

any ideas?

 

[drebo]

In that price range, everything you buy is going to suck. Period.

Stick the hard drive in your computer and share it out for the PS3.

 

[cgott42]

If I put it in the computer and stream it to the PS3 - it won't be fast enough to show high def video - to many stutterings.
that's why I wanted the PS3 to read the files via USB2.0
How much would it cost for something effective - I'm not looking for it to do anything else.

 

[kevnich2]

If you stream it from a PC to the PS3 and it stutters, what makes you think directly on the network is going to be any faster? How is your PS3 connected to the network, I'd probably say wirelessly? Connect PS3 up wired and it'll take care of the stuttering. The only other option is two separate drives, one USB and one via RJ45. Although for the price your wanting, good luck finding anything, let alone one that works.

 

[cgott42]

The PS3 is a wired connection.
My thought why this would work better than streaming is that it would not be streaming but rather connected directly to the drive via USB 2.0 (480Mbps) compared to 100Mbps network.
So the files are trasferred to the HDD via the network, once they reside on the HDD they are played by the PS3 via USB2.0

 

[imagoon]

The PS3 has gig ethernet I would just buy a gig switch and stream it. Most home built / home mini NAS units are pretty slow anyway. It is not uncommon to only get 30MB/sec or less out of one. In general a PC will stream faster that most mini-nas units. Also very few will allow you to use both the USB and the Ethernet by virtue that most NAS units will use an internal filesystem that is not the same as what the host sees. In order for it to properly work, the NAS would need to emulate being a USB disk while still handling network calls which is pretty high load for some of the little 300mhz processors they toss in them. Also file systems like FAT / NTFS are not really multi system safe except in very particular designs and implementations that cost 15k+ to start with. While the ps3 is accessing a file your pc could write something to the disk which would cause a collision at the disk level possibly damaging the file system on the NAS.

Your other option is to just move the USB drive when you want to load more files on it.

 

[cgott42]

thanks, that was extremely helpful.
Are you sure that the PS3 has gigabit network?

- if so then you're right -that's the way to go.
I'll use Nero MediaHome or PS3 Media Server, TVersity - should be fine.
I guess the problems that I've had in the past with TVersity was due to trasncoding lags, but since I'm now playing only native PS3 filetypes, if the PS3 is gigabit it should go fine.

 

[imagoon]

Well for what it is worth it is listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3 as Gig.

 

[cgott42]

thanks!
Guess that's the route that I'll go.